Killajoules

Texas' Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Legislation Will Increase Transparency, Serve as a Model for Other States, Apache CEO
Texas' new hydraulic fracturing disclosure law — signed by Gov. Rick Perry on Friday — demonstrates that states and oil and gas producers can work together to increase public confidence in the industry as it develops abundant, cleaner-burning natural gas resources, said G. Steven Farris, chairman and chief executive officer of Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA).

BHP Billiton and Petrohawk Announce Merger
BHP Billiton [ASX: BHP, NYSE: BHP, LSE: BLT, JSE: BIL] and Petrohawk Energy Corporation (“Petrohawk”) [NYSE: HK] announced today that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for BHP Billiton to acquire Petrohawk for US$38.75 per share by means of an all-cash tender offer for all of the issued and outstanding shares of Petrohawk, representing a total equity value of approximately US$12.1 billion and a total enterprise value of approximately US$15.1 billion, including the assumption of net debt. The Petrohawk board of directors has unanimously recommended to Petrohawk shareholders that they accept the offer.

Halliburton Awarded Integrated Services Contract from Chevron for Shale Natural Gas Exploration in Poland
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) announced today that it has been awarded a contract from Chevron for integrated services for shale natural gas exploration in Poland.

Mitsubishi Corporation Participation of Korea Gas Corporation in Canada's Shale Gas Development Project
Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has today announced that it has agreed to collaborate with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS, headquartered in Seongnam City, South Korea) in developing a natural gas project centered on shale gas in the Cordova Embayment of northeastern British Columbia, Canada, into which MC has been promoting from last September together with Penn West Exploration (PWE, headquartered in Calgary), a senior independent Canadian oil and natural gas producer.

AltaGas Ltd. Receives Final Approval to Construct Natural Gas Processing Facility in Montney Resource Area
AltaGas Ltd. ("AltaGas") (TSX:ALA) today announced it has received the final regulatory approval required to begin construction on its 120 Mmcf/d Gordondale gas processing facility, located approximately 100 km northwest of Grande Prairie, Alberta. The plant will be equipped with liquids extraction facilities to capture the natural gas liquids value for AltaGas' customers.

Drilling of Łebień LE-2H horizontal well
3Legs Resources plc (the “Company”), a company focussed on the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas resources with a particular focus on shale gas in Europe, announces the following drilling update.

The First Japanese participation in European shale gas projects
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement with subsidiaries of the U.S. oil and gas development company, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) ("Marathon"), to acquire a 9% working interest in 10 of Marathon's Paleozoic shale gas exploration concessions in the Republic of Poland ("Poland"). Another partner is a subsidiary of Nexen Inc. ("Nexen"), which owns a 40% working interest of the concessions. The closing of the transaction is subject to the statutory approval by the relevant Polish governmental authorities and Nexen. Mitsui is the first Japanese company to enter into a European shale gas project.

Progress Energy Announces Strategic Partnership with PETRONAS to Develop Montney Shale Assets
Progress Energy Resources Corp. (“Progress” or the “Company”) (TSX: PRQ) announced today it has executed a binding framework agreement to create a strategic partnership with the Malaysian national oil company, PETRONAS, to develop a portion of Progress’ Montney shale assets in the Foothills of northeast British Columbia (the “Transaction”). Progress will sell 50 percent of its working interest in its Altares, Lily and Kahta properties (the “North Montney Joint Venture”) to PETRONAS for CDN$1.07 billion. The agreement also reflects the desire by both parties to explore additional opportunities to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity in British Columbia.

Marathon Oil Corporation Announces $3.5 Billion Acquisition of Eagle Ford Shale Assets
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) announced today it has reached a definitive agreement with Hilcorp Resources Holdings, LP to purchase its assets in the core of the Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas in a transaction valued at $3.5 billion subject to closing adjustments, customary terms and conditions, and Hart-Scott-Rodino approval. Hilcorp Resources Holdings is a partnership between affiliates of Hilcorp Energy Company and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP. Along with other transactions expected to close by the end of 2011, Marathon's Eagle Ford acreage position is expected to more than double to 285,000 net acres. The Hilcorp transaction is expected to close Nov. 1, 2011 with an effective date of May 1, 2011.

Hilcorp acreage acquisition highlights:

• Approximately 141,000 net acres (217,000 gross) primarily in Atascosa, Karnes, Gonzales and DeWitt counties in Texas (see attached map)
• Potential opportunity to acquire approximately 14,000 additional net acres through tag-along rights and other leasing
• Approximately 90 percent operated with 65 percent average working interest
• As of May 1 there were 36 wells producing approximately 7,000 net (17,000 gross) barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, of which 80 percent is liquids (three-fourths of which is crude oil and condensate)
  • 10 additional wells drilled and awaiting completion
  • Six rigs currently operating and two dedicated hydraulic fracturing crews
  • Year-end production expected to be approximately 12,000 net boe per day
• Total net risked resource potential of 400 - 500 million boe with upside potential from additional downspacing and other stacked pay potential
• Potential to book up to 100 million boe of proved reserves by the end of 2011
• Production expected to increase to approximately 80,000 net boe per day by 2016

"Marathon has captured a top-five acreage position in the core of the premier resource play in the U.S. since first entering the Eagle Ford in November 2010. This transaction enhances our already strong North America position focused on unconventional, liquids-rich resource plays that provide low-risk, scalable and profitable growth," said Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., Marathon president and CEO. "This and other projects under development serve as a catalyst for Marathon to increase our projected Upstream production growth to 5 - 7 percent on a compound average annual growth rate (CAGR) during the period 2010 - 2016.

"In addition to establishing our position in the highest value oil and condensate core area of the Eagle Ford shale, these assets will deliver immediate production and reserve additions, an active Company-operated drilling program, significant resource potential, as well as solid economic returns and profitability that are immediately accretive to earnings and operating cash flow, and expected to be self-funding by 2014.

"With our technical expertise and best-in-class drilling, along with our project execution skills, we are poised to maximize profitable reserve and production growth across our liquids-rich resource plays, particularly in the Eagle Ford. Importantly, our financial flexibility enables us to pursue this growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet," Cazalot said.

Marathon will use cash on hand and cash generated from operations to fund the transaction. With an anticipated fourth quarter closing, the Company's Upstream capital, investment and exploration spending for 2011 (excluding acquisitions) is not anticipated to increase materially as a result of this transaction.

Increased Production Growth Across North America
In addition to the six rigs currently under contract related to this acquisition and two in Marathon's other Eagle Ford acreage, Marathon has five drilling rigs on order and expects to be operating at least 20 drilling rigs in the Eagle Ford within 12 months of closing this transaction. As a result, the Company expects to grow production from its total Eagle Ford acreage position to a peak of approximately 100,000 net boe per day by 2016. A summary of the total Eagle Ford acreage listed by county is included below.

Eagle Ford Acreage Summary*
County Net Acres
Wilson 98,000
Atascosa 47,000
Karnes 46,000
Gonzales 34,000
Frio 22,000
DeWitt 11,000
Bee 10,000
Lavaca 9,000
Live Oak 6,000
McMullen 2,000
Total 285,000

Realm Energy and Halliburton Evaluate and Rank Shale Plays in Emerging Markets
In an effort to accelerate shale gas development, Realm Energy International Corporation (TSX-V:RLM) has contracted Halliburton’s (NYSE: HAL) Consulting and Project Management team to work with Realm Energy to significantly expand the technical evaluation and ranking of the highest-potential shale deposits found in emerging prospective basins globally.