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Braskem America on Wednesday agreed to take over some of the petrochemical operations at the old Sunoco Marcus Hook Industrial Complex south of Philadelphia with a $56 million infusion and another $15 million in state support that preserves more than 100 jobs and creates at least 28 more.

Shale development could realistically contribute a 3% annual increase in jobs in Pennsylvania through the remainder of the decade, according to research from Wells Fargo Securities LLC.

U.S. resource plays that are spewing out natural gas and oil have virtually cleared producer calendars of speculative drilling and made for an energy supply bounty that is becoming the envy of numerous companies around the world, speakers at a Houston energy conference said.

A state district judge in New Mexico Tuesday handed the state’s oil/gas industry an early new year’s present, putting a halt to legal appeals of ongoing industry efforts to revise rules for handling drilling and production waste, the so-called “pit rule.” An Oil Conservation Commission hearing on the industry efforts is now scheduled for Jan. 23 in Santa Fe.

The Heinz Endowment is looking for another university or entity to host and develop its Marcellus Shale research programs after an apparent falling out with the University of Pittsburgh.

State regulators from eight states — Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas, Michigan, Colorado and Pennsylvania — told the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee (SEAB) that its recommendations on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) should address best practices.

W&T Offshore Inc. has made a “transformative acquisition” to grow reserves and production by agreeing to acquire about 21,900 gross leasehold acres (21,500 net acres) for $366 million in the West Texas Permian Basin in Gaines, Dawson, Andrews and Martin counties, the company said last week.

An affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC will acquire a 9.9% stake in OGE Energy Corp.’s Enogex midstream gas pipeline subsidiary, OGE Energy said. OGE Energy will contribute its marketing business, OGE Energy Resources Inc., to Enogex. ArcLight, a private equity firm based in Boston, has agreed to pay OGE Energy $183 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by Nov. 1 and will enable ArcLight to increase its stake over time. “As emerging natural gas resource plays continue to be developed, they are creating significant midstream infrastructure opportunities,” said Robb Turner, co-founder of ArcLight Capital Partners. “Enogex has substantial organic growth opportunities around its strategically located Midcontinent operations.”

Prices rebounded by generally small amounts in most of the market Wednesday as the South is beginning to contribute more air conditioning load than earlier this week and is being abetted to a smaller degree by warming trends in the Midwest. The previous day’s screen gain of 3.9 cents also gave a modicum of positive guidance to cash numbers.