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The physical market weakened about 3 cents on average overall Thursday with modest gains posted in the Northeast and more prevalent weakness shown at eastern, Midwest and California points.

Helping lead the charge for an eventual bipartisan and serious discussion about the future U.S. energy policy, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said Friday the federal government “doesn’t have a corner on the market” for regulating the oil and natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The fourth iteration of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) biannual production report issued last week indicated that natural gas production from unconventional wells totaled 894.8 Bcf during the first six months of this year, a figure that includes Marcellus Shale wells along with some targeting the Utica Shale and other formations. Operators also reported producing 672,550 bbl of condensate and 49,194 bbl of oil from January through June.

The Interior Department Wednesday ended its overhaul of offshore safety practices brought about by Deepwater Horizon disaster a little more than two years ago, issuing a final rule on requirements for safety equipment, well control systems and blowout prevention (BOP) practices.

Support is growing for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) — a state government entity that controls an 8,000-square mile watershed covering about one-fifth of the state — to sell water for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shales, albeit on a temporary basis.

Support is growing for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) — a state government entity that controls an 8,000-square mile watershed covering about one-fifth of the state — to sell water for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shales, albeit on a temporary basis.

August natural gas bidweek prices saw stout gains across the board except for a handful of Marcellus Shale trading points as NGI’s National Spot Gas Average came in 28 cents higher than the previous month at $3.00/MMBtu, according to Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI), which has unveiled a number of new market pricing locations with its latest monthly price survey.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP on Tuesday agreed to extend its natural gas liquids (NGL) gathering pipeline in northwest Pennsylvania to accommodate the start-up later this year of XTO Energy Inc.’s midstream processing plant in Butler County, PA.

A crowd of about 5,000 showed up recently for the third annual community picnic hosted by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. at the Harford Fair Grounds in Susquehanna County, PA. Attendees included residents in the Marcellus Shale area, oil and gas industry representatives and their suppliers and a healthy contingent of Cabot employees manning displays from shale rock samples to compressed gas equipment.