Marcellus

Seneca Resources Corp., the exploration and production (E&P) subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG), said it plans to shift the focus of its Marcellus Shale operations from Lycoming County, PA, to three other counties in the western part of the state.

Range Resources Corp. turned in another solid quarter of production and efficiency gains, with its focus at mid-year appearing to shift more toward sustaining growth by continuing to diversify its core areas in Pennsylvania and strengthening its programs in other fields across the country.

While reporting reduced year-over-year quarterly earnings, Noble Energy Inc. senior executives on Thursday talked up a 56% collective production increase for the company’s Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin and Marcellus Shale properties in 2Q2014 and a new exploration discovery at the Katmai prospect in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Despite falling slightly short of its expectations in the Marcellus Shale, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. continued making the kind of progress in the Eagle Ford Shale that surprised financial analysts and helped it to surpass their expectations for second quarter earnings and production.

After careful analysis and increasingly promising wells near its asset base, EQT Corp. on Thursday became the second company this year to announce that it will spud its first Utica Shale well in southwest Pennsylvania in the coming months.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has once again rescheduled two public hearings for September regarding Hilcorp Energy Co.’s request for a forced pooling order in Western Pennsylvania, in which nearby property owners and drillers will be allowed to provide testimony.

Rex Energy Corp. said Monday that its estimated proved reserves exceeded 1 Tcfe, thanks in large part to its core operating areas in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, where the company has reported increasing success in the last year or so (see Shale Daily, Jan. 16).

Pennsylvania’s Auditor General on Tuesday released a scathing 158-page report criticizing the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for failing to keep pace with the breakneck rate of oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale. It proposed dozens of fixes to improve regulatory oversight.

Operations at oil and natural gas wells in Pennsylvania harmed water supplies more than 200 times between December 2007 and May of this year, according to data compiled by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).