Charge

Global gas producer BG Group plc said net profits for the second quarter were hobbled by a $1.3 billion post-tax charge against its shale assets in the United States and that it would reduce drilling activity there in response to continuing low natural gas prices.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published a schedule of annual fees that it will charge designated contract markets (DCM) and registered futures associations for the operation of its self-regulatory organization (SRO) program.

These days with no end to decade-low gas prices in sight, Newfield Exploration Co. CEO Lee Boothby can’t wait to be in charge of an oil-weighted production company, and it’s going to happen soon, he said Wednesday. Newfield has put down the dry gas drillbit and is focusing intently on oil and liquids-rich plays.

Data gathered from 30 large domestic natural gas producers indicate that the U.S. inventory of gas reserves has grown to about 300 Tcf, according to a new report from the American Gas Association (AGA). That estimate, based in large part on new discoveries in shale plays, shatters the previous domestic reserves record of 293 Tcf, which was recorded in 1967.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday initial test results of water samples taken from 11 households in the Carter Road/Meshoppen Creek Road area of Dimock Township, PA, do not indicate any levels of contamination from natural gas drilling.

PDC Mountaineer (PDCM), a joint venture (JV) of Petroleum Development Corp. (PDC) and Lime Rock Partners V LP, will temporarily suspend drilling in the Marcellus Shale “due to the current depressed natural gas price environment,” according to Denver-based PDC.

Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, under the banner of Halcon Resources LLC, is leading a charge to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, who recently created Halcon Resources LLC, is leading a charge to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Pennsylvanians are increasingly in favor of imposing a severance tax on natural gas production, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Center for Opinion Research (COR) at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.