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 [...]
In a move directed at increasing its unconventional footprint, Norway’s Statoil is acquiring Texas-based oil company Brigham Exploration for $4.4bn. The deal will provide Statoil with unconventional or ‘tight’ oil production via Brigham’s 375,000 acre holding in the Bakken shale region in North Dakota. “Entering the Bakken and Three Forks tight-oil plays and taking on [...]
Is there an exaggerated quality to the extraordinary projections and tens of billions of dollars pouring into shale gas, the newly available fuel that has shaken up markets and geopolitics? The answer is yes — estimates for global shale gas reserves and future production are all but certainly over the top; likewise, the world’s major [...]
Rejecting what it called an “inaccurate and misleading article,” Chesapeake Energy Corporation struck back at the New York Times. In this past Sunday’s edition, the Times accused the Chesapeake of exaggerating the productivity of shale gas wells and industry reserve estimates of future well performance. Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Chesapeake stands [...]
The Norwegian flag was flying along with the stars and stripes on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, as state oil company Statoil ASA celebrated 10 years of trading on the exchange. But not everyone was keen to congratulate Norway’s biggest company. Instead, angry residents in the eastern United States believe Statoil’s much-touted shale [...]
Matthew Scotland, Energy Reports Writer, Visiongain provides an overview of The Shale Gas Market 2011-2021 The amalgamation of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies in the 1980s enabled the US to become the pioneers of commercial shale gas production. Although the first shale gas well was drilled in 1821, the technical and economic feasibility of [...]
Speaking on US shale gas development at Shale Gas Eastern Europe 2011 in Warsaw, Poland, Daniel G. Rathan, Director A&D at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. remarked, “The growth in this sector of the industry is just incredible. The Barnett shale had production in the early 90s, but the explosion of production happened in 2006 [...]
Statoil ASA says it could drill as many as 17,000 natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale field over the next 20 years. The company which is partnering in Chesapeake Energy’s holdings in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. The agreement between the two companies covers 1.8 million acres and more than 32,000 leases in West Virginia, [...]
Norwegian government controlled Statoil ASA has announced a further expansion of its shale gas operations in the United States, creating a joint venture with Canada’s Talisman Energy of Canada to acquire acreage the Eagle Ford shale formation in south-west Texas, for $1.3 billion from Denver-based Enduring Resources. Statoil and Talisman have formed a 50-50 joint [...]
By Dick Ghiselin, Senior Editor E&P Magazine While Washington dithers, Pennsylvania rolls up its sleeves and gets busy. Recent headlines are trumpeting the global promise of shale gas, while closer to home, the “big boys” are jumping into the shale pool with both feet. And their efforts are finding endorsement. None other than Ernest J. [...]
