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Elliott Associates LP, a hedge fund that owns a 4% stake in Hess Corp., is urging other shareholders to elect its five nominees to the company’s board of directors and has called on Hess to divest from other businesses and spin off its assets in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shale plays.

Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson on Wednesday found himself face to face with some rambunctious activists who came to the annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon, CA, to voice their opposition to the oil major’s global drilling practices. In the end, however, the company’s majority shareholders won the day, turning back resolutions that included calling for more disclosure about hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

Paramount Resources Ltd. has agreed to acquire Calgary-based junior independent ProspEx Resources Ltd., the companies said Friday. Under the agreement, ProspEx shareholders may elect to receive either C$2.40 in cash or 0.07162 of a Paramount Class A common share per ProspEx share, subject to pro ration, such that 2,000,000 Paramount shares will be issued. The transaction values ProspEx at $186 million, including net debt and transaction costs. ProspEx, which was formed in 2004 by the reorganization of Esprit Exploration Ltd. (see Daily GPI, Oct. 5, 2004), owns rights to 90,000 net undeveloped acres in West Central Alberta and the Deep Basin. Assuming approval by regulators and ProspEx shareholders, the deal is expected to be completed by the end of May. The ProspEx board has approved the deal and will recommend that shareholders approve it as well, the company said.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and 40 other state organizations have sent a letter to Gov.-elect Tom Corbett asking him to maintain the moratorium signed last year by Gov. Ed Rendell that prevents new leases for deep natural gas drilling in the state’s forests.

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett, who is scheduled to be inaugurated in Harrisburg Jan. 18, should be a breath of fresh air for the natural gas industry, which saw outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration put state forest land off limits to drillers and pushed for a 5% severance tax on drilling, according to Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber.

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett, who is scheduled to be inaugurated in Harrisburg Jan. 18, should be a breath of fresh air for the natural gas industry, which saw outgoing Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration put state forest land off limits to drillers and push for a significant severance tax of 5% on drilling, according to Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber.

Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has again urged Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar not to delay further the Virginia offshore lease sale scheduled for 2011 (Lease Sale 220). In a recent letter to Salazar McDonnell outlined what will be his administration’s position on offshore energy activity.

Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell has again urged Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar not to delay further the Virginia offshore lease sale scheduled for 2011 (Lease Sale 220). In a letter to Salazar last week McDonnell outlined what will be his administration’s position on offshore energy activity.

If NRG Energy Inc. shareholders don’t elect the nine new directors proposed by Exelon Corp. at their annual meeting Tuesday, the company will abandon its attempt to acquire NRG, Exelon said last week.