Drilling Report, May 12

Click HERE to read a PDF of the May 12, 2013 Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph Drilling Report

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from April 28 to May 4. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information aboutthe drilling report contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, May 5

Click HERE to read a PDF of the May 5 Tyler Morning Telegraph Drilling Report

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from April 21 to April 27. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information aboutthe drilling report contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling report, April 21

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from April 7 to 13. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling report, April 7

Click HERE to read a PDF of the April 7 Tyler Morning Telegraph Drilling Report

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from March 24-30. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, April 14

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from March 31 to April 6. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

Click HERE to read a PDF of the April 14 Tyler Morning Telegraph Drilling Report

View the original article here

Drilling report, March 31

Posted 11:10 pm  Sunday, March 31, 2013

Click HERE to read a PDF of the March 31 Tyler Morning Telegraph Drilling Report

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from March 17 to 23. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, March 24

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from March 10 to 16. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood.
For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

Click HERE to read a PDF of the March 24, 2013 Tyler Morning Telegraph Drilling Report

View the original article here

Group’s new oil shale report contains wildly inaccurate claims

The Institute for Energy Research (IER), recently posted a blog about oil shale that doesn’t have its facts straight.

The IER blog falsely claims that the federal government put oil shale resources ‘under lock and key’. Oil shale companies have been awarded billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies and received research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) leases on publicly owned lands that don’t require the payment of bonuses, rents, or royalties.

Despite more than a century of failed oil shale projects and billions of dollars risked, taxpayers are still subsidizing oil shale research and development. Currently, there are seven such RD&D leases being pursued in Colorado and Utah.  The companies include: Shell, American Shale Oil (AMSO), Enefit, ExxonMobil, and Natural Soda Holdings.

Chevron also had an RD&D holding, but abandoned it last February in order to focus on viable energy sources – hardly the first oil shale experiment to go

bust. On Black Sunday, Exxon closed its Colony oil shale project, which put more than 2,000 out of work and devastated the economy of Colorado’s western slope for years.

Arial photo of a pile of oil shale ‘ash’ in Estonia. Source: EcoCrete Project.

In their blog, IER also highlights Estonia, considered the world leader in oil shale, as the prime example of successful oil shale development – but that’s no

t factual either. Oil shale isn’t economically viable in Estonia, has caused significant water, air and land pollution, and is highly controversial.

The head of Estonia’s biggest oil shale company, Eestia Energia – known as Enefit in the U.S. – has admitted that oil shale is not profitable without large taxpayer subsidies. Underscoring this point was Moody’s recent move downgrading Enefit’s credit rating to negative, over concerns that they can’t make oil shale profitable.

In addition, oil shale is a dirty, polluting fossil fuel that’s responsible for 80 percent of all of Estonia’s pollution.  Enefit’s track record includes contaminated groundwater, creating 600-foot high mountains of oil shale waste that spontaneously ignite, and causing the emission of “lots of carbon dioxide.”

IER’s blog also boasts that there are huge oil shale deposits in the U.S. But these projections are irrelevant because oil shale isn’t a viable energy source and fails the basic economic test. In other words, the return on oil shale doesn’t outweigh the investment. The amount of energy and water that it takes to superheat, mine and process oil shale – which is actually fossilized algae – is more than the energy that oil shale provides. If you need more evidence just look to the billion dollar oil and gas industry, which has almost limitless resources, and has 100 plus years of failed oil shale experiments to show for their efforts.

The IER can spin oil shale all day, but it won’t change the cold hard fact that oil shale isn’t ready for prime time.

View the original article here

Drilling report, March 17

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from March 3 to 9. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, March 10

Posted 11:30 pm  Sunday, March 10, 2013

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from February 24 to March 2. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Report: Anadarko, Dhoot to Sell 20% of Mozambique Gas Block

U.S. oil-and-gas explorer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Indian billionaire Venugopal Dhoot will auction off 20% of a Mozambique gas field, Reuters news agency reported on its website Tuesday citing unnamed sources.

The sale could be worth $4.5 billion, the report said citing the sources who are familiar with the matter.

PetroChina and Exxon Mobil Corp. are among those expected to bid, the report said citing the sources. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is also looking, the report added.

First-round bids are due on March 14 after an information memorandum on the sale was sent to potential bidders in early February, the report quoted one of the sources saying.

Anadarko said last month it is looking to sell a 10 percent of the block--taking its stake to 26.5 percent.

Mr. Dhoot, who controls electronics conglomerate Videocon Group, wants about $2.5-$3 billion for 10%. Mr. Dhoot paid $75 million for his 10% Rovuma 1 stake in 2008.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, March 3

Posted 11:40 pm  Sunday, March 03, 2013

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from February 17 to 23. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Report: Anadarko, Dhoot to Sell 20% of Mozambique Gas Block

U.S. oil-and-gas explorer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Indian billionaire Venugopal Dhoot will auction off 20% of a Mozambique gas field, Reuters news agency reported on its website Tuesday citing unnamed sources.

The sale could be worth $4.5 billion, the report said citing the sources who are familiar with the matter.

