Biggest

Two issues — rising oil and gas prices and regulatory changes — were selected as the biggest threats to the oil and gas industry, according to BDO USA LLP, which referenced U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 10-K filings for the 100 largest exploration and production (E&P) companies in the U.S. for a new report on industry risks.

Andrew Fastow, whose ingenious off-the-book transactions as CFO of Enron Corp. enriched him while helping to precipitate one of the biggest corporate collapses in history, has been released to a community corrections facility in Houston until he completes his prison sentence in mid-December, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Fastow, now 49, was facing 98 criminal charges but pleaded guilty to two criminal counts and agreed to testify for the government against his former colleagues (see Daily GPI, Sept. 27, 2006). His key testimony led to the convictions of several Enron executives, most notably founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who were convicted on numerous charges in 2006 (see Daily GPI, May 26, 2006). Skilling, convicted on 19 criminal counts, is scheduled to be released from federal prison in 2030; he is appealing. Lay was convicted on 10 criminal counts, but died before sentencing and the convictions were dismissed. Wife Lea Fastow, also a former Enron employee, served a one-year prison term; she continues to live in Houston with the couple’s two children.

Four Republican governors whose coastal areas hold some of the biggest domestic offshore reserves — Texas, Louisiana, Alaska and Mississippi — are urging other coastal governors to join a coalition to ensure that they can play a bigger role in future decisions about oil and gas development.

A recent one-day retest of an Upper Montney Shale well in northeast British Columbia flowed at a rate of 8.9 MMcf/d, which further confirms a “large in-gas resource” at the Peach River Arch area, junior explorer Canada Energy Partners Inc. (CEP) said Monday.

In the second biggest natural gas market in the United States, California energy officials have kept a keen eye fixed on shale gas, and their revised energy plans and forecasts next year and beyond will reflect a greater impact from North America’s energy game-changer, the author of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) latest report on shale gas told NGI during an interview this week.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), one of the biggest equipment manufacturers in the oilfield services industry, last week reported a huge jump in its backlog for rig equipment orders in North America.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV), one of the biggest equipment manufacturers in the oilfield services industry, saw its share price jump more than 7% in heavy volume Tuesday after the company reported a huge jump in the backlog for rig equipment orders.

While the House Friday passed the biggest overhaul ever for the offshore oil and natural gas drilling, the odds are slim that the Senate will give a repeated performance this week before lawmakers depart for their month-long recess.

Strong earnings from U.S. natural gas and oil shale operations in 2Q2010 lifted several of the biggest oilfield service company profits, but rough seas are ahead for U.S. offshore operators because of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) drilling moratorium, Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar said last week.