Basis

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was reportedly considering a plan to allow 10 to 40 horizontal test wells on a trial basis in the state’s Southern Tier, but changed his mind after discussing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his former brother-in-law and an avid environmentalist.

For the fourth time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the public comment period for its investigation into groundwater contamination near Pavillion, WY, this time until Sept. 30.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold on Wednesday returned to its U.S. energy roots with a $9 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP), a leading unconventional producer, and McMoRan Exploration Co.

The North America oilfield services market “eroded more than we thought” in 3Q2012, but the spending decline could turn in January, said the research team at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

Dallas-based Mesa Energy Holdings Inc. has leased 1,525 net acres in Garfield and Major counties, OK, and has closed on a farmout agreement with Twenty/Twenty Oil & Gas Inc. covering 1,720 net acres that are held by production.

The country may be suffering through one of its worst droughts in decades and record high temperatures are being recorded on a monthly basis, but portions of the eastern United States can expect above-normal snowfall during the 2012-2013 winter season, according to forecasters at AccuWeather.com.

Substantial growth in natural gas demand amidst low prices and gushing supplies eventually will be realized, but on a phased five-year basis (2015-20) that will keep price increases modest, according to a report released Tuesday by Barclays Research. In the meantime, demand growth will be confined to the power generation and industrial sectors.

After hundreds of years of being the dominant source for electrical power generation, separate reports by the commodity analysts and the media say the coal industry faces an uncertain future as natural gas prices remain low and utilities build new power plants fueled by natural gas.

Regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public lands as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to do would cost society $1.499 billion to $1.615 billion per year, according to an analysis commissioned by the Western Energy Alliance (WEA).