Worth

Increasing reliance on natural gas-fired power generation in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has created a ready and willing market on the demand side of the Tolar Hub in Tolar, TX, while gas from the Barnett Shale and other area shale plays ensures abundant supply, according to hub operator NorTex Midstream Partners LLC.

Increasing reliance on natural gas-fired power generation in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has created a ready and willing market on the demand side of the Tolar Hub in Tolar, TX, while gas from the Barnett Shale and other area shale plays ensures abundant supply, according to hub operator NorTex Midstream Partners LLC.

Continuing as one of the leading producers in the Marcellus Shale play, Fort Worth, TX-based Range Resources Corp. on Thursday reported increased production of natural gas, liquids and crude oil, while prices were down and initial results were in on Pennsylvania’s newly imposed natural gas impact fee. The fee’s initial charge put overall production taxes at about $13.6 million, or 23 cents/Mcfe, for the first quarter, Range said.

Fort Worth, TX-based Range Resources Corp. plans to focus 75% of its $1.6 billion capital budget for 2012 on liquids-rich plays in Appalachia and the Midcontinent. Range is adding five “enhancements” this year: the “super-rich” Marcellus Shale, the “super-rich” Upper Devonian Shale, the wet Utica Shale, the horizontal Mississippian plays and the Cline Shale in the Permian Basin. In the fourth quarter Range recorded a net loss of $3 million (minus 2 cents/share) versus a net loss of $318 million (minus $2.02) in the year-ago quarter. Range said the increase in quarterly net income from a year ago was driven by a 46% increase in production and lower costs per Mcfe. The company earned $58 million for full-year 2011 (36 cents/share) compared with a net loss of $239 million (minus 52 cents) in 2010. Cash flow from operations increase 28% to $737 million from $577 million in 2010. Although it lost 20% of its production by selling its Barnett Shale assets in 2011, Range posted a 12% increase in production to 554 MMcfe/d. The company expects 30-35% production growth this year.

Range Resources Corp. is expanding the reach of its Appalachian ethane operation. A subsidiary of the Fort Worth, TX-based company said Thursday it had signed a deal to ship 20,000 b/d on Enterprise Product Partners LP’s proposed Appalachia-to-Texas (Atex Express) ethane pipeline.

Fort Worth, TX-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. has added depth to its North American lineup of oil and gas prospects with two large-scale commercial projects — one in search of a partner — which altogether would give it a large presence in seven North American basins, officials said Thursday.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering adding two Texas counties — Wise and Hood — overlying the Barnett Shale in North Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) nonattainment area, which has failed to meet federal standards for ozone. Gas drilling activities in the region are thought by EPA to be contributing to the ground-level ozone, or smog, problem.

Tapping shale natural gas reserves — even when accounting for the challenges of hydraulic fracturing — is worth the risk, a majority of those polled told a recent survey. And eight out of 10 respondents said they link natural gas development with job creation and economic revival.

Tapping shale natural gas reserves — even when accounting for the challenges of hydraulic fracturing — is worth the risk, a majority of those polled told a recent survey. And eight out of 10 respondents said they link natural gas development with job creation and economic revival.