Fields

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has given Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. and shale patch pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. the final necessary regulatory green light for their proposed $12.1 billion merger, concluding that the deal poses no national security issues of concern, the companies said.

ExxonMobil Corp. and the state of Alaska have reached a tentative agreement on development of the state’s Point Thomson gas fields. Should an agreement be finalized, it would put to bed a long-running dispute and clear a roadblock to development of a major gas pipeline from the North Slope to Lower 48 markets.

Less than a month after Australian energy giant BHP Billiton Ltd. disclosed plans to purchase Petrohawk Energy Corp., the Houston-based company announced Wednesday that 2Q2011 production grew 15% and revenues shot up 21% from the previous quarter, propelling the company to huge profits.

McMoRan Exploration Co., which has made its name through discoveries of big, gassy fields in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), said Tuesday soaring costs from an unproductive well and impairment expenses ate into its revenues in the second quarter, sending the company to a loss for the sixth straight quarter.

Connecting wellheads — particularly those in shale gas fields — to gas-fired turbines and burner tips will require billions in spending on midstream infrastructure over the next 25 years, according to a new report. Adding to the projected demand for new pipe, storage and other facilities is the increasing focus on liquids-rich gas production.

Shale gas is already impacting the Northwest; the question is whether it can realize its full potential, said a regional gas industry trade group head.

A think tank is questioning the importance of Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania’s employment picture.

Unconventional plays in North America will be ConocoPhillips’ priority going forward, with the focus on fields rich in liquids and oil, CFO Jeff Sheets said Wednesday.

Noting that it has limited operational flexibility to manage imbalances due to testing of its Bear Creek storage fields, Tennessee said it would implement Saturday a systemwide Imbalance Warning that requires all delivery point operators to keep actual daily takes out of the system equal to or greater than scheduled quantities and all receipt point operators to keep actual daily receipts into the system equal to or less than scheduled quantities. Both conditions apply regardless of an operator’s cumulative imbalance position. The pipeline also declared a force majeure Thursday night in connection with a leak on its line 3 section downstream of Station 110 near Moorehead, KY. Tennessee said it immediately activated its emergency response plan and dispatched personnel to the scene to close valves and isolate the segment between Main Line Valves 111-3 and 111-3A. Based on current nominations, Tennessee did not anticipate any outage-related service restrictions for the gas days of Thursday and Friday.