Haynesville Shale

QEP Resources Inc. has once again increased its production guidance for the year after posting record oil production for the second quarter in a row, led by strong growth in the Permian Basin despite a drop in the number of rigs and completion crews, the Denver-based company said last week.

BP plc late Thursday confirmed the rumors and agreed to pay $10.5 billion to acquire nearly all of BHP’s massive U.S. onshore portfolio, giving it entry into the Permian Basin in West Texas and substantial acreage in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales.

Japan’s Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., which has agreements to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Freeport LNG project on the Texas coast once it ramps up, on Friday agreed to put more skin in the game through a $144.5 million deal with Houston-based Sabine Oil and Gas Corp. to buy into a gassy Haynesville Shale project.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. has brought two operated wells in northwest Louisiana targeting the Haynesville Shale into production, and expects to begin fracturing operations at a third well in the Bethany-Longstreet Field in early June.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. said it has entered into separate agreements to sell a portion of its assets in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in Louisiana for $3.3 million, as well as to swap acreage and reduce gathering fees in the core of the Haynesville Shale.

Haynesville Shale producer Comstock Resources Inc. reported solid results from its mainstay play during the first quarter, and it now is gearing up to expand its expertise in the Bakken Shale with the backing of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

U.S. onshore producer Comstock Resources Inc. on Thursday said negotiations are underway with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to become the majority shareholder.

QEP Resources Inc. management said it broke production records in the Permian Basin during the first quarter, but it plans to drop to a four-rig drilling program in May, even as it raises overall production guidance for the remainder of the year.

Oil and natural gas explorers view the Permian Basin and Oklahoma’s myriad reservoirs as the top development destinations, but two formations in Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale and Austin Chalk, are high on the list too, along with more Rockies targets, a survey by Haynes and Boone LLP found.