E&P

Preliminary figures compiled by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicate that natural gas production in May hit its highest level on record for any month, reaching 2,166 Bcf, or 699 Bcf/d. Lower 48 gas output totaled 78.10 Bcf/d, a 0.92 Bcf/d increase from April.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has been dealt an early setback in a bid to earn the status of a public utility corporation, which would exempt its Mariner East pipeline from local zoning ordinances.

The safeguards enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state regulators to protect underground sources of drinking water from contamination by Class II injection wells don’t adequately address emerging threats like seismic activity, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said.

Denver-based SM Energy Co. executives on Wednesday released early positive results from new Eagle Ford Shale well completion techniques and detailed an acquisition of Bakken/Three Forks acreage that is adjacent to land where the company has experienced faster drill times and better completions.

Gulfport Energy Corp.’s second quarter production dropped by a little more than 1% from the first quarter after it pulled back the reins in the Utica Shale.

ConocoPhillips reported 1.59 million boe/d of production in 2Q2014, a 6.5% increase year-over-year, and the Houston-based oil independent’s Eagle Ford and Bakken shale wells once again had the lion’s share of the growth.

Tulsa, OK-based Oneok Partners LP on Wednesday outlined plans for investing up to $785 million over the next two years to build natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) processing, compression and pipelines to move Bakken Shale-produced supplies from the Williston Basin in North Dakota.

Echoing some of the criticism from Congress toward the U.S. Commerce Department on its handling of proposals to allow crude oil condensate exports (see Shale Daily, July 10), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) CEO Gary Heminger on Thursday said the uncertainty is counterproductive economically. He made the remarks during a 2Q2014 conference call reporting greatly increased quarter-over-quarter results.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) outlined a number of proposals for what will be classified as a surface disturbance in state forests and parks during a meeting of its natural gas advisory committee on Wednesday.