Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.
More at Geology.com.Arkansas Gas
Irrational Natural Gas Prices?
Lots of factors contribute to the natural gas prices paid by residential customers. Long term contracts and distant supply sources can hold residential prices high even though natural gas is locally in abundance. Residential customers in Arkansas, Lo…
More at Energy Information Administration.
Fayetteville Shale: Shallow and Fractures Easily
An article on TheCityWire.com website reports on a presentation given by Mike Yeager, an executive with BHP Billiton. He explains why the company was attracted to invest in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas.
More at TheCityWire.com.
How Natural Gas is Taxed in 19 Different States
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many …
More at Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research.
The Brown Dense Shale of Louisiana and Arkansas
Southwestern Energy has leased 460,000 net acres in the Upper Jurassic Brown Dense Shale, a potential unconventional horizontal oil play that straddles the border between southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana.
More at Southwestern Energy.
Recycling Fayetteville Shale Frack Water
Dealing with the waste water from hydraulic fracturing is a problem. A Canadian company working in Arkansas has plans to treat Fayetteville Shale waste water and recycle it for continued drilling.
More in the Houston Chronicle.
Arkansas: Waste Water Injection and Earthquakes
An injection well used to dispose of waste water produced by natural gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas was thought to be causing hundreds of small earthquakes. The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission voted to close the disposal well but c…
More at NPR.
Arkansas: Natural Gas Severance Tax Act of 2012
Arkansas has two significant natural gas plays in the Haynesville and Fayetteville Shales. A proposal to significantly increase the natural gas severance tax to 7% has some companies threatening to drill in other states.
More at TodaysTHV.com.
Arkansas Governor Beebe Addresses Natural Gas Issues
Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas answers questions related to natural gas drilling causing earthquakes, environmental problems and economic damage within the State of Arkansas.
More on the Guy, Arkansas Earthquake Swarm
We recently posted a video about the earthquake swarm near Guy, Arkansas. Now the NewYorkTimes has an article titled: “A Dot on the Map, Until the Earth Started Shaking”.
Chesapeake Energy Selling Fayetteville Shale Asset
An article on the ABCNews site reports that Chesapeake Energy hopes to sell $5 billion in assets during calendar year 2012. Included in the sale are all of Chesapeake’s holdings in the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas.
Guy, Arkansas Earthquake Activity
During the past three months over 500 small earthquakes have shaken the area around Guy, Arkansas. These earthquakes have been blamed on drilling the Fayetteville Shale, wastewater injection wells and natural processes. Which is it?
Exxon Buys Fayetteville Shale Assets
Petrohawk Energy plans to sell its Fayetteville Shale assets to Exxon Mobil for $650 million. An article in Reuters describes the deal and has comments from industry experts who say that the sale price was lower than they expected.
487 Earthquakes Near Guy, Arkansas
Hundreds of shallow but gentle earthquakes have occurred at depths down to about 12,000 near Guy, Arkansas. The State Geological Survey says that they can not tie them to natural gas drilling but they are investigating wastewater injection as a possibility – there are several injection permits in the area surrounding the earthquake swarm. More at CNN.com
Arkansas: Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemistry
The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission will require drilling companies to release generalized information about the composition of fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing fluid starting on January 15, 2011. Hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling have been used heavily in Arkansas to develop the Fayetteville Shale. More at Platts.com.
Fayetteville Shale Drilling and Earthquakes?
ArkansasMatters reports that lots of small earthquakes are occurring in Faulkner County, Arkansas. Some people think that they are related to natural gas drilling or hydraulic fracturing in the Fayetteville Shale.
How deep are the earthquakes compared to the depth of the drilling?
How Many Wells Per Square Mile?
Southwest Energy says that they need 10 to 12 wells per square mile to effectively drain the Fayetteville Shale in the Arkansas Arkoma Basin.. That about 53 to 64 acres per well. More at PennEnergy.com.
Shale People Videos
The ShaleCountry website has a collection videos, each featuring a person who lives or works in one of the major natural gas plays. These folks explain their job and how the natural gas industry is impacting their area. Featured are lawyer, roustabout, RV park owner, truck driver, welding supplier, diner worker, farmer, hose supplier, pastor and more. Each video represents a specific gas play such as the Haynesville, Marcellus or Fayetteville.
Chesapeake Cuts Fayetteville, Looks for Natural Gas Liquids
Chesapeake Energy says that they are cutting back their efforts in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas and that will enable them to focus on plays where natural gas liquids make important contributions to income. More at TheCityWire.com.
First LNG Export Plant for the Conterminous US
An abundance of natural gas in the Louisiana-Texas-Arkansas area has prompted Cheniere Energy to consider building the first LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal in the conterminous United States. More at Businessweek.com
Shale Trucks Damage the Roads
An article on the WXVT15 website reports that the Arkansas state department of Transportation director is blaming shale drilling trucks for causing damage to the roads.
Fayetteville Shale Gas Play Map
The Arkansas Geological Survey is doing a great job keeping track of activity in the Fayetteville Shale Gas Play and making that information available to the public. Their maps show well locations, well types, horizontal leg direction, target formations, gas pipelines and are accompanied by a spreadsheet with well information.
Jobs in the Fayetteville Shale Gas Play
Governor Mike Beebe points to the Fayetteville Shale Play and wind energy projects as bright spots in the Arkansas job climate. More in an article on BusinessWeek.com.
Fayetteville Express Pipeline – 2BCF/day
A boost for development of the Fayetteville Shale is work starting on the “Fayetteville Express Pipeline” that will carry about 2 billion cubic feet per day from Conway County, Arkansas to the Trunkline Gas Company in Panola County, Mississippi. More on this at Market Watch.

