Efforts

First quarter results of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. improved over the year-ago period, thanks mainly to expansion of the company’s production base. Oil and gas production volumes both set company records, although low gas prices weighed on the Houston-based producer.

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.

Joining the months-long trend in the industry of transitioning from dry natural gas targets to more liquids-rich plays due to market economics, Dallas-based Matador Resources Co. said recently its 2012 plans will target the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas while ramping down the development of its Haynesville Shale acreage in North Louisiana.

Shale and liquids-rich production will be the primary focus for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. this year, with dry natural gas efforts receiving less than 10% of its 2012 exploration and production budget, the Houston-based company said Tuesday.

Industry representatives who say a 2011 Texas Supreme Court decision on the use of eminent domain could stymie efforts to build oil and gas pipelines to service growing production in the state’s shale plays are urging the court to revisit the opinion. The court could decide as early as Friday to either let its previous decision stand, amend that decision or rehear the case.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting inspections of natural gas development in Washington County, PA, to make sure it complies with federal environmental laws.

Industry representatives who say a 2011 Texas Supreme Court decision on the use of eminent domain could stymie efforts to build oil and gas pipelines to service growing production in the state’s shale plays are urging the court to revisit the opinion. The court could decide as early as Friday to either let its previous decision stand, amend that decision or rehear the case.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill Thursday that offers tax breaks to companies that build an ethane cracker in the state, then jetted off to Houston to meet with Royal Dutch Shell plc executives about their plans to possibly build such a facility in the Mountain State.

Energy analysts predict more than 50% of the natural gas produced in the United States will come from shale by the year 2030, coupled with a rising demand for natural gas in power generation and an opportunity to export to world markets.