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Because of the 2010 drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and subsequent permitting slowdown, U.S. offshore drilling was estimated at 6% ($8.9 billion) of global offshore oil and natural gas investment of $146 billion last year, according to a new report commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Encana Oil & Gas (USA), owner of a natural gas field in Pavillion, WY, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims is contaminated by chemicals used in production practices (including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking), has called on the agency to suspend the public comment period on a draft report issued in December.

Because of increased flow on Algonquin and its resulting ability to blend additional supplies, Millennium said it was permitted Thursday to increase deliveries from 250,000 Dth/d to 325,000 Dth/d. Millennium said it planned to carry out the scheduled work Friday aimed at improving its moisture levels and restoring the Ramapo delivery point into Algonquin to full capacity.

For the second time since its ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing was ruled illegal, the Morgantown City Council voted to table a decision to repeal the ban in order to make a “political statement” against the West Virginia state government.

The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) last week ordered the shut-in of nearly 700 natural gas wells in the province because of the potential threat to future oilsands development.

The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) announced Tuesday that it was ordering the shut-in of nearly 700 natural gas wells in the province because of the potential threat to future oilsands development.

After weathering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft report late last week, which claimed that the groundwater in Pavillion, WY, contains chemicals that are normally used in natural gas production practices, such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., a subsidiary of Encana Corp., went on offense Monday, noting that many of the EPA’s findings from its recent deep monitoring wells, including those related to any potential connection between fracking and Pavillion groundwater quality, “are conjecture, not factual, and only serve to trigger undue alarm.”

Exploration and production (E&P) companies are in the early stages of a “multi-year, double-digit growth spending upcycle” around the globe that is characterized by increased drilling in complex geologies on land, as well as deepwater development, according to a new survey by Barclays Capital analysts.

Legacy Reserves LP has backed out of a deal to buy some of Encana Corp.’s natural gas assets in Wyoming because of a groundwater well pollution investigation by federal authorities.