MARKET WATCH: NYMEX crude oil settles under $63.40/bbl

Light, sweet crude oil prices for March delivery settled lower for a third consecutive day on the New York market Feb. 6 after global equity markets plummeted on Feb. 5, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1,175 points—its biggest single-session decline on record. Source: News

US DUC inventory stabilizes, depletion rates accelerate

The number of drilled but uncompleted (DUC) oil wells stabilized in US unconventional plays during 2017.Meanwhile, some Eagle Ford wells showed higher initial production (IP)rates but faster decline rates. Source: News

Midstates Petroleum proposes merger with SandRidge

Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. has proposed to combine with SandRidge Energy Inc. in an all-stock merger to create a Mississippian Lime play-focused company with a 456,000-net acre operating footprint in the play with a 75,000-net acre position in the NW STACK. Source: News

Pennsylvania governor renews call for lawmakers to pass severance tax

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) renewed his request to the commonwealth’s legislators to enact a severance tax, arguing in his Feb. 6 budget address that it would be paid “by people mostly outside of Pennsylvania to use our natural resources” to support state programs and improve the economy. Source: News

Long Son Petrochemical lets contract for Vietnamese petchem complex

Siam Cement Public Co. subsidiary Long Son Petrochemical Co. has let a contract to a consortium of SK E&C Co. and TechnipFMC for work on a long-delayed project to build Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex on Long Son Island in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria Province, about 100 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Source: […]