E&P

Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP) executives plan to put a herculean effort toward demonstrating the value of the exploration and production (E&P) assets as it prepares to spin off from its parent following a merger agreement with Targa Resources Corp.

A property owners’ association in a popular western Maryland lake resort area said it opposes surface structures for vertical drilling for Marcellus Shale gas, but is amenable to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that accesses the play from a distance.

In a sign suggesting that the U.S. unconventional boom is not abating, Halliburton Co. has extended an agreement with Hi-Crush Partners LP to increase through 2018 its annual Northern White sand volumes.

A group of panelists on Tuesday from Appalachian midstream companies said state and federal regulations combined with soaring costs and challenging construction are making it increasingly difficult to get pipelines built to serve producers and end-users in the region within a reasonable amount of time.

With significant new pipeline capacity not likely before some time in 2016, burgeoning Bakken crude oil production in North Dakota will continue to rely on rail to access the three coasts: East, West and Gulf, according to a report by Fitch Ratings.

The United States has been burning more natural gas this year and relying less on imported energy overall, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which credited the Bakken, Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales as well as the Permian Basin for increased liquids production.

Two environmental organizations based near Philadelphia have filed an appeal to a township’s zoning ordinance on the other side of the state, where Rex Energy Corp. has started work to drill five unconventional Marcellus Shale wells close to a large school campus.

A township in southeast Pennsylvania has vowed to keep fighting Sunoco Logistics Partners LP’s Mariner East pipeline even if the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) grants it the status of a public utility corporation, which would exempt it from local zoning ordinances.

Implementation of its enhanced completion program in the Eagle Ford Shale and weather-related delays in the Williston Basin caused SM Energy Co. to turn in disappointing third quarter production results.