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Kathryn Klaber, who has helmed the industry-led Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) as CEO for almost four years, is stepping down, she said Friday.

Almost half of the drilling in the U.S. onshore now is being done on multi-well pads, further moving attention from the rig and well count and more to horizontal footage drilled and the number of fractured stages per well, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said last week.

Kathryn Klaber, who has helmed the industry-led Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) as CEO for almost four years, is stepping down. She was selected to lead the newly formed organization in late 2009 and is expected to help in the transition over the next few months. “Pennsylvania is now producing nearly 10% of the nation’s natural gas,” Klaber said. “Our industry’s work has been described as ‘revolutionary’ and ‘game-changing.’ The work of the MSC, collaborating with public officials, has helped create the climate for growth of an industry that has delivered on its promises to create American jobs, increase our energy security, while holding safety and environmental performance as paramount.” The oil and gas industry over the past few years “has faced and collectively overcome a host of challenges,” said MSC Chair Dave Spigelmyer, who is Chesapeake Energy Corp. vice president of government affairs. “Katie’s results-oriented leadership and proven ability to identify and collaboratively tackle these challenges has brought incredible value to our industry.”

Almost half of the drilling in the U.S. onshore now is being done on multi-well pads, further moving attention from the rig and well count and more to horizontal footage drilled and the number of fractured stages per well, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said Monday.

Temperatures across almost all of the United States will average warmer than normal over the next three months, though the Southeast and Ohio Valley may get some cooler breaks, according to a seasonal forecast released Tuesday by Weather Services International (WSI).

A deal was finalized Friday in a Houston federal court to reduce the prison sentence of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling by almost a decade to 14 years, making him eligible for release from a Denver federal prison in 2017. The Department of Justice in May had reached an agreement with Skilling, 59, under which Skilling waived his right to any further appeals and allowed more than $40 million of his forfeited assets to be distributed to victims of Enron’s collapse in 2001 (see Daily GPI, May 9). Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal counts and sentenced to 24 years and four months (see Daily GPI, May 26, 2006). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans twice said the sentence had been miscalculated (see Daily GPI, April 8, 2011).

A deal has been finalized in a Houston federal court to reduce the prison sentence of former Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling by almost a decade to 14 years, making him eligible for release from a Denver federal prison in 2017. The Department of Justice in May had reached an agreement with Skilling, 59, under which he waived his right to any further appeals and allowed more than $40 million of his forfeited assets to be distributed to victims of Enron’s collapse in 2001 (see NGI, May 13). Skilling was convicted in 2006 on 19 criminal counts and sentenced to 24 years and four months (see NGI, May 29, 2006). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans twice said the sentence had been miscalculated (see NGI, April 11, 2011).

Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., the majordomo of Marathon Oil Corp. for almost 14 years and a 41-year industry veteran, said Thursday he will retire at the end of the year.

As oil production continues its steep climb in the Eagle Ford Shale, the South Texas play is on track to surpass the Bakken, the shale oil production leader, in the near term, an RBC Capital Markets analyst said Wednesday.