I have heard that Chesapeake Energy has been holding the output of certain wells close to their chest and gladly paying the fines over revealing what their wells are doing. My understanding is LA has laws, enforced via fines, in place to prompt companies to disclose well production. Has anyone heard this similarly?
It will be interesting to see. I saw that the only recent civil penalty noted by the Office of Conservation was in 2007, which doesn't suggest a steady program of deliberate violation. But it does seem to be taking a long time for certain operators to report certain deep wells - lots of "completing" entries hanging out in space. Meanwhile, the so-so Haynesville wells keep showing up, allowing the companies' representatives to state truthfully in public forums that the reported results so far are not that great. Very clever.