Shale Daily

Two top political advisers to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held meetings with the heads of two state agencies at the heart of the debate over whether to allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in the state, according to documents obtained through a freedom of information request.

As its operational footprint in Ohio has continued to shift toward the southeast, following an intensifying pattern of other operators moving toward the Utica Shale’s core, Consol Energy Inc. last month closed its northeast Ohio field office in Columbiana County.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. has turned in additional encouraging well results from the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS). Analysts following the TMS progress of Goodrich and others said Monday they are encouraged but still more needs to be learned.

The vertical-to-horizontal rig switch in the Permian Basin is accelerating faster than expected, and the overall domestic rig count also is on pace to be higher than forecast this year, Raymond James & Associates Inc.’s analysts said Monday.

American Energy Partners LP (AELP), the private producer founded last year by Aubrey McClendon, has hired a former financial chief of Devon Energy Corp. and hired the one-time head of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s investor relations.

As part of a joint industry-state government effort to curb flaring of associated gas at the wellhead, Monday marked the start of new requirements in North Dakota calling for a gas capture plan for each new drilling permit submitted to the Department of Mineral Resource (DMR) oil/gas division.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP said Monday that most of its Houston Processing and Fractionation facility in southwest Pennsylvania is back online after a lightning strike late last Wednesday forced the company to shut down operations there so it could assess the damage (see Shale Daily, May 29).

Rice Energy Inc. delivered big on Monday, reporting some of the best initial production (IP) results yet seen in Ohio’s Utica Shale, with its first well, the Bigfoot 9H in Belmont County, flowing at a stabilized rate of nearly 42 MMcf/d after five days, exceeding the market’s expectations.

Penn Virginia Corp. (PVA) has agreed to sell its Mississippi assets to an undisclosed buyer for gross cash proceeds of $72.7 million. The sale is expected to close in July, subject to customary conditions. The effective date of the sale is April 1, 2014. The properties, which target the Selma Chalk with horizontal wells, had net production of about 11.9 MMcfe/d during the first quarter, almost 100% of which was natural gas. As a result of the divestiture, the company’s 2014 production will decrease by about 1.9 Bcfe. Estimated proved reserves associated with the divested properties at year-end were 85.3 Bcfe, 69% of which was proved developed and about 100% of which was natural gas. During the first quarter, PVA set a quarterly oil production record, thanks to a 15% increase in output from its Eagle Ford Shale operations as it continued to grow and delineate its South Texas acreage (see Shale Daily,May 14).