Emerged

ExxonMobil Corp. on Wednesday announced plans to invest close to $190 billion over the next five years to more than double exploration acreage in proven and emerging oil-rich areas to boost underperforming output and earnings.

Another proposal has emerged in the North Dakota state legislature seeking to eliminate exemptions from the state’s current one-year limit for oil production wells flaring associated natural gas.

As a study emerged Monday in Canada raising public health concerns about oilsands, groups long opposed to TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline blasted a report released Friday evaluating a rerouting of the oilsands-linked pipeline in Nebraska by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

As a study emerged Monday in Canada raising public health concerns about oilsands, groups long opposed to TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline blasted a report released Friday evaluating a rerouting of the oilsands-linked pipeline in Nebraska by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

SemGroup Corp. has rejected a $1.24 billion takeover bid by Plains All American Pipeline LP, but Plains said it intends to continue to pursue the midstream operator. SemGroup, which emerged from bankruptcy in late 2009, purchases, sells, processes, transports and stores crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, asphalt and refined products. It recently had announced plans to increase the capacity of its gas processing facilities in northern Oklahoma, and the board said the increased processing capacity and other long-term strategies offered a compelling future for its shareholders.

The “pace” of new hydraulic fracturing (fracking) equipment deliveries to North America’s onshore resource plays is back on track after a frustrating three-month delay caused by a wet spring in the Marcellus Shale, harsh conditions in North Dakota and delayed equipment deliveries, the CEO of Nabors Industries Ltd. said Wednesday.

From coast to coast, natural gas as a transportation fuel emerged in several parts of the nation this month, addressing both the production of fleet vehicles and the fueling infrastructure needed to sustain an uptick in fleets switching to natural gas. New milestones were reported in the West, Midwest and East.

New details have emerged in the early Friday morning disappearance of Sequent Energy Management President Douglas N. Schantz that have led the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to believe he accidentally fell into the Mississippi River and drowned. The body was found Tuesday morning in the river using side scan sonar by members of Texas EquuSearch, a mounted search and recovery team, near where Schantz was last seen on security camera footage.

New details have emerged in the early Friday morning disappearance of Sequent Energy Management President Douglas N. Schantz that have led the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to believe he accidentally fell into the Mississippi River and drowned. The body was found Tuesday morning in the river using side scan sonar by members of Texas EquuSearch, a mounted search and recovery team, near where Schantz was last seen on security camera footage.