Jamison Cocklin

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to update regulations and require operators that use tank cars to transport flammable liquids — including crude oil and ethanol — to retrofit or phase-out older models and build new cars with more stringent standards.

A study released earlier this week in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that reported government calculations on U.S. methane emissions could be grossly underestimated is drawing a bevy of media attention and creating groundswells of both support and criticism.

Silverback Exploration LLC, a newly formed oil and gas exploration company, has received a $350 million equity commitment fromEnCap Investments. San Antonio-based Silverback will use the capital to pursue and develop unconventional resource play opportunities in the United States. Silverback is led by CEO George M. Young Jr., who most recently served as president of Collins and Young LLC.

Summit Natural Gas of Maine announced Monday its plan to go forward with a $110 million expansion next year that will extend natural gas service to the towns of Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth — all near Portland, ME. in the southern part of the state.

Jones Energy Inc. has agreed with an undisclosed private company to acquire both producing and undeveloped oil and gas assets in the Anadarko Basin for $195 million.

After the immense success of Denver-based Antero Resources’ initial public offering (IPO) in October, and with impressive well results in the Appalachian and Permian Basins continuing to stoke the equity market’s interest in the exploration and production sector, analysts expect more IPOs from small independents in the year ahead.

A report released earlier this month that details activity in Ohio’s Utica Shale play underscores the rapid rate at which midstream companies are working to catch-up with exploration and production companies that have a backlog of wells shut-in and waiting to come online.

The Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative, a group of nonpartisan, state-level research organizations, has released an economic study showing that far fewer new jobs have been created in states where Marcellus and Utica shale development is underway than previously reported.

Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board on Wednesday ruled that it does not have “original jurisdiction” to approve orders for well spacing and drilling units — or requests for forced pooling — as they’re referred to in the state.