PetroChina and Exxon Mobil Corp. are among those expected to bid, the report said citing the sources. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is also looking, the report added.

First-round bids are due on March 14 after an information memorandum on the sale was sent to potential bidders in early February, the report quoted one of the sources saying.

Anadarko said last month it is looking to sell a 10 percent of the block--taking its stake to 26.5 percent.

Mr. Dhoot, who controls electronics conglomerate Videocon Group, wants about $2.5-$3 billion for 10%. Mr. Dhoot paid $75 million for his 10% Rovuma 1 stake in 2008.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, February 24

Posted 11:24 pm  Sunday, February 24, 2013

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from February 10 to 16. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, February 17

Posted 8:44 pm  Sunday, February 17, 2013

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from February 3 to 9. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Drilling Report, February 10

Posted 10:30 pm  Sunday, February 10, 2013

The drilling report was produced with data from the Texas Railroad Commission, from January 13 to 19. The following counties were searched: Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Dallas, Ellis, Freestone, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Kaufman, Leon, Limestone, Marion, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Rains, Robertson, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood. For information contact Business Editor Casey Murphy at cmurphy@tylerpaper.com or 903-596-6289.

View the original article here

Report: 47 Tcf Gas Potential at Buru's Canning Permits

Buru Energy revealed Friday that RISC, an independent evaluation group, has completed an assessment of the prospective resources for all of the company's onshore permit areas in the Canning Superbasin.

The evaluation report confirmed that the Basin Centred Gas System in the Laurel Formation, spanning around 6,708 square miles (17,373 square kilometers), contains an unrisked gross recoverable volume of 47 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1,177 million barrels of condensate.

RISC has only considered the reservoirs in the overpressured part of the Laurel Formation in their analysis, Buru noted in a statement.

More work is required to quantify the resources in the extensive overlyinggas accumulation in the normally pressured section, generally above 8,202 feet (2,500 meters), Buru added.

RISC also stated its view that the existing analysis identified reservoirs which are a combination of conventional and unconventional reservoirs; the latter will likely to require stimulation.

Buru, in a joint agreement with Mitsubishi Corp, owns five permits that lie on the onshore Canning Superbasin. In November last year, the company signed an agreement with Western Australia's state government for EP 71, 391, 428, 431 and 436. The contract runs for 25 years, and comes with a separate 25-year extension option.

Buru said in November last year that the agreement provides a framework for the development of a project to deliver gas to a liquefied natural gas facility in the Pilbara, once sufficient gas has been identified to sustain domestic consumption. The JV is required to submit a proposal for the development of a domestic gas project and pipeline by June 30, 2016.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Report: 47 Tcf Gas Potential at Buru's Canning Permits

Buru Energy revealed Friday that RISC, an independent evaluation group, has completed an assessment of the prospective resources for all of the company's onshore permit areas in the Canning Superbasin.

The evaluation report confirmed that the Basin Centred Gas System in the Laurel Formation, spanning around 6,708 square miles (17,373 square kilometers), contains an unrisked gross recoverable volume of 47 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1,177 million barrels of condensate.

RISC has only considered the reservoirs in the overpressured part of the Laurel Formation in their analysis, Buru noted in a statement.

More work is required to quantify the resources in the extensive overlyinggas accumulation in the normally pressured section, generally above 8,202 feet (2,500 meters), Buru added.

RISC also stated its view that the existing analysis identified reservoirs which are a combination of conventional and unconventional reservoirs; the latter will likely to require stimulation.

Buru, in a joint agreement with Mitsubishi Corp, owns five permits that lie on the onshore Canning Superbasin. In November last year, the company signed an agreement with Western Australia's state government for EP 71, 391, 428, 431 and 436. The contract runs for 25 years, and comes with a separate 25-year extension option.

Buru said in November last year that the agreement provides a framework for the development of a project to deliver gas to a liquefied natural gas facility in the Pilbara, once sufficient gas has been identified to sustain domestic consumption. The JV is required to submit a proposal for the development of a domestic gas project and pipeline by June 30, 2016.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Report: 47 Tcf Gas Potential at Buru's Canning Permits

Buru Energy revealed Friday that RISC, an independent evaluation group, has completed an assessment of the prospective resources for all of the company's onshore permit areas in the Canning Superbasin.

The evaluation report confirmed that the Basin Centred Gas System in the Laurel Formation, spanning around 6,708 square miles (17,373 square kilometers), contains an unrisked gross recoverable volume of 47 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1,177 million barrels of condensate.

RISC has only considered the reservoirs in the overpressured part of the Laurel Formation in their analysis, Buru noted in a statement.

More work is required to quantify the resources in the extensive overlyinggas accumulation in the normally pressured section, generally above 8,202 feet (2,500 meters), Buru added.

RISC also stated its view that the existing analysis identified reservoirs which are a combination of conventional and unconventional reservoirs; the latter will likely to require stimulation.

Buru, in a joint agreement with Mitsubishi Corp, owns five permits that lie on the onshore Canning Superbasin. In November last year, the company signed an agreement with Western Australia's state government for EP 71, 391, 428, 431 and 436. The contract runs for 25 years, and comes with a separate 25-year extension option.

