Certain

One year after the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) the legal outcome remains “far from certain” for three of the five principal companies involved, Moody’s Investors Service said last week.

One year after the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) the legal outcome remains “far from certain” for three of the five principal companies involved, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday.

Former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, who now serves as president of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association (QOGA), said the organization welcomed the provincial government’s response to a report on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Utica Shale play.

Three experienced state energy officials were selected by Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett on Tuesday to helm the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and another was tapped as the state’s first Energy Executive.

High oil prices have lifted producer interest in liquids-rich natural gas plays; they’ve also pulled up the economic attractiveness of converting gas to liquid fuels and other products.

It appeared pretty certain that the New Year’s holiday weekend weather would be noticeably milder than that of the previous week. Yet Northeast citygates essentially halted their headlong plunges from a day earlier, and small gains dominated mixed movement in the rest of the market with few points straying very far on either side from flat.

Nearly a week after a bill that would temporarily block hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Empire State landed on his desk, New York Gov. David Paterson has not decided if he will sign or veto the legislation.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) has acquired certain oil and gas assets in southeast Texas in two related deals valued at a combined $40 million, the firm said. The assets are largely comprised of long-lived natural gas wells producing out of the Wilcox formation. The acquisitions are the first by KKR Natural Resources, KKR’s partnership with Premier Natural Resources, which was formed earlier this year to pursue oil and gas investments in North America.

Reinstating requirements applicable to commodity pool operators (CPO) to apply to certain mutual fund operators, which were excluded in amendments passed in 2003, would level the playing field for investors with respect to pooled vehicles that utilize the same instruments to meet their investment objectives, CPO Steben & Co. of Rockville, MD said in comments filed at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last Monday.