Chesapeake

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s second-largest investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in the Oklahoma City-based operator to 8.98% from 7.6%, according to a regulatory filing by the company. The activist investor earlier this year pushed for governance changes, including replacing Aubrey McClendon as chairman. Icahn was instrumental in shaking up the board of directors and appointed an associate, Vincent J. Intrieri, as one of four new members (see Daily GPI, June 22).

Caballo Energy LLC is building a cryogenic gas processing plant to serve expanding production in the liquids-rich Mississippian Lime and Cana Woodford Shale plays.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) plans to unveil a map that outlines economically viable areas of the state’s portion of the Utica/Point Pleasant Shale by late September, which could provide oil and natural gas operators with a valuable tool to use for future exploration.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday the state has appealed to the state Supreme Court a ruling by the Commonwealth Court that struck down portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were “unconstitutional, null and void” on the grounds that its limits on local zoning violate municipalities’ right to substantive due process.

Attorneys involved with a legal challenge to portions of Act 13, Pennsylvania’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, say a decision by the state’s Commonwealth Court could come within a month and will have far-reaching consequences regardless of which way the court rules.

NiSource Inc. has clinched two joint ventures (JV) in the Utica Shale with Hilcorp Energy Co. to construct midstream facilities and to develop a “significant acreage block” in the Utica/Point Pleasant formation in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. over the Fourth of July holiday launched an online initiative urging Americans to join the company in pushing for domestic energy independence by using more U.S. natural gas to ease dependence on OPEC.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. and BNSF Railway Co. are partnering to meet the needs of Eagle Ford Shale producers for sand to be used as proppant in their hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.