Effective

The Department of Interior (DOI) unveiled a strategy for improving mitigation policies and practices on Thursday as it seeks to simultaneously encourage infrastructure development and protect natural and cultural resources.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has called on the Department of Energy to start the ball rolling on an “independent, unbiased” review of the FracFocus website to determine if it provides sufficient information to state and federal regulators on hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Thanks to abundant shale gas supplies and appliance efficiency gains, a homeowner in Connecticut could save $1,800 per year by switching to natural gas heating from fuel oil, according to a trio of utilities in the state that have launched a campaign to get consumers to switch to gas.

Thomas F. Darden has retired from the Quicksilver Resources Inc. board chairmanship and from his officer position effective Wednesday, the company said. He will remain on the board as a director and chairman emeritus and will continue to work for Quicksilver through the end of the year. He will be focused on pursuing a joint venture in British Columbia’s Horn River Basin, something that the Fort Worth, TX-based company has sought for some time (see Shale Daily, May 8). Darden is to retire from Quicksilver on Dec. 31 but will continue to advise the company on the Horn River development and other projects, the company said. W. Yandell Rogers was elected chairman Wednesday. He has served as an independent director since March 1999.

In a stunning setback for shale development in New York state, an appellate court ruled unanimously to uphold two local bans on oil and gas activities.

Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. is buying producing properties, as well as developed and undeveloped acreage, in the Anadarko Basin in Texas and Oklahoma for $620 million in cash from Panther Energy LLC and its partners Red Willow Mid-Continent LLC and Linn Energy Holdings LLC.

Al Walker, president and CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., has been elected chairman of the board effective May 14. He is succeeding Jim Hackett, who is retiring as executive chairman in June. Hackett, who was named executive chairman in May, had been CEO since 2003 and chairman since January 2006. Hackett also served as president from December 2003 to February 2010. Walker joined Anadarko in 2005 as senior vice president and CFO, and he also was formerly COO. In connection with Walker’s election, and “consistent with industry best practices,” the board has enhanced the duties of the lead director to ensure that Anadarko “maintains a corporate governance structure with appropriate independence.”

EOG Resources Inc. said it now holds 2.2 billion boe of potential recoverable crude oil reserves in the Eagle Ford Shale — reportedly the largest share net to one company in the last 40 years — and plans to continue focusing on oil production in 2013, after posting large increases in oil, condensate and natural gas liquids (NGL) production the year before.

Baker Hughes Inc. Chairman Chad Deaton said he is retiring effective April 25. President and CEO Martin Craighead is to assume the chairman’s role in addition to his current responsibilities, the board announced. Deaton joined the oilfield services company in 2004 and served as chair and CEO until January 2012, when he became executive chairman (see Daily GPI, Jan. 25, 2012). Craighead, who began working at Baker in 1986, was appointed COO in 2009 and president in 2010. “I am confident that with Martin, Baker Hughes has the optimal leadership for the future,” Deaton said. The Houston-based company works in 80 countries and has more than 58,000 employees worldwide.