Charlie Passut

Multiple polar vortices with chilling cold have created freeze-offs impacting billions of cubic feet of natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shales over the last few weeks, and it could be months before production returns to normal, according to Genscape Inc.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year does not allocate any funding toward regulating the oil and gas industry, and the state’s top regulator added that there are “absolutely no plans” to issue permits for high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

Analysts say American Energy Partners LP (AEP-LP) is the company buying 74,000 acres in the Utica Shale from Hess Corp., adding that such a move makes sense given AEP-LP’s appetite for assets in the shale play and a simultaneous decision to secure equity commitments.

Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC and Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP have submitted three filings to FERC asking for permission to amend tariff rate structures.

A court in Pennsylvania ruled Monday that Seneca Resources Corp. owns the rights to oil and natural gas under about 3,650 acres in Venango County owned by the state Game Commission (PGC), but it said it was unclear whether the company also had the right to perform hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on some of the acreage.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) announced Wednesday it would invest more in its midstream and retail segments over the next three years to take advantage of growing North American crude oil markets.

Hess Corp. announced Wednesday that it plans to sell about 74,000 acres in the Utica Shale, classified as dry natural gas acreage, to an undisclosed buyer for $924 million.

The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said the cartel doesn’t feel threatened by the United States producing ever-increasing volumes of shale oil, and one OPEC member said it was interested in possibly importing natural gas from North America.

Sanchez Energy Corp., which is focused exclusively on the Eagle Ford Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), kicked its total production volumes up nine-fold for the fourth quarter, more than seven-fold for the year, and saw gas production increase more than 3,000% in the fourth quarter.