E&P

In the first 18 months under California’s well stimulation rules, nearly 95% of permits granted were for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), according to a report oil/natural gas regulators submitted to the state legislature on the last day of 2015.

Ohio pure-play Eclipse Resources Corp. on Monday offered a sobering outlook for the remainder of the first quarter, announcing that it would curtail natural gas production and defer completions on 21 Utica wells as it grapples with natural gas prices hovering around 15-year lows.

Houston-based Swift Energy Co., whose primary operations are in the Eagle Ford Shale and Louisiana, filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection in the waning hours of 2015, and has begun a restructuring process that includes turning over control of the company and selling assets.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has paved the way for EQT Corp. to challenge the state Department of Environmental Protection’s $4.5 million fine against it for a 2012 impoundment leak in Tioga County.

While activity slows in almost all the shale plays across North America, growth is reaching warp speed in Canada’s Montney tight sands formation, which looks to be developing into the western version of the Marcellus Shale.

ConocoPhillips on Thursday (Dec. 31) expected to finish loading what it believes is the first domestic cargo of crude oil to be exported since the lifting of the 40-year ban on such exports on Dec. 18.

The U.S. natural gas market, struggling with continuing oversupply, finally registered a slight production decline year/year in November, but industry watchers are discouraged that 2016 will prove much better for those longing for higher prices.

Houston-based Lucas Energy Inc. is entering the Midcontinent by acquiring working interests in producing properties and undeveloped acreage, mainly in Central Oklahoma’s Hunton formation, in a cash, debt and equity deal. The company plans to rebrand itself as Camber Energy Inc. following completion of the acquisition. Shares soared on the news Thursday.

Philadelphia-based Atlas Energy Group LLC (ATLS), which owns all of the general partner interest, distribution rights and a 23% limited partner interest in its upstream subsidiary, Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP), has fallen below the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) continued listing standards.