Never mind that hydraulic fracturing was once again linked to an earthquake, this time a 4.0 tremor in Ohio on New Year’s Eve, the year 2012 kicked off in impressive fashion for the shale industry, which has been revolutionized by the controversial drilling practice. Undaunted by the environmental and geological challenges, two oil giants signed [...]
Total SA has increased its exposure to US shale holdings by entering into a joint venture with shale industry leader Chesapeake Energy and EnerVest Ltd. Total agreed to pay $700m for a 25 per cent stake in shale assets totalling 619,000 acres rich in liquids as well as natural gas, held by Chesapeake and EnerVest [...]
Preliminary findings from the Energy Institute’s study released Wednesday suggest there is no link between the extraction operations and groundwater contamination, said the study’s leader, Charles “Chip” Groat, a UT geology professor. He noted that the dangers associated with shale gas drilling — which is accomplished by hydraulic fracturing, a process commonly known as fracking [...]
Total SA is seeking to increase its exposure in the U.S. shale sector. Speaking at the World Shale Gas conference in Houston, John Bannerman, chief executive officer of Total E&P USA, said that the company was exploring new joint ventures or becoming an operator. “We’re very clearly on the lookout,” said Bannerman. Total is targeting [...]
Seeking to take advantage of higher-value liquids plays., Encana Corporation has reached an agreement to sell its North Texas natural gas producing properties to certain partnerships managed by EnerVest Ltd. of Houston, Texas for approximately US$975 million. The properties produce 125 MMcfd equivalent of gas and include associated gathering pipelines on 50,000 net acres. Encana [...]
The shale gas industry has had its collective ass kicked, and kicked hard, by Gasland and others opposed to hydraulic fracturing and needs to redefine its core messages to defuse a burgeoning negative public perception of the controversial drilling technique, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) said [...]
Encana Corporation plans to sell off some of its high quality assets that do not fit into the company’s core development plan, as it faces pressures to raise cash to fund future production. Canada’s biggest natural-gas producer is seeking buyers for its North Texas natural gas producing assets in the Forth Worth basin, hoping for [...]
Ten years ago, Devon Energy made a multibillion-dollar bet on the Barnett Shale. On Aug. 14, 2001, the Oklahoma City-based oil and gas company announced a deal to acquire Mitchell Energy & Development of Houston for $3.5 billion. Mitchell Energy, led by legendary oilman George Mitchell, was the pioneering company that cracked the code of [...]
A year after Exxon Mobil’s $36 billion acquisition of Fort Worth-based XTO Energy, the international oil giant and the independent natural gas producer are mobilizing to become a global leader in the shale gas revolution that began with the Barnett Shale in North Texas. Jack Williams, a 47-year-old Exxon Mobil veteran, took the reins of [...]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will commence visits to locations in five states where its investigators will study the safety of hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’ as it is more commonly referred to. EPA investigators will study places where fracking has already taken place and look for any impact on residential water wells and other sources [...]
