Shale Daily

As producers’ interest in the Permian Basin’s Cline Shale oil play continues to grow, Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit Centurion Pipeline LP is reactivating and expanding an existing pipeline system overlying the Cline, the company said.

Elected officials in Ft. Collins, CO, the university town about 57 miles north of Denver, have passed a ban on oil and natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the city limits. The measure still must pass on a second reading in early March.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. officials said they were “extremely pleased” with results from several wells in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), while the company’s “balanced portfolio” saw net crude oil production climb to 1.1 million bbl in 2012, a 70% increase over 2011.

Hoping to head off threats of a state moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Illinois state legislative, oil/natural gas industry and environmental leaders on Thursday announced agreement on a bipartisan bill (HB 2615) establishing rules on the use of the contested well stimulation practice.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to improve air emissions data for the oil and natural gas production sector, according to a report issued by the agency’s Inspector General.

Despite a year of languishing natural gas prices, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. annual revenues for the first time surpassed $1 billion in 2012. Cash flow set records as proved reserves grew by 27% to 3.8 Tcf on organic growth that replaced 417% of record production. The Marcellus Shale gave much despite infrastructure challenges.

NET Midstream unit NET Mexico Pipeline LP plans to build a 124-mile, 42-inch diameter natural gas pipeline to carry gas produced in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas to the Texas-Mexico border.

Dry gas player Southwestern Energy Co. is having “success in a low gas-price environment,” not just surviving, said CEO Steve Mueller.

The Marcellus Shale’s natural gas volumes are continuing to flow higher, but significant revisions in growth expectations by pipeline giant Williams Partners Ltd. (WPZ) has led one analyst to question whether the “excellent adventure” to establish a major natural gas hub is turning into a “bogus journey.”