Becoming

Shareholder proposals requesting information on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) practices, which received an average 30.3% shareholder support in 2010, are becoming more popular, receiving an average 40.7% support this year, according to Institutional Shareholder Services. The corporate proxy firm has proposed a policy calling on shareholders to vote for proposals requesting greater disclosure of fracking operations, including measures companies have taken to mitigate potential community and environmental impacts. Current ISS policy does not specifically address fracking-related shareholder proposals.

Disclosure of the chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation is becoming the law of the land in the energy-rich Ark-La-Tex region, a natural gas breadbasket for the country, and elsewhere. However, in environmentally conscious California legislation to require disclosure has stumbled.

Disclosure of the chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation is becoming the law of the land in the energy-rich Ark-La-Tex region, a natural gas breadbasket for the country. However, in environmentally conscious California legislation to require disclosure has stumbled.

It is becoming impossible to ignore the Bakken Shale in North Dakota as an oil play that may be at the center of a domestic upswing in U.S. production, according to a report released Wednesday by the Washington, DC-based Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. (EPRINC).

In what is becoming a standard give and take in Pennsylvania, the Marcellus Shale industry released a study last week showing how its economic importance in the state is growing and critics dismissed the findings as overstated.

August natural gas futures rose Monday as traders anticipated the long-term storage deficit becoming wider. At the close August futures had risen 5.2 cents to $4.363 and September had added 4.1 cents to $4.371. August crude oil bounded higher, posting a gain of $1.95 to $96.89/bbl.

A Pennsylvania lawmaker plans to introduce a bill soon that would prohibit gas gathering companies from becoming public utilities.

In the wake of oil and gas drilling becoming permissible on state-owned land throughout Ohio, industry supporters are forming the Ohio Shale Coalition (OSC) to tout the economic benefits of developing the Marcellus and Utica shales while also countering the claims of detractors.

In the wake of oil and gas drilling becoming permissible on state-owned land throughout Ohio, industry supporters are forming the Ohio Shale Coalition (OSC) to tout the economic benefits of developing the Marcellus and Utica shales while also countering the claims of detractors.