E&P

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which has traditionally assessed seismic risks on a six-year schedule, is proposing an annual hazard model to more effectively predict earthquakes.

A day after an Asian partnership said it has selected an undisclosed location in Belmont County, OH, for a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker, it was confirmed that a pair of South American companies would put on hold plans for a similar project in West Virginia.

Weatherford International plc expects that half of its North American (NAM) drilling equipment may be stacked by the end of June following a “miserable” performance in the first quarter, the company’s CEO said Thursday. Onshore drilling contractor Patterson-UTI Inc. (PTEN) already has stacked about one-third of its hydraulic fracturing equipment because there’s “no real demand” for rigs anywhere, CEO Andy Hendricks said.

Record first quarter production was not enough to offset the steep decline in natural gas prices for EQT Corp., which saw its year-over-year earnings decline 10% and its costs increase with property impairment charges and rig termination fees.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a pair of bills on Wednesday that would prohibit localities from restricting or placing outright bans on a long list of oil and gas activities, and spelling out that such regulations are the dominion of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC).

A day after an Asian partnership said it has selected an undisclosed location in Belmont County, OH, for a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker, it was confirmed that a pair of South American companies would put on hold plans for a similar project in West Virginia.

Several months ago it was hard to find a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer that had anything nice to say about oil-indexation of LNG contracts. With oil prices having plummeted, one might think buyers would be big fans of oil indexation, but it's more complicated than that.

Disposal wells, and the large amounts of produced water they handle from oil and gas operations, are "very likely" the culprit for numerous earthquakes to strike Oklahoma, according to scientists with the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS).

U.S.-based natural gas producers are producing less while Chinese and Russian operators are producing more, according to a ranking by Societe Generale.