Mergers and acquisitions rise
Thanks to fracking and foreign investment, the U.S. oil and gas industry got off to a strong start this year, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The industry has had more mergers and acquisitions in 2014’s first three months than in any first quarter in more than a decade, the report says.
The report includes a quarterly analysis of deals worth at least $50 million. A total of 43 deals worth $19.8 billion occurred, compared with 41 deals for the first quarter of 2013.
Nearly a third of the quarter’s total deals involved hydraulic fracturing. Of the 13 large deals involving shale plays, five were in the Eagle Ford region, three in the Bakken, three in the Permian basin, one in the Utica shale and one in the Niobrara.
Niobrara drilling productivity increasing
Figures released by the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) April 15 show that drilling productivity in the Niobrara shale formation is on the rise, a sign that development in eastern Wyoming and Colorado could continue to grow.
The report shows that average productivity per new well drilled rose from 250 barrels per day in 2013 to a little more than 352 barrels per day.
Those statistics make the Niobrara the third most productive oil producing region in the country behind the Bakken in North Dakota and Eagle Ford in Texas. The average productivity of new wells in the Bakken was slightly more than 490 barrels a day in April, while in Eagle Ford that figure was around 460 barrels a day, the EIA says.
Target Logistics wins workforce-housing contract
Target Logistics, a provider of workforce housing and one of the largest operators of turnkey solutions in North America, announced April 10 that it has been awarded a nearly $30 million contract over the next three years.
Target Logistics will provide workforce housing in the Bakken shale to one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas companies in the United States.
Target Logistics operates 16 properties in the U.S. and Canada with more than 5,300 total beds.
Cabot Oil gives over $2 million to college
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., based in Pennsylvania, is giving $2.5 million to Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., for its School of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Lackawanna College started the school in 2009, near the heart of Cabot’s drilling activity. The donation will create a $1 million endowment to support scholarships and the school’s ongoing needs. An additional $1.5 million will be used for equipment, training, staff and faculty development, and student interactive experiences and internships.
The school currently offers associate degrees in petroleum and natural gas technology and natural gas compression technology.
Baker Hughes buys Perfomix
Baker Hughes Incorporated, a supplier of oilfield services, products and technology, announced April 7 that it has acquired Perfomix Inc., a Texas-based oilfield software technology company.
Baker Hughes says the purchase will strengthen its real-time digital capabilities, and Perfomix will be integrated into the company’s remote operations services organization. The acquisition expands the company’s portfolio of field devices integration, real-time data management, and visualization and analytics software.
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Heyco building $91 million plant to convert Eagle Ford gas to alternative fuel
A division of Dallas-based Heyco Energy Group will build a $91 million plant east of San Antonio that will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) for use by operators in the Eagle Ford shale, company officials announced.
Heyco LNG was expected to break ground in May or June on the facility, which will convert natural gas extracted from the shale into LNG that can fuel drilling rigs and hydraulic fracturing equipment used there, according to Chris Coleman, president of the company.
The plant will be located about an hour and a half east of San Antonio in Lavaca County, near one of the busiest areas of the Eagle Ford. Heyco will purchase gas from the nearby Enterprise Products Partners pipeline.
