Executives

Chesapeake Energy Corp. last week altered former CEO Aubrey McClendon’s noncompete agreement, giving him the right to acquire oil and natural gas holdings that are adjacent to the company’s wells in which he holds a stake.

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corp. executives said Thursday the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater market is poised to grow “substantially” in the coming years, as exploration and production (E&P) companies develop a portfolio of highly touted prospects.

Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corp. executives said last week the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater market is poised to grow “substantially” in the coming years, as exploration and production (E&P) companies develop a portfolio of highly touted prospects.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. founder Aubrey McClendon, who was forced to retire as CEO on April 1, has leased office space in Oklahoma City and lured two executives to what appears to be the start of at least one new company.

Fresh off an asset streamlining and an Eaglebine joint venture (JV) formation with EOG Resources Corp. (see NGI, April 1), Houston-based ZaZa Energy Corp. executives are touting their heavy weighting to the emerging stacked South Texas play and said what’s learned from the JV will add value to the company’s 100% owned acreage.

Salaries in the oil and gas industry are trending higher in part because of a shortage of skilled labor and knowledgeable executives, according to a report published last week.

Salaries in the oil and gas industry are trending higher in part because of a shortage of skilled labor and knowledgeable executives, according to a report published Monday.

The top executives that own and operate the idle San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) in Southern California indicated in separate conference calls on Tuesday that the plant’s fate remains uncertain, along with the 2,200 MW associated with it, which puts uncertainty into the state’s summer energy plans.

Two Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) executives said Tuesday the San Francisco-based combination utility’s natural gas pipeline system is safer than it was two years ago in the aftermath of the rupture and explosion in San Bruno, CA, that killed eight people and injured scores.