Year

First quarter oil production among four of the North Dakota Bakken Shale's largest producers increased during a period of severely depressed…

Growth in the Williston Basin in North Dakota is the key to ONEOK Partners expected ramp-up of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) production in the second half this year, CEO Terry Spencer told financial analysts Wednesday.

While reporting quarterly losses in its U.S. oil and natural gas operations, Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) is focusing big on the Permian Basin and plans to increase its working rigs there later this year.

While reporting quarterly losses in its U.S. oil and natural gas operations, Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) is focusing big on the Permian Basin and plans to increase its working rigs there later this year.

The combination of lower capital spending, shut-ins and even a shift to other plays won’t deter natural gas production from escalating in the Appalachian Basin this year, according to data compiled by NGI’s Shale Daily.

If the Baker Hughes Inc. rotary rig count for North America during the March 23-27 week drops by 113, the tally of active rigs will be half of what it was a year ago. The count for the week ending March 20 shows a decline of 136 rigs in North America at 1,209 active, and that’s down 983 from one year ago.

Rice Energy Inc. plans to double down this year in its narrow Utica Shale position, where its only three wells at the end of 2014 were each producing at a stabilized rate of about 16 MMcf/d.

Chevron Corp. plans to curtail new investments for the next two years and boost its asset sales plans as low oil prices squeeze cash flow for the second-largest U.S.-based producer.

U.S. operators dumped 75 land rigs for the week ending March 6 (Friday), including 64 drilling for oil and 12 for natural gas, bringing total losses year/year to 600, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.