Sefton Resources Inc., Denver, said its TEG Oil and Gas USA Inc. unit will begin drilling four new wells in mid-November from existing pads in Tapia heavy oil field in the eastern Ventura basin in Los Angeles County, Calif.

The UK government said it will consider “carefully” a report commissioned by explorer Cuadrilla Resources that acknowledges recent earthquakes in the country were caused by hydraulic fracturing.

Southwestern Energy Co., Houston, has drilled the backbone of its Fayetteville shale gas play in the eastern Arkoma basin and is phasing down capital spending in the play this year and in 2012, the company said last week.

Chevron Polska Energy Resources said Nov. 2 it spudded its first exploratory well in Poland to assess shale gas potential on Grabowiec license, one of four exploration licenses the company acquired in Lublin basin.

Colombia’s state Ecopetrol, operator of the CPO-9 heavy oil block in the Llanos basin, spudded the first of several appraisal wells on the Akacias structure in October.

Chevron Corp. is drilling its first well in Alberta’s Duvernay formation during the third quarter, Chevron Chief Financial Officer Patricia Yarrington told analysts during an earnings conference call on Oct. 28.

Oil Basins Ltd., Melbourne, said consulting engineers recommended a stand-alone extended well test as the best option for developing Cyrano heavy oil field in the Carnarvon basin off Western Australia.

About 1.45 trillion bbl of shale oil is estimated to be in place in the Eocene Green River formation in the Green River and Washakie basins in southwestern Wyoming, the US Geological Survey said.

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will develop standards for handling wastewater generated during coalbed methane and shale gas production. No comprehensive set of national standards exists for such activities, and EPA will begin the process of developing a proposal with input from producers, public health officials, and other stakeholders, the agency said.

Norway’s Statoil ASA reported it will acquire Austin-based independent Brigham Exploration Co. for $4.4 billion in a merger agreement. The deal marks Statoil’s entry into the Bakken and Three Forks unconventional oil plays in the Williston basin in North Dakota and Montana.

The American Petroleum Institute periodically briefs and trains state officials and regulators to help them better understand hydraulic fracturing and its importance to shale oil and natural gas development, API executives said during an Oct. 13 conference call with reporters.

ConocoPhillips has committed to its $109.5 million farmin to Perth-based New Standard Energy Ltd.’s (NSEL) Goldwyer shale gas project in Western Australia’s onshore Canning basin (OGJ Online, July 14, 2011).

A proposed hydraulic fracturing chemical disclosure rule for Texas would help “demystify” the chemicals used and could reassure the public, Andrew Barron, Rice University's chemistry professor, told the Railroad Commission of Texas during an Oct. 5 hearing in Austin, Tex., on the proposed rule.

The French government has withdrawn two permits for shale gas exploration from Schuepbach Energy LLC, Dallas, and one permit from France’s Total SA, all involving sites in southwestern France.