Eagle

Penn Virginia Corp. has paid $31.1 million to acquire nearly 6,800 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale, primarily in Gonzales County, TX. The acquisition was funded with cash on hand, the company said. The new acreage is estimated to contain more than 40 horizontal well locations, with Penn Virginia’s working interest averaging about 73%.

Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN) plans to expand its pressure pumping services for hydraulic fracturing (fracing) operations in the Barnett and Eagle Ford shales, and in the Permian Basin, after striking a $237.7 million cash deal with Key Energy Services Inc.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., long one of the most active natural gas drillers and producers in North America, is stealthily making a land grab to secure domestic oilfields, part of a long-range plan to rebalance a portfolio that now is 93% weighted to gas, CEO Aubrey McClendon said last week.

Berlin, CT-based Yankee Gas broke ground Thursday on a new $108 million 1.2 Bcf LNG peak shaving facility at the company’s Eagle Street work center in Waterbury, CT’s south end. The plant, which recently received construction approval from the Connecticut Department of Utility Control, is expected to be in service for the 2007/2008 heating season.