Utica Shale

MarkWest Energy Partners LP continues to implement its efforts to meet growing demand for natural gas processing in the Appalachian Basin, saying it placed into service five major infrastructure projects during 2Q2014 and will construct seven more projects this year.

Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG) on Tuesday announced two more Appalachia-focused pipeline projects aimed at getting Marcellus/Utica shale gas to higher-priced markets.

Natural gas and oil production are projected to increase in nearly all of the nation’s shale plays and tight oil formations through September, particularly in the Utica Shale, now a separate line item of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR).

After selling most of its dry gas assets early last year to focus on drilling in Colorado’s Wattenberg Field and Ohio’s Utica Shale (see Shale Daily, Feb. 11, 2013), PDC Energy Inc.’s push to produce more liquids continued to pay off in the second quarter, when it beat its production guidance by more than 10%.

Despite a more measured approach in the Utica Shale during the second quarter that kept production flat, Gulfport Energy Corp. said Thursday the changes it’s made in Ohio have the company poised for big gains in the coming months and maximum results in the years ahead.

Pure-play Antero Resources Corp. continues to churn out record natural gas production, surpassing 1 Bcfe/d in July, but its focus has increasingly shifted to building a processing and midstream portfolio to handle those volumes and generate more value.

Rex Energy Corp. said Wednesday that the momentum it has been building since late last year continued throughout the second quarter, with improving completion techniques, reduced drilling days and greater scale helping to cut costs and boost production.

Regency Energy Partners LP (RGP) and American Energy-Midstream LLC (AE-MidCo) have partnered on RGP’s proposed Utica Ohio River Project, which they have upgraded to deliver up to 2.1 Bcf/d of Utica Shale natural gas production initially to Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) and Texas Eastern Transmission.

Calumet Specialty Products LP said it has acquired substantially all of the assets of one of its competitors, privately-held Specialty Oilfield Solutions Ltd. (SOS), in a cash deal valued at $30 million.