Shale Daily

The recent proliferation of local government proposals to curb or ban oil/natural gas activity, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), is not immediately ringing any alarm bells in the newly relocated Houston executive offices of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) as it works to spin off its multi-billion-dollar California operations into a separate company.

For the third time in a year, voters in Youngstown, OH, on Tuesday rejected a referendum calling for a charter amendment that would have banned horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and related industrial activity within city limits.

In response to requests from Appalachian producers, MarkWest Energy Partners LP on Tuesday said it would add another 400 MMcf/d of rich gas processing capacity by building two cryogenic plants at existing facilities serving Marcellus Shale production in West Virginia.

The makeover at Devon Energy Corp. to become an oil heavy proved its worth in the first quarter, fueled by a new midstream arm and production gains driven almost exclusively by the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is more than making do with its smaller portfolio and reduced spending plans, with its first quarter natural gas and oil production increasing by 11% and revenues surging 47%.

The U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) issued an emergency order Wednesday advising against the use of older, more vulnerable railroad tank cars for shipment of Bakken Shale crude, and requiring railroads operating trains carrying large amounts of Bakken oil to notify State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs) when the trains are moving through their states.

A rally organized by the Marcellus Shale Coalition to tout the benefits of shale gas development in Pennsylvania, attracted more than 2,500 participants, according to estimates from the capital police force in Harrisburg, PA, where the rally took place on Tuesday. It was one of the largest rallies the capital has seen in years, police officials said. Before the event, the MSC, which represents hundreds of exploration and production companies, midstream operators and supply chain businesses throughout the state, said the rally would be the largest in its roughly six-year history (see Shale Daily,May 1). A spokesman for the organization said business leaders, local government officials and residents from communities across the state had signed up. Many of the participants were bused to the capital and then marched to the stairs of the statehouse to voice their support for the industry as it faces headwinds from environmentalists and policy proposals calling for increased taxes on production. Local news media reports said dozens of people participated in a small counter-protest. No clashes between the two groups were reported.

Rail crude oil shipments to California were up sharply compared to the same period last year, according to statistics kept by the California Energy Commission (CEC).

East Texas and Eagle Ford Shale players Sabine Oil & Gas LLC and Forest Oil Corp. announced an all-stock merger that will create a Houston-based publicly traded company with acreage also in the Granite Wash, Permian and Arkoma basins.