E&P

While earlier research in Texas’ Barnett Shale linked drilling waste injection into underground storage wells with increased seismic activity, new work in the Eagle Ford by the same geologist suggests that drawing liquids out of the ground can induce earthquakes there.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. is building its presence in the Williston Basin by purchasing some acreage in North Dakota and Montana, the Denver-based operator said Tuesday.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. announced the completion of an Encana Corp.-operated well in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in which it holds a minority interest. Initial production was lower than other recent wells in the play but still apparently economic and boding good things to come from the TMS, one analyst said Tuesday.

A charter amendment to ban new natural gas and oil activities in Lafayette, CO, to be on the city’s ballot this fall, “could have incredibly damaging, unintended consequences,” said a spokesman for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA).

Spectra Energy Transmission’s Texas Eastern Transmission announced an expansion to serve industrial markets in South Louisiana by Spring 2015 with shale gas supplies from multiple basins. An open season runs through Sept. 27.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is setting the wheels in motion to accelerate U.S. onshore drilling following the $2.64 billion cash sale for part of its offshore Mozambique natural gas project.

Liquids-rich and oil plays have clearly won the hearts and dollars of North American producers. The Eagle Ford and Bakken shales are stars now, but several others are poised to join or possibly eclipse them, according to a recent note by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P).

City of Dallas officials are inching toward a conclusion to the long-running debate over how large to make the buffer zone around would-be well sites within the city. One proposal could effectively prevent drilling within the city limits, an industry advocate said.

Cardinal Energy Grouphas agreed to purchase fromKansas Petroleum Resources LLCa 100% working interest in oil and natural gas leases in Kansas that cover about 17,000 acres in Pawnee and Hodgeman counties and other operational assets. The wells to be acquired are within the oil producing zones of the Mississippian Lime formation, Lansing-Kansas City limestone formation, the Cherokee Sand Basin and the Permian Chase Group formations. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The acquisition is part of Cardinal’s ongoing plan “to build a portfolio of oil and gas properties in the continental United States that are poised for further development,” the company said. The assets include 3-D seismic surveys, 19 vertical oil-producing wells and two water disposal wells that have been drilled into the Arbuckle formation, according to Cardinal CEOTimothy Crawford. Upon completion of the acquisition, Cardinal’s annual oil production is expected to increase by at least 300 b/d.