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Expanded use of combined heat and power (CHP) for making electricity could, under one scenario, boost natural gas demand in the United States by as much as 4.42 Tcf/year, according to a report commissioned by the American Gas Association (AGA).

As oil production continues its steep climb in the Eagle Ford Shale, the South Texas play is on track to surpass the Bakken, the shale oil production leader, in the near term, an RBC Capital Markets analyst said Wednesday.

Antero Resources LLC, the Appalachian Basin-focused powerhouse powered by private equity giant Warburg Pincus, said Monday net production in 1Q2013 jumped 114% year/year and increased 21% sequentially, primarily driven by 24 new wells brought online in the Marcellus Shale.

Although condensate production in the Utica Shale is occurring at a slower-than-anticipated pace, Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) said it has completed the conceptual engineering for condensate splitters at its refineries in Kentucky and Ohio, part of a $300 million investment to put the company in position to handle increasing volumes in the future.

Range Resources Corp. last week said production volumes in 4Q2012 hit a record 844 MMcfe/d, 35% higher year/year, which came in large part to oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) growth in unconventional plays, presumably the Marcellus Shale and the Mississippian Lime.

Natural gas pipeline expansion projects came under attack last week in the courts and at FERC, including a New Jersey group of pipeline opponents that petitioned a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, to review Commission orders with respect to Spectra Energy’s New Jersey-New York Expansion. Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) projects were the favorite target of environmentalists as well.

Tapping all of the potential in U.S. shale natural gas isn’t a given; it requires changes to, and investment in, basic energy infrastructure, including an expansion of the U.S. pipeline and storage network, according to KKR & Co. LP.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. Monday sought authorization to place the remaining portion of its Northeast Supply Diversification (NSD) Project in service on Nov. 1. The request came only days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the start-up of a portion of the NSD facilities to provide service to three shippers beginning Oct. 1 (see Shale Daily, Sept. 24).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans has ruled against Chesapeake Energy Corp. in its bid to reverse a $19.7 million judgment over a canceled oil and gas lease offer in Texas, a decision that may hold implications on canceled lease claims by mineral rights owners in several other states.