Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. on Wednesday April 27th, 2011 announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its Barnett Shale Tier 1 properties to KKR Natural Resources, the partnership formed between an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR) and Premier Natural Resources, for $104 million.

This sale is expected to close in mid-May and is subject to customary closing conditions and purchase price adjustments. Read more »

Devon Energy, the largest producer in North Texas’ Barnett Shale, has lots of drilling ahead of it in the natural gas play, company Executive Chairman Larry Nichols said today.

“We have at least 7,500 undrilled locations,” said Nichols, who stepped down last year as Devon’s CEO after 30 years in the job.
Devon plans to keep about a dozen drilling rigs busy in the Barnett this year and will drill perhaps 325 wells, Nichols said. Read more »

The benefits of Barnett Shale natural gas production to its 24 North Texas host counties are often cited and easily appreciated. It's hard for anyone not to like money in their pockets and thousands of jobs for the local economy.

Less appreciated is the potential for air pollution, pipeline hazards and groundwater contamination that these wells bring, not to mention the temporary discomforts of noise and truck traffic during the drilling phase. Read more »

Just how many Barnett Shale drilling leases have been filed in Tarrant County so far this year? Evidently, according to data that has been compiled, lots and lots of leases have been filed.

The newly updated research shows that the number of leases filed from Jan. 1, 2007 to March 1 of this year totals 342,503.

Prior research shows a total of 35,306 Barnett leases were filed in the years 1997 through 2006, with 23,110 of these in 2006. Read more »