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Gastar Exploration Ltd. is ramping up its Marcellus Shale operations in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, the company said.

The spot market saw mixed price movement Tuesday, but softening points were in a clear majority. Relatively moderate conditions in most of the Northeast and a reduction of strong heat developing in the western South lowered much of the weather-based load that had lifted nearly all locations a day earlier. Monday’s 6.6-cent drop by prompt-month futures was a further depressant for the Tuesday market.

A week after President Obama lent his support to natural gas vehicles, the administration made clear it was not playing favorites in the transportation sector. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday announced a new federal program to expand flexible vehicle fuel pumps for ethanol.

A series of bills that would affect the regulation of natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) operations in Arkansas failed to clear a hurdle in the state’s House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Thursday and appeared unlikely to move to the full House during the current legislative session.

In letters to developers of proposed well control and containment systems, the federal agency overseeing offshore safety has made it clear that it will not approve new permits for drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico unless operators have access to systems that can “quickly and effectively contain” future underwater well blowouts.

In letters to developers of proposed well control and containment systems last week, the federal agency overseeing offshore safety made it clear that it will not approve new permits for drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico unless operators have access to systems that can “quickly and effectively contain” future underwater well blowouts.

Rick Smead, a director in Navigant Consulting Inc.’s Energy Practice, co-authored the firm’s 2008 North American Natural Gas Supply Assessment, which was considered a breakthrough in recognizing the potential of unconventional natural gas supplies. However, many of the two-year-old supply assumptions already need to be updated because of remarkable advancements in technology, he said Wednesday.

Pennsylvania’s capital budget for fiscal year 2010-2011, which was approved Monday by the state’s House and last week by the state’s Senate, includes several Marcellus Shale-related infrastructure projects.

Three associations representing electric and natural gas utilities and power providers have called on Congress to exempt end-users from having to clear over-the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions that are used to hedge against commodity price risk. While supporting the clearing of derivative transactions involving large dealers in OTC legislation being considered by Congress, they said they opposed any mandate requiring “all or most” OTC derivative transactions to be centrally cleared or traded on regulated exchanges, saying this ultimately would increase prices to retail gas and electric customers.