Aware

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled against a Lycoming County landowner who had argued an oil and gas lease could not be extended because he was not aware of an extension clause.

Energy operators are increasingly aware of competition, not just for drilling knowledge, but also for scarce global water supplies, Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said last week in Houston.

Energy operators are increasingly aware of competition, not just for drilling knowledge, but also for scarce global water supplies, Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said last week in Houston.

ExxonMobil Corp., the largest natural gas producer in North America, is well aware of the economics in drilling U.S. and Canadian dry natural gas wells today. But it has no plans now to shut in any gas wells, the investor relations chief said last week.

ExxonMobil Corp., the largest natural gas producer in North America, is well aware of the economics in drilling U.S. and Canadian dry natural gas wells today. But it has no plans now to shut in any gas wells, the investor relations chief said Tuesday.

Last year “large overseas companies” invested more than $15 billion in U.S. shale plays, and they weren’t putting down the money to “expect juicy margins at $4/Mcf gas,” analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

Aware that the company’s share price was treading near single-digit territory and on the hook for some admittedly poor business decisions, Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon came out swinging last week, telling energy analysts and investors that the company has “plenty of liquidity” and will weather the economic storm by neutralizing capital expenditures (capex) over the next two years. Even with flat spending, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas driller still expects to achieve 5-10% production growth in 2009 and 10-15% gains in 2010.

Answering rumors circulating this week concerning a possible takeover bid by Royal Dutch Shell, EnCana Corp. said Thursday it “is not aware of any intention by any party to make an offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of EnCana, nor is EnCana in discussions with any party with respect to the purchase of its issued and outstanding shares.”

If you haven’t sent in one last wish list to the congressional energy bill conferees, you should be aware time is running out. E-mail advisories were flying Thursday when it became apparent the energy bill steamroller was powered up and targeted for completion by next week and the last word on natural gas provisions could well be this weekend or Monday.