LNG Energy has an agreement to drill and test an exploratory well in the Middle Jurassic Etropole Shale of Northwestern Bulgaria. Gas sells for about $10/Mcf in Bulgaria.
More in the Oil and Gas Journal.
Natural Gas Companies
First Horizontal Shale Gas Well in South America
Halliburton recently completed a horizontal well with multistage hydraulic fracturing at a depth of 4400 meters in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina. According to their press release it was the first horizontal gas shale well and the deepest shale gas well in South America. The well was drilled for Apache Corporation.
More at the Halliburton.com website.
Consol Energy Sells Marcellus Shale Stake
Consol Energy has agreed to sell half of its 663,350 acres of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia along with half of its existing wells to Noble Energy for $3.4 billion.
More in the Post-Gazette.com.
Shale Gas Advisory Board Recommendations
The Shale Gas Advisory Board called for “making information about shale gas production operations more accessible to the public; taking immediate and long-term actions to reduce the environmental and safety risks of shale gas operations, with a particular focus on protecting air and water quality; creating a Shale Gas Industry Operation organization committed to improving operating practices; and continuing research and development to improve safety and environmental performance.”
More at UPI.com.
Will Natural Gas Investments Drive Down Prices?
Major capital investments in the North American gas shales sector could accelerate rates of drilling and production to cause downward pressure on prices. An article on the Reuters.com website explores gas shale investments and their potential impact upon prices.
Profitability of United States Shale Gas Plays
The low price of natural gas has some people questioning the profitability of shale gas plays in the United States. An article on the NASDAQ.com website explores these questions – especially with the entry of major oil companies into the plays.
Aubrey McClendon on the Utica Shale
On July 28th Chesapeake Energy announced spectacular drilling results for multiple wells in the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio. In this video, Chesapeake CEO Aubrey NcClendon tells Jim Cramer about the significance and potential value of their discovery. See the video and more at CNBC.com.
$3.5 Billion for Eagle Ford Acreage
According to a report on FuelFix.com, Marathon Oil will acquire 141,000 net acres of Eagle Ford Shale holdings in Atascosa, Karnes, Gonzales and DeWitt counties, Texas for $3.5 billion.
Chesapeake Energy: Land Acquisition Machine
A post on the Seeking Alpha blog details how successful Chesapeake Energy has been at rapidly leasing enormous acreages in all of the major natural gas shale plays in the United States. They author calls them a “land acquisition machine”.
Niobrara Shale: Higher Risk Than Expected?
Some companies are starting to doubt the initially optimistic opinions about the Niobrara Shale that has produced oil and natural gas in the Colorado, Western Nebraska and Wyoming area. Some recent wells have not been commercially viable and that has generated uncertainty. More at GulfNews.com.
Foreign Ownership of United States Gas Shales
A letter published in The Ithaca Journal complains about the many foreign companies who have purchased major stakes in United States gas shale companies.
Chesapeake Spends $1B Acquiring Utica Shale Leases in Ohio
A article in the Dayton Daily News reports that oil and gas companies are rushing to lease land above the Utica Shale in eastern and central Ohio. They report that Chesapeak Energy has spent $1 billion on Utica Shale leases in Ohio.
17,000 Marcellus Shale Gas Wells?
Statoil ASA and Chesapeake Energy project that they could drill as many as 17,000 natural gas wells into the Marcellus Shale over the next twenty years. More in the West Virginia Gazette.
LNG Energy Acquires Baltic Shale Gas Properties in Poland
LNG Energy, a Canadian exploration and development company, announced that it has acquired a 50% interest in 360,000 acres of Baltic Shale in Poland, giving the company a gross acreage position in Poland of approximately 1.1 million acres of shale gas properties in 5 separate concessions. More at the LNG Energy website.
Chevron Buys Atlas Energy for $4.3B
Chevron continues the stream of large diversified oil and gas companies who are buying up smaller companies with a heavy focus on natural gas shales. Atlas had lots of assets in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Many of those leases probably give access to the deeper Utica Shale which is attracting more interest. More at Bloomberg.
PetroChina Buying Canadian Shale for $5.4 Billion
PetroChina plans to purchase half of EnCana’s Montney Shale assets in Alberta and British Columbia for $5.4 billion (Canadian). In the past 14 months Chinese oil and gas companies have acquired $46 billion in foreign resources. More at RigZone.com.
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.
Consol Will Cut Back on Shale Gas Drilling
In 2010 Consol Energy was drilling wells into the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio and into the high natural gas liquids portion of the Marcellus Shale. An article on Platts.com reports that Consol plans cut back on drilling in 2011 because of low natural gas prices.
Shareholders Want Hydraulic Fracturing Risk Disclosure
A few oil and gas companies have received shareholder resolutions calling for disclosure of risks associated with hydraulic fracturing. Some resolutions even specify field operating methods for the fracking procedure. More in an article titled “Investors Seek Disclosure of Fracking Oil, Gas Risks” at BusinessInsurance.com.
Out-of-State Gas Workers
An article on the WBOY.com website explores some issues related to out-of-state workers who have jobs in the new shale gas plays. The article seems to be written from the understandable perspective of an unemployed person who lives in the gas play rather than a gas industry manager who needs to get wells or pipeline completed as rapidly as possible.
Shale Gas in the Karoo Basin, South Africa
Royal Dutch Shell has applied to receive exploration rights in the Karoo Basin of South Africa where they will assess the potential of organic black shales. More in a Reuters Africa article.
$21B Spend on Shale Gas M&A During first 1/2 of 2010
An article on the EngineerLive.com website reports that during the first half of 2010 US shale gas merger and acquisition expenditures totalled $21 billion.
China is Working on LNG Export Technology
China, the world’s top energy consumer, is developing technology that would enable them to build an LNG export facility in Iran. This would be the first LNG export facility built by a Chinese company and would give them access to abundant but politically risky gas from Iran. More at Yahoo! Finance.
Acceleration of Activity in the Eagle Ford Shale
The successes of 2010 in the Eagle Ford Shale will probably make it one of the fastest growing oil and gas targets of 2011. Shell, BP, Statoil and CNOOC have all made major acquisitions in the Eagle Ford. More at FuelFix.com.
Acquisitions Driven by Low Natural Gas Prices
A Reuters article reports that 2010 was a record year for worldwide acquisitions in the oil and gas industry. Low natural gas prices produced bargains in the shale and tight sands sectors.
