Executive

When it takes 75,000-100,000 bbl of water to hydraulically fracture (frack) a shale well, “the oil and gas industry is effectively a water industry and delivers oil and gas as a byproduct…so welcome to the water industry,” an environmental services executive told a Houston energy audience Wednesday.

Range Resources Corp. President Jeffrey L. Ventura is slated to become CEO of the company Jan. 1 when current CEO John H. Pinkerton will become executive chairman, the Marcellus Shale-focused producer said. Ventura, 53, is also the company’s current COO. He has been with Range since 2003 and was elected a director in 2005. Ventura has 32 years of industry experience and holds a bachelor’s degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Pinkerton has been CEO since 1992. Analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said the management shift may “dampen” expectations in the near term that Range could merge with another player or be acquired, “but high-return assets are always desirable, especially given [Range’s] Marcellus position.”

Range Resources Corp. President Jeffrey L. Ventura is slated to become CEO of the company Jan. 1 when current CEO John H. Pinkerton will become executive chairman, the Marcellus Shale-focused producer said Monday.

The Republican-controlled Ohio Senate passed Substitute HB 133 by a 22-10 vote on Wednesday. The measure creates a five-member Oil and Gas Leasing Commission (OGLC) and opens land owned by the state — including state parks but not nature preserves — to oil and gas leasing.

Thomas S. Liberatore has joined Eclipse Resources as a partner, executive vice president and COO, the State College, PA-based oil and gas company said. Liberatore, who resigned as vice president of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s East region following a restructuring there two years ago (see Daily GPI, June 1, 2009), is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Appalachian Geological Society, has served on the board of directors of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association and is a past president of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia. Additionally, Brian Panetta, who was previously a geologist with Waco Oil & Gas and a senior geologist for Chesapeake Energy Corp., has joined Eclipse as vice president of geology. Eclipse focuses on the acquisition, exploration and development of unconventional oil and natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, including the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale and Upper Devonian shales.

Calgary-based Progress Energy Resources Corp.’s chief executive said Thursday the company has found a “critical” partner to help market its natural gas in the Montney Shale of British Columbia after securing Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) in a joint venture (JV) valued at about C$1.07 billion.

Thomas S. Liberatore has joined Eclipse Resources as a partner, executive vice president and COO, the State College, PA-based oil and gas company said. Liberatore, who resigned as vice president of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s East region following a restructuring there two years ago (see Daily GPI, June 1, 2009), is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Appalachian Geological Society, has served on the board of directors of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association and is a past president of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia. Additionally, Brian Panetta, who was previously a geologist with Waco Oil & Gas and a senior geologist for Chesapeake Energy Corp., has joined Eclipse as vice president of geology. Eclipse focuses on the acquisition, exploration and development of unconventional oil and natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, including the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale and Upper Devonian shales.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials have been ordered to visit the site of an April well blowout in northeast Pennsylvania and to complete a supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS) on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) by July 1.

While the opportunities associated with shale gas are “quite great,” an executive with a leading global investment firm Thursday cautioned industry about the “current euphoria around shale,” saying it could be “wrong-minded” if the challenges are not considered.