E&P

Most global oil and gas companies are poised for dealmaking in 2016, but volatile commodity prices still pose a significant threat, more than 100 senior energy executives said in a recent survey.

The same horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies that unlocked gushers across North America’s unconventional plays have so far turned up meager results in North Dakota’s Tyler Shale in Slope County.

U.S. dry natural gas production in September continued a stretch of record breakers, reaching 2.29 Tcf (76.3 Bcf/d), the highest of any September since the Energy Information Administration (EIA) began reporting such production data in 1973, the agency said.

Royal Dutch Shell plc confirmed Wednesday that it plans to close its Appalachian headquarters in Western Pennsylvania next summer, citing an “ongoing drive to enhance competitiveness” during the commodities downturn.

Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield services operator, plans to reduce its workforce even more on the expectation for less activity in 2016, the president of operations said Tuesday.

The New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) has accepted Goodrich Petroleum Corp.’s plan for continued listing on the exchange, subject to quarterly reviews. Goodrich was told in late August that it was below the NYSE continued listing criteria of (1) average global market capitalization or total stockholders’ equity over a consecutive 30 trading-day period of at least $50 million; and (2) average closing price of its common stock of at least $1.00 over a consecutive 30 trading-day period. The company has 18 months from the original notification date to regain compliance with the market capitalization or stockholder’s equity listing standard. It has six months from the original notification date to regain compliance with the $1.00 price listing standard. Goodrich operates in the Haynesville, Eagle Ford and Tuscaloosa Marine shales.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said it would a hear a case that challenges the way the state manages oil and natural gas development on its publicly-owned forest land and how revenue from those operations can be allocated.

The Interior Department said “substantially lower oil and gas prices” impacted royalties from energy production on federal and Indian lands and offshore areas in 2015, resulting in a decline of more than $3.5 billion to states, Indian tribes, the Treasury Department and others.

Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. continues to fight a proposed $4.5 million penalty by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a 2012 impoundment leak in Tioga County, arguing in state Supreme Court earlier this month that a lower court ruling against it should be overturned.