Eagle Ford Shale

Royal Dutch Shell plc’s US$69.6 billion deal to acquire UK-based BG Group plc is predicated on deepwater exploration and production, and integrated global natural gas. Shales? Not so much.

Pennsylvania was second only to Texas in the amount of water used for gross oil and gas production from 2011 to 2013, according to a recently released U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of tens of thousands of FracFocus disclosures by operators in 20 states.

Natural gas inventories are expected to reach 3,781 Bcf by the end of October, with storage facilities fat from a net injection of 2,310 Bcf, the fourth-highest injection season on record, according to a projection by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

U.S. oil and natural gas reserves increased substantially from 2009 to 2013, according to government data. While the concentration of oil reserves among the country’s top 100 fields declined, the concentration of gas reserves among the top 100 fields increased.

Now that an increasing amount of crude oil moves by rail — and as these shipments have attracted safety concerns in communities and in Washington, DC — the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has added crude-by-rail data to its monthly petroleum supply reports.

A compromise bill intended to block municipal anti-drilling/hydraulic fracturing (fracking) ordinances was passed by a Texas House committee Monday and is on its way to the full House. It includes some concessions to the legislation’s critics, namely Texas cities and their residents upset by drilling activities.

Following several derailments involving trains carrying crude oil, BNSF Railway Co. said it would voluntarily enact several measures designed to improve safety.

Texas oil and gas well permitting activity declined again in February, both sequentially and compared with one year ago. Oil well completions were up modestly from January but down sharply from a year ago as the rig retreat in the oil patch continued.

Rig count might be the headline number in the shale patch, but when it comes to estimating future production from rig census, increasing rig efficiency and well productivity can make the calculation complicated.