Days

Taking two opportunities to field questions on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in as many days, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he supports “home rule” legislation and believes such powers would be an appropriate method for communities that support drilling to have it.

Just days after a town in western New York adopted a one-year moratorium on oil and natural gas activities, the town’s only operator made a rare move and decided to shut down its wells and pipelines there, halting royalty payments and free natural gas to landowners.

Pennsylvania’s General Assembly moved with amazing speed in the closing days of June to install a drilling moratorium on upscale, ex-urban Philadelphia counties, attaching the provision in a must-pass budget measure (SB 1263) that Gov. Tom Corbett signed July 2.

The U.S. chemical industry “feels overwhelmingly upbeat” these days in part because of abundant, low-cost natural gas supplies from shale resources, but operators need to prepare for a big transformation of their businesses before chemical supply outstrips demand, according to a new report by KPMG LLP.

Following the abrupt departure of Forest Oil Corp. (FST) CEO H. Craig Clark, one analyst that follows the company suggested that his quick exit was related to the company’s failure to strike a joint venture (JV) in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s stock price may have reached its bottom, an energy analyst said Friday. However, things may heat up in the coming days after activist shareholder Carl Icahn revealed late Friday that his firm now owns a 7.6% stake in the company — and he wants four board members replaced.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s largest investor on Monday delivered a stinging letter criticizing the board of directors and management team, and urged an outright sale of the company.

Blame it on the rain, or a lack thereof. Just days after the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) had restored all of the 17 water withdrawal permits it had temporarily suspended in mid-April, back-and-forth drought conditions in northeast Pennsylvania have forced the agency to re-suspend two permits.

Halcon Resources Corp., run by the former chief of shale powerhouse Petrohawk Energy Corp., and GeoResources Inc. have agreed to merge in a cash-and-stock transaction worth an estimated $1 billion. The combined company would have an onshore portfolio of opportunities across the Midcontinent, with a core area in the Bakken Shale.