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For the second time this year, Newfield Exploration Co. raised its full-year production forecast based on rising output from key U.S. onshore oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) plays.

The prospects for expanding natural gas exploration and production (E&P) on federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in eastern Utah were given a boost by the federal agency on Friday, although the action drew strong opposition from environmental groups concerned about the impact on a rugged wilderness area.

In the environmental debates raging around natural gas and oil drilling in North America, one thing until now has not been in dispute: it takes huge amounts of water to open up reservoir fractures deep underground. However, new technologies developed in Canada, which have been tested in the United States, may offer the energy industry a waterless way forward.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is getting a lukewarm reception for his proposed changes to state shale policy, which largely mimic the recommendations his Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission made three months ago (see Shale Daily, Oct. 4).

Landowners in Belmont County, OH, which has become a hotbed of activity for prospective shale exploration, are signing leases with ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. to allow drilling to begin on their acreage, the company has acknowledged.

Range Resources Corp., an early pioneer in the Barnett Shale