Buru said in November last year that the agreement provides a framework for the development of a project to deliver gas to a liquefied natural gas facility in the Pilbara, once sufficient gas has been identified to sustain domestic consumption. The JV is required to submit a proposal for the development of a domestic gas project and pipeline by June 30, 2016.

Quintella has reported on the upstream and downstream oil and petrochemicals markets from 2004. Email Quintella at quintella.koh@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here

Murkowski Report Offers 'Blueprint' for Future Energy Policymaking

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) unveiled a report Monday offering a blueprint for the conversation about where energy and natural resource policies should go over the next few years.

In the report, Energy 20/20, A Vision for America's Energy Future, Murkowski offers recommendations on how to align federal energy policy with what Murkowski sees as a consensus that the United States should make energy abundant, affordable, clean, diverse and secure. These recommendations not only include oil and gas, but renewable resources as well.

Among these recommendations is for the United States to establish a national goal to produce enough additional oil, biofuels and synthetic fuels to become independent by 2020 of imports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"The fulfillment of this commitment would support the creation of millions of well-paying jobs, increased federal revenues, reduction of U.S. budget and trade deficits, and help maintain affordable world energy prices," Murkowski noted.

The federal government can help achieve energy independence from OPEC by 2020 by:

Expediting federal permitting and reviewing decisions for energyNatural resources and related infrastructure projectsAllowing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to move forwardRequiring the U.S. Department of the Interior outline plans for development of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) resources to more accurately estimate available resources and set minimum production targets, taking into account necessary environmental requirements

"Although these targets would be set administratively, they should be achievable and binding," Murkowski commented in the report. "If and when actual production is projected to fall short of such targets, additional leasing, onshore or offshore, should be made available to compensate for the shortfall."

Murkowski also called for an expansion of OCS leasing to the eastern Gulf of Mexico and offshore Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Additionally, legislation should be passed for a consolidated offshore regulator, with a reaffirmed and strengthened statutory authority to develop offshore resources expeditiously through a certain and fair permitting process, while incentivizing safety and best environmental practices.

Additional amendments Murkowski calls for in the report concerning future oil and gas development include directing a share of revenues to participating offshore energy producing states – including offshore wind, tidal and wave generation – and establishing permanent revenue sharing for offshore development from leasing, bonus bids, rents, and royalty receipts at 27.5 percent with provision for direct partial payments to affected coastal communities.

The senator also called for the administration and its departments and agencies to reform the methods and processes through which energy policy is implemented and administered. This includes identifying impediments to federal oil and gas leasing and production. Specifically, the U.S. Department of the Interior must establish a review program and an accelerated auction schedule for previously and consistently nominated lease parcels that have yet to be put up for sale.

The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska also must be immediately placed into full availability for oil and gas leasing, consistent with statutory designation.

"The reserve must be thoughtfully developed with roads, bridges and pipeline facilities that promote broad onshore development of the diffuse resource base, while simultaneously accommodating the transportation of oil and gas from offshore fields in the Chukchi Sea to the TransAlaska Pipeline System," Murkowski noted.

Murkowski also said that the benefits of the U.S. shale boom, and the jobs, higher wages and increased federal, state and local government tax revenues, should not be put at risk under a new federal regime for hydraulic fracturing that only makes it harder or impossible to produce U.S. shale resources.

"Particularly given the federal deficit, agencies should focus on directing limited resources where they are most needed and warranted, not where states are already effectively regulating and policing their activities," Murkowski commented.

New technology and studies continue to indicate that North America has a vast hydrocarbon base, with potential to substantially affect supply in world markets. Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the United States to have 220.2 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil, or more than a century's worth of projected imports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This figure does not include vast unconventional oil resources that will become commercially viable in the future.

"Abundant energy is possible, and there are already many signs of it becoming a reality as technological breakthroughs have lowered the cost of producing previously uneconomic supplies," Murkowski noted, adding that affordable energy is vital to U.S.
economic well-being, and a prudent balancing of energy production with proper standards for environmental regulation is more pressing than ever.

While the trend for oil production on state and private lands are quite positive – with approximately 96 percent of domestic oil production growth due to growth on state and private land – oil production on federal lands remained largely flat from 2003 through 2011, and sales of natural gas from federal lands fell by 31 percent. Of equal concern, the number of permits issued for onshore and offshore production on federal lands – a key indicator of future production – has also dropped significantly since the preceding administration.

"Our nation is too often hamstrung by burdensome regulations, delayed permits, and overzealous litigation," Murkowski commented. "This can render projects uneconomic by attrition and prevent timely, efficient and urgently needed investments in energy supply and conservation."

Murkowski noted that President Obama and the new Congress should work together to renew energy and natural resource policies through "discrete bills" and targeted oversight that proceed from a shared understanding of the facts.

"The ongoing boom in American oil and gas production must be fundamental to our national energy policy," Murkowski commented. "We no longer should view energy policy from a perspective of scarcity, but rather, from a perspective of increasing abundance. With the right policies, abundant and affordable energy is achievable."

Karen Boman has more than 10 years of experience covering the upstream oil and gas sector. Email Karen at kboman@rigzone.com.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

View the original article here