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Bluegrass Pipeline, which if sanctioned would carry surging mixed natural gas liquids (NGL) from the Marcellus and Utica shales to Northeast markets and Gulf Coast petrochemical complexes, faces some hurdles before it would be sanctioned, the project partners said Tuesday.

Industry experts said they were disappointed by the Utica Shale oil production figures for 2012 released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), but they believe a clearer picture is beginning to emerge of where the play’s sweet spots for oil are located.

A Canadian-based exploration/production (E&P) company founded five years ago put a chill on its bullish joint venture aimed at drilling on some of its extensive Monterey Shale acreage in California just as federal leasing policy in the state has been called into question for slowing development.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp. is buying producing acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale for $265 million that will more than double current company-wide production and increase proved reserves by 63%.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold its annual Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula area-wide oil and gas lease sales, as well as a lease sale for geothermal resources on Augustine Island, on Wednesday, May 8. Terms can be obtained in the “Headlines” section of the DNR website. The Augustine Island lease sale is the fourth geothermal lease sale in state history. The last lease sale of this kind was held in 2008 for acreage on Mount Spurr. The Cook Inlet sale includes 815 tracts encompassing 4 million acres. The Alaska Peninsula lease sale includes 1,047 tracts covering 5.8 million acres. The Augustine Island geothermal sale includes 26 tracts on nearly 66,000 acres. In the past two years, the Cook Inlet hydrocarbon basin has seen a resurgence in investment by small, medium and large energy companies, DNR said. Bidders must be qualified by 4 p.m. May 3, and bids must be received no later than 4 p.m. May 6.

Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. is buying a 100% operated working interest in 2,700 net acres in South Texas in the liquids-rich area of the Eagle Ford Shale for $117.5 million.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. officials said they were “extremely pleased” with results from several wells in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), while the company’s “balanced portfolio” saw net crude oil production climb to 1.1 million bbl in 2012, a 70% increase over 2011.

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. is cutting jobs and scaling back operations in its Trinidad, CO, operating area, a dry natural gas play in the Raton Basin. The company said low gas prices were the culprit.

Authorities have charged D&L Energy Inc. CEO Ben Lupo with one count of violating the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) after allegedly ordering an employee to dump oilfield waste into a storm drain that empties into the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH.