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As part of a nationwide effort spurred by a bipartisan collaboration of governors, U.S. auto manufacturers came to Oklahoma Wednesday to learn more about recently issued multi-state request for proposals (RFP) for supplying natural gas vehicles (NGV) to bolster state fleets.

Gastar Exploration Ltd. said Wednesday net production from its Marcellus Shale assets have increased more than 34-fold in a year, a result of ramped up drilling activity in the liquids-rich portion of the play during the second quarter of 2012.

The effort to put a natural gas severance tax hike before Arkansas voters has been suspended as backers came up short on the number of signatures necessary to put the issue on the November ballot (see Shale Daily, July 10; June 29). Tax hike proponent Sheffield Nelson told local news media he would make a final decision on whether to abandon the effort within a week. The campaign is short about 40,000 signatures after many were disqualifed. The campaign would need to make up the shortfall by Aug. 20 and deliver at least 62,507 valid signatures in total.

Range Resources Corp. has drilled the first unconventional natural gas well in Crawford County, PA, and is reportedly planning to drill more of them targeting the Utica Shale in the near future.

A coalition of New York landowners who support natural gas development came to the state capital on Wednesday to meet elected officials backing their cause and to deliver them a six-point landowners’ “declaration of rights.”

The Obama administration’s five-year (2012-2017) plan for oil and natural gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf came under heavy attack last Wednesday from Republican members of the House Natural Resources Committee, who claimed that it reinstated the ban on shelf drilling that was lifted in 2008. The head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) defended the proposed plan, saying it focuses on offshore areas where oil and gas deposits are known to be the richest and also are verifiable by reliable seismic data.

The Obama administration’s five-year (2012-2017) plan for oil and natural gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf came under heavy attack Wednesday from Republican members of the House Natural Resources Committee, who claimed that it reinstated the ban on shelf drilling that had been lifted in 2008. The head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) defended the proposed plan, saying it focuses on offshore areas where oil and gas deposits are known to be the richest and also are verifiable by reliable seismic data.

A ballot initiative to raise the Arkansas severance tax on natural gas production being promoted by former gas industry executive Sheffield Nelson recently drew a few more foes, according to the energy industry-backed anti-tax group Arkansans for Jobs & Affordable Energy (AJAE). The Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC), the Poultry Federation and the Northwest Arkansas Council recently signed on in opposition to the tax hike on producers. “…[O]ur association believes a natural gas severance tax increase would be harmful for Arkansas counties and for Arkansans,” said Chris Villines, executive director of the AAC.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. defended itself against a story in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine that the producer is claiming contains several inaccuracies.