Comments have been extended to Aug. 15 for the proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning area’s oil and gas lease sales scheduled for 2017-2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said. The original comment deadline had been Thursday (July 31) (see Daily GPI, June 13). The proposed sales are for the 2012-2017 program (see Daily GPI, June 29, 2012; Dec. 18, 2012). Following comments, BOEM plans to prepare a draft program. Online comments may be submitted by clicking on BOEM’s “Open Comment Documents” link. Written comments may be sent to Kelly Hammerle, Five-Year Program Manager; BOEM; 381 Elden St.–HM-3120; Herndon, VA 20170.

Houston-based Post Oak Energy Capital LP, through investment partnerships it manages, has committed to a $150 million line of equity to CP Exploration II LLC (CPX) to fund acquisitions and growth. CPX is a newly formed oil and gas company co-located in Dallas and Lafayette, LA. Management, led by CEO Tom Powell, has experience drilling and developing assets in multiple basins across the United States, including the Gulf Coast, Rockies and Appalachia. The company currently has operated assets in East Texas and the Fort Worth Basin. “CP Exploration has a deep and proven multi-disciplined technical team,” said Post Oak Managing Director Frost Cochran.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed an energy agreement with Mexican national officials promoting cross-border energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Brown also signed a climate change agreement with Mexican national government officials in Mexico City to cooperate on initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “California and Mexico both take the low-carbon imperative with utmost seriousness, and [the state] cannot do it alone; with this new partnership with Mexico we can make real progress on reducing dangerous GHG emissions,” Brown said.

GAIL (India) Ltd. and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. have struck a pact to pursue natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) opportunities around the globe, particularly targeting petrochemicals, gas procurement, pipelines and LNG, the companies said. GAIL and Sumitomo, which have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on projects, hold half of the capacity in the Cove Point LNG liquefaction terminal project in the United States (see Daily GPI, June 17). Both said they view the U.S. market as a “growth area for their line of businesses and would cooperate on businesses ranging from upstream to downstream.” GAIL is India’s leading natural gas company with a presence along the entire hydrocarbon value chain. Sumitomo is a leading integrated trading and investing enterprise headquartered in Tokyo. Sumitomo also invests in a range of businesses such as metal, mineral resources, energy, chemical, etc. Its subsidiary Pacific Summit Energy LLC participates in in natural gas trading and marketing (physical and financial) in the United States.