E&P

Ultra Petroleum Corp. ramped up production of crude oil and condensate during the first quarter, keeping its sights trained on oil targets in Wyoming’s Pinedale Anticline and Utah’s Uinta Basin while continuing to spin down its activity in the Marcellus Shale.

An explosion and fire at Williams Company’s Opal, WY, processing plant last month put only limited pressure on natural gas prices in the region, and Henry Hub spot prices are expected to decline through this summer, but not to the depths previously forecast, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Onshore specialist EOG Resources Inc. has moved four horizontal plays into drilling mode from exploration in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Powder River basins (PRB), joining a pot of development efforts ongoing in the Eagle Ford and Bakken shales and the Permian Basin.

Concluding there could be a tie to oil and natural gas production activity, U.S. and Oklahoma Geological Survey officials jointly reported Monday that 145 3.0-magnitude or stronger earthquakes have occurred in the state so far this year.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. raised its oil production guidance for the rest of the year as 1Q2014 oil and natural gas production beat guidance and acreage was bolted on in the Eagle Ford and Utica shales. The company said it may have the best condensate-producing well in the entire Utica.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is proposing expanding the geographic coverage of its monthly natural gas production survey and adding state-level data on crude oil and lease condensate production to better reflect the rapid growth and shifting location of gas and crude production.

A close analysis of Pennsylvania production data by Barclays Capital shows that Marcellus operators are more focused on the state’s southwest wet gas window, indicating that, for now, the stubborn number of backlogged wells in the northeast’s dry-gas window is likely to remain high.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), in its latestreport that tracks economic trends in the state’s oil and gas industry, found that employment in core shale-related fields, such as pipeline construction and well drilling, increased by nearly 80% from 3Q2011 to 3Q2013.

Memorial Production Partners LP (MEMP) said it has signed an agreement to purchase oil producing assets in south central Wyoming from an undisclosed seller for $935 million.