Agencies

Low natural gas prices have hit Pennsylvania, where deep-shale drilling fees collected last year fell about 3% from 2011, according to state data.

Speculation about potential replacements for two Obama administration officials who are leaving top spots at energy-related agencies continues, with nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air pollution official Gina McCarthy reportedly among the leading candidates.

Speculation about potential replacements for two Obama administration officials who are leaving top spots at energy-related agencies continues, with nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air pollution official Gina McCarthy reportedly among the leading candidates.

A sidelight of North Dakota’s oil/natural gas boom that predates the shale plays by decades is the widespread natural occurrence of shallow-lying gas mixing with groundwater. The state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) conducts an ongoing study that has identified gas in groundwater in 52 of the state’s 53 counties.

NiSource Inc. on Friday said it is proceeding with its East Side Expansion project on its Columbia Gas Transmission system to carry Marcellus Shale gas to the East Coast and mid-Atlantic region.

Continued low prices for natural gas, which is the single largest source of revenue for Wyoming, have forced Gov. Matt Mead to ask state agencies to prepare budget cuts of up to 8%.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and lawyers representing several state agencies have filed briefs with the state Supreme Court, arguing that an appellate court erred when it said portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were unconstitutional.

Encana Corp.’s board of directors has concluded that the producer did not collude with “competitors” on land leasing in Michigan two years ago.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and lawyers representing several state agencies filed briefs with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that an appellate court erred when it said portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were unconstitutional.