Away

The opening of the Mariner West I ethane pipeline and new processing plants should provide some relief to current wet gas constraints in the Marcellus and Utica shales, and the plays should be largely de-bottlenecked by the end of next year, according to analysts at Barclays.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has begun operating its 850,000 net acre leasehold in the Mississippian Lime jointly with China’s Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration Corp. after the duo completed a $1 billion-plus joint venture (JV) agreement.

Maryland’s Department of Environment (MDE) and Department of Natural Resources have released a draft report describing best practices for drilling and production that should be required if horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells is permitted in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale, which is confined to its two westernmost counties.

As industry and energy regulators again were forced to stay away from their offices in Calgary’s flooded downtown a state of emergency still prevailed Monday in the city and much of southern Alberta, according to government and industry sources.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. shareholders reelected the company’s board of directors, but rejected separate proposals to implement proxy access, reincorporate in Delaware and declassify the board, the last of which would have made it easier to replace the entire board in one fell swoop.

Chevron Corp. said it has reached agreements to acquire two adjoining parcels of land totaling 61 acres in Moon Township in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as a potential site for its regional headquarters office campus.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) is weighing stricter regulations for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that, among other things, would require expanded notification of landowners before fracking begins and disclosure of chemicals used in frack fluids.

Louisiana’s economic output will grow by $30 billion between 2011 and 2019 as a result of natural gas-induced investment, according to a report by Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies that details the impact of the natural gas boom on the state.

Although many of its nations have so far spurned their own shale development, European chemical and energy service companies are benefiting from the U.S. shale gas development and the resulting low natural gas prices on this side of the Pond, according to an American Chemistry Council (ACC) economist.