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Ohio-based TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) said Monday it plans to construct 100 liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling facilities nationwide along its network of 165 full-service long-haul truck stops in 41 states. TA said it has signed a letter of understanding with a unit of Royal Dutch Shell to supply the LNG.

The well-worn paths for global natural gas, traditionally traced along the trade flows of liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansions, have been rerouted as unconventional gas — and especially shale — has washed out old bridges to the past, according to a report by the International Gas Union (IGU) and IHS Inc.

As the Pine Ridge fire in Colorado expanded Friday, up to 50 natural gas wells were shut in by operators along the Western Slope in the Piceance Basin. In one case, wells were shuttered before operators were asked to do so by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA).

ExxonMobil Corp. and Russia’s OAO Rosneft on Friday clinched a partnership agreement to develop oil reserves in tight, low-permeability formations in Western Siberia using advanced drilling technologies that ExxonMobil has employed successfully in North America’s onshore.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration is reportedly working on a plan to allow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in five counties along the Pennsylvania border in the Marcellus Shale, but only in localities that support the practice.

Wrapping up the $38 billion acquisition that has been called a “once in a lifetime transaction,” Kinder Morgan on Thursday completed its acquisition of El Paso Corp., creating the largest midstream and the fourth largest energy company in North America, owning an interest in or operating approximately 75,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals with an enterprise value of more than $90 billion.

Several Chesapeake Energy Corp. subsidiaries, along with a privately owned oil and gas exploration company based in Ohio, have filed a counterclaim in federal district court as they look to fight a lawsuit by 17 landowners in western Pennsylvania over a leasing dispute.

Wyoming state investigators said Thursday a mechanical failure in the well was the main cause of a natural gas well blowout late in April at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. drilling site. However, operating errors also contributed. The incident lasted about three days; no one was injured (see Shale Daily, April 30).

First quarter performance from EOG Resources Inc.’s “big four” oil and liquids plays was substantial enough to raise this year’s total company liquids production growth target to 33% from 30% and increase the overall production growth target to 7% from 5.5%.