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The decline in U.S. unconventional natural gas drilling this year may create an unintended consequence: reducing the amount of flowback water that operators reuse at well sites.

The decrease in drilling expected in the Marcellus Shale this year could have an unexpected consequence: reducing the amount of flowback water that operators reuse at well sites.

Continental Resources Inc. on Wednesday made a $340 million pitch to buy Bakken Shale-focused Wheatland Oil Inc., a company controlled by Continental CEO Harold Hamm.

Gastar Exploration Ltd. will devote $100.5 million of its $134.2 million 2012 capital budget to drilling and completion costs, with 89% of that amount ($88.9 million) to be spent on activities in the liquids-rich window of the Marcellus Shale, the company said Tuesday.

Despite numerous proposed power generation projects, California faces a seven-year window (2017-2024) in which an adequate amount of natural gas-fired power is uncertain without costly upgrades to an aging fleet of coastal facilities, according to a long-term strategic plan by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has filed an administrative complaint seeking $112,500 in fines — the maximum amount allowed by law — against U.S. Energy Development Corp. for water quality violations that allegedly occurred during drilling activities in Pennsylvania and affected Yeager Brook in Cattaraugus County, NY.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has filed an administrative complaint seeking $112,500 in fines — the maximum amount allowed by law — against U.S. Energy Development Corp. for water quality violations that allegedly occurred during drilling activities in Pennsylvania and affected Yeager Brook in Cattaraugus County, NY.

An apparent disparity between continued low wholesale natural gas prices and the amount Atlanta-area consumers are paying for natural gas needs to be cleared up by Georgia marketers, according to Stan Wise, chairman of the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC).

Two environmental groups in California have sued the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to prevent the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Monterey Shale play in north-central parts of the state.