Contributed

Development of oil and natural gas in the Eagle Ford Shale contributed $25 billion in total economic output to the South Texas region last year, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Community and Business Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio Institute for Economic Development.

The shale gas industry contributed $76.8 billion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and supported more than 600,000 jobs in 2010, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to a report issued Wednesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at IHS CERAWeek 2012 in Houston.

The El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation affected regional climates and contributed to many of the world’s significant weather events in 2010, including global temperatures that were among the warmest on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

BP plc has filed a lawsuit against Halliburton Co., claiming that the oilfield service operator’s “misconduct” contributed to the April 2010 blowout of the Macondo well and explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico. BP also has filed claims against Deepwater Horizon owner and operator Transocean Ltd., as well as Cameron International, which manufactured the well’s blowout preventer. BP said the presidential commission investigating the disaster had concluded that the cement slurry designed, mixed and pumped by Halliburton failed, and that results of the failed tests were not provided, which caused technicians to miss “critical signals that hydrocarbons were flowing into the wellbore.” A BP spokesman said the company was not seeking a specific sum from Halliburton but would ask for damages up to the total cost of the spill. BP is seeking at least $40 billion in damages from Transocean and seeks to force Cameron to contribute “all or part of the damages” that may be levied against BP by the U.S. government.

April futures were confined to a narrow range Friday but managed to eke out a modest gain. The massive earthquake in Japan found its way into crude oil and natural gas trading, and the unwinding of long crude oil and short natural gas positions prompted a firm tone to the market.

A deposition of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) witness is expected to take place Tuesday as Range Resources Corp. pursues its challenge to an EPA emergency order charging water contamination on several fronts, including a petition last week to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Independents operating in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2009 contributed nearly half of the 400,000 jobs, $70 billion in economic value and $20 billion in revenue that was generated in the Gulf Coast states by the energy industry, according to an analysis by IHS Global Insight.

Independents operating in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2009 contributed nearly half of the 400,000 jobs, $70 billion in economic value and $20 billion in revenue that was generated in the Gulf Coast states by the energy industry, according to a new analysis by IHS Global Insight.

The unconventional gas boom continues, despite lower commodity prices, and it has contributed significantly to gas reserve growth, according to the latest U.S. exploration and production (E&P) benchmark study by Ernst & Young (E&Y).