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A California-based oil and natural gas company was fined $450,000 and sentenced to a five-year probationary period after pleading guilty to one felony count of operating a pipeline offshore Southern California that the Interior Department previously determined was unfit for service, federal authorities said last Monday.

A California-based oil and natural gas company was fined $450,000 and sentenced to a five-year probationary period after pleading guilty to one felony count of operating a pipe offshore Southern California that the Interior Department earlier had determined to be unsuitable for service, federal authorities said Monday.

Producers are expected to spend 7% more on capital expenditures this year than in 2005, and the North American drilling rig count is at a 20-year high — up 19.4% since July 2005. But with more money to spend and fewer conventional resources to exploit, U.S. producers have shifted their exploration strategies to the “evolving opportunities” onshore, energy analysts said last week.

Oil and natural gas producers are expected to spend 7% more on capital expenditures this year than in 2005, and the North American drilling rig count is at a 20 year high — up 19.4% since July 2005. With all of that money and scarce conventional resources, U.S. producers have shifted their exploration strategies to the “evolving opportunities” onshore and finding success across the continent, energy analysts said Monday.

A trader for Golden, CO-based Enserco Energy has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with the reporting of false natural gas price and volume information to manipulate a price index published by Platts’ Gas Daily.

A trader for Golden, CO-based Enserco Energy has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with the reporting of false natural gas price and volume information to manipulate a price index published by Platts’ Gas Daily.

Upstream merger and acquisition activity is booming, with 2005 spending on corporate acquisitions more than tripling to $120 billion as the corporate deal count rose 40% year-over-year, according to John S. Herold and Harrison Lovegrove & Co. Ltd.

Upstream merger and acquisition activity is booming, with 2005 spending on corporate acquisitions more than tripling to $120 billion as the corporate deal count rose 40% year-over-year, according to John S. Herold and Harrison Lovegrove & Co. Ltd.

Fort Worth, TX-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. announced that it finished 2005 with proved reserves of 1.1 Tcfe, an increase of 146 Bcfe over 2004 year-end reserves. The company also announced a 2006 capital expenditure budget of $566 million, which includes $359 million for drilling, $160 million for gathering and processing facilities and $47 million for leasehold acquisitions.