Here’s the first entry on our new Shale Watch blog, intended to monitor developments in the exploration of the Fayetteville shale gas deposit. Readers who live in the shale have asked for an outlet to talk about production, environmental, royalty and other issues. Consider this the place.
Write gerard@arktimes.com with comments and suggestions.
A gas glut, and reduced prices, has prompted Chesapeake Energy to trim its drilling plans, the Wall Street Journal reports. Impact on Arkansas not totally clear.
But Talk Business picks up more detail from the Chesapeake news release, which indicates its planned $3.2 billion Fayetteville shale exploration will be cut by 25 percent, or about $800 million. (UPDATE: It appears, however, that this cut doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in exploration. Rather it’s a reduction in Chesapeake expenditures as a result of selling a quarter of the venture to BP.)