Shale Daily

Even with three days of flat to much stronger pricing Monday through Wednesday, only Marcellus Shale numbers in northeast Pennsylvania were able to eke out a small gain during the week ending Thursday. Other plays fell 6-12 cents during that period.

ExxonMobil Corp. in July quietly purchased more acreage in the Haynesville/Bossier Shale, a company executive disclosed Thursday.

Just two days after Gov. Ed Rendell placed a moratorium on drilling on state forest land, Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a new policy requiring well operators working on state park and forest land to identify all areas of their tracts that will be disturbed by development activities.

The United States has become a “surplus natural gas producing country essentially forever” because of shale gas, Credit Suisse analyst Edward Morse said recently.

ConocoPhillips has shut in some of its dry gas production in North America, but in the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, it’s full steam ahead.

Southern Union Co.’s Trunkline Gas Co. has signed a precedent agreement with DCP Midstream LLC to provide long-term, firm transportation service for liquids-rich gas. DCP Midstream will be the anchor shipper on a modified portion of the Trunkline system in South Texas focusing on Eagle Ford Shale production.

A proposed severance tax on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania may be dead this year, but the issue could return during the 2011 legislative session and it lives on in the campaigns of the candidates for governor. With Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell leaving office in January and the makeup of the state’s currently Democrat-dominated House and Republican-dominated Senate likely to change with the Nov. 2 election, Pennsylvania’s Marcellus policies could be looking at a facelift next year.

RPM Energy LLC and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) have formed RPM Energy Partners LP to target joint venture opportunities with exploration and production companies in unconventional plays. They offer RPM’s expertise and KKR’s deep pockets.

The Marcellus Shale could hold as much as 500 Tcf of natural gas, according to some. That gas is conveniently close to markets in the Midwest and Northeast; however, the natural gas liquids (NGL) associated with some Marcellus production are far from what is considered to be their ideal home, namely the U.S. Gulf Coast. And that’s a problem, analysts have noted lately.