Shale Daily

North Dakota officials on Thursday approved more extensive proposed pipeline regulations and reporting requirements for the oil and natural gas industry, including provisions aimed at cutting the amount of wellhead gas flaring.

The transition from coal-fired power plants to those fueled by natural gas in Texas is saving water and making the Lone Star state less vulnerable to drought, even when the large amount of water used for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to stimulate gas wells is considered, according to a new study.

Summit Midstream Partners LLC, which operates in shale plays across the country, plans to enter the Utica Shale after agreeing to acquire Blackhawk Midstream LLC’s interest in two companies operating and developing midstream infrastructure in southeastern Ohio for $190 million.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners LP is transforming itself into a pure-play upstream master limited partnership (MLP) through the sale of its midstream business to Regency Energy Partners LP as it sees more opportunities for growth by exploiting and adding to its assets in the Midcontinent, Permian Basin, South and East Texas as well as in Alabama and Mississippi.

Reflecting reports of decreasing well completion costs in North Dakota’s Williston Basin, major Bakken Shale producer Kodiak Oil and Gas Corp. said Wednesday it expects its production to increase by 45% to near 44,000 b/d in 2014, despite decreasing its capital expenditures below the billion-dollar level of recent years.

A group of 21 scientists, engineers and other technical experts last week wrote California Gov. Jerry Brown in support of shale oil and natural gas development and the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

With additional transport capacity added this quarter and with Marcellus gas flowing readily from its wells in Pennsylvania, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. adjusted its 2013 production growth guidance from a low of 44% to the 50-55% range on Thursday.

A state district court judge in Larimer County, CO, said Wednesday that he will make a decision in the next 30 days following oral arguments in a court case challenging a sixth Colorado city’s attempt to hold a referendum on a moratorium on oil/natural gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing, within city limits.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a foundational provision of the state’s most comprehensive oil and gas legislation has put a rather large question mark over just how the new regulatory framework could hinder future Marcellus Shale development, leaving the industry scrambling for answers.