E&P

Seismic operators Dawson Geophysical Co. and TGC Industries Inc. are shaking up the market after attempting once again a strategic combination to expand their onshore reach in North America.

WPX Energy Inc. is hauling its rigs and equipment out West and will keep the drillbit going in only three states — North Dakota, New Mexico and Colorado — with the balance of the portfolio, including Appalachia, on the sales block, the Tulsa-based operator said.

With varying degrees of bullishness, industry leaders, analysts and government representatives last Tuesday deconstructed the U.S. natural gas bonanza that seems to be the gift that keeps on giving, but not without various strings attached.

Stagnant natural gas prices led exploration and production (E&P) companies to move their drillbits to more lucrative liquids. Now, declining crude prices may cause a pause in some of the booming onshore areas as well, analysts believe.

The volume of water used for mining — which includes oil and gas extraction with fracking — is miniscule compared to the amount used to irrigate crops, serve municipalities and supply manufacturers. But large-scale fracking is a relatively new use not without controversy, and that continues to draw scrutiny at a time when Texas and much of the West have been gripped by drought.

The production of natural gas liquids (NGL) in the Permian Basin will take off over the next several years as producers shift focus to liquids-rich shale plays and midstream companies follow their lead and build the necessary infrastructure to process and transport the liquids, according to an executive with Genscape Inc.

Denver-based Meritage Midstream Service II LLC has completed and brought online its new natural gas processing plant, 50 Buttes, in Campbell County, WY. It will serve producers in the Powder River Basin (PRB).

Calgary operator Encana Corp. on Wednesday catapulted more natural gas-heavy assets from its portfolio in an agreement to sell most of its Clearwater coalbed methane (CBM) properties in south-central Alberta to Ember Resources Inc. for C$605 million.

The four-well Stewart Winland pad, operated by Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. and home to the best Utica Shale well yet tested in West Virginia, remains shut in nearly a month after it first flowed at a peak rate of 46.5 MMcf/d in a symbol of some of the broader challenges facing operators in the Appalachian Basin.