Additional

A lawsuit filed by a several Barnett Shale mineral owners accuses Chesapeake Energy Corp. of selling natural gas to an affiliate for a reduced price and basing royalty payments on those sales, which violates the terms of the lease agreements.

The Marcellus Shale today is the largest U.S. natural gas production region, with output of more than 7 Bcf/d, which has led to a “significant, positive” impact on early movers, but some operators continue to underperform share-wise in the play, according to IHS Inc.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming has approved Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Crazy Cat East oil and natural gas drilling project about 40 miles south of Buffalo in North Central Wyoming.

Cheniere Energy Inc. unit Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy to export additional volumes from its planned terminal in Cameron Parish, LA. Sabine Pass is seeking authorization to export to both free trade agreement (FTA) and non-FTA countries the equivalent of 101 Bcf per year in support of a contract it struck last December with Total Gas & Power North America Inc. (see Daily GPI, Dec. 18, 2012). The term of the 20-year agreement begins upon the first commercial delivery for the project’s fifth train and has an extension option of up to 10 years. However, Sabine Pass said it is not obligated to serve the Total contract from train five and may use whatever capacity is available at the facility. Recently, Sabine Pass and related companies filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to set in motion the approval process for the project’s fifth and sixth trains (see Daily GPI, March 7).

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. said it will proceed with a C$1 billion expansion of its natural gas liquids (NGL) infrastructure, with at least some of the development intended to build upon its acquisition of Provident Energy Ltd., which was completed last year.

Contact Exploration Inc. and Pieridae Energy Ltd. have created Pieridae Production LP (PPLP) to focus on natural gas exploration and production in support of Pieridae’s proposed Goldboro LNG Terminal in Guysborough, Nova Scotia. PPLP, which, at least initially, will rely on shale gas in the Frederick Brook Shale.

The pace of drilling in Pennsylvania has declined by 35% in the first month and a half of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, but counties rich in liquids and oil are faring better.

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) agreed Friday to lease more than 6,000 acres under one of the lakes it manages in eastern Ohio to Antero Resources, with a bonus payment of nearly $41 million.

Trans Energy Inc. announced Wednesday that it had sold its drilling rights and working interest in shallow wells targeting the Devonian Shale for $2.75 million before adjustments, but had retained a royalty interest on most wells and drilling rights to deeper formations, such as the Rhinestreet, Marcellus and Utica shales.