E&P

Persistently weak oil and natural gas prices, combined with OPEC’s decision last week to hold production steady, likely will reduce spending plans for many U.S. producers in 2016, but the debt-laden operators face even more pressure as they consider how to finance their go-forward plans.

Natural gas prices, which have sagged for some time, will continue their anemic performance into next year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which expects bloated storage and a relatively mild winter to negate hopes for an early uptick.

Ohio’s top producing oil and natural gas wells during the third quarter were once again located in a six-county swath in the Southeast part of the state, with the most prolific wells located in Belmont and Monroe counties.

Veresen Inc. said the Cutbank Ridge Partnership (CRP), a joint venture of Encana Corp. (60%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (40%), has approved the company’s proposed $715 million Tower rich natural gas processing plant in the Montney Shale in northeast British Columbia (BC).

A long-delayed class action settlement between Pennsylvania landowners and Chesapeake Energy Corp. to resolve claims that the company improperly deducted post-production fees from royalties has received preliminary approval from a federal judge, ballooning to more than $17 million and now involving thousands of property owners.

A new study focused on the Barnett Shale in Texas shows methane emissions from oil/natural gas operations are 90% higher than data in the baseline inventory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the study’s sponsor, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Energy & Exploration Partners Inc. (ENXP), whose operations are centered in East Texas and Wyoming, late Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to give it flexibility to continue operations. The petition listed debt of $1-10 billion and assets of $500 million to $1 billion.

Dallas-based exploration and production company Aresco LP has acquired “a substantial working interest” in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in Louisiana and Mississippi.

An index that measures the health of the Texas oil/natural gas economy declined for the 11th straight month in October and is off more than 32% from its year-ago level, the economist who administers it said, adding that the worst is likely yet to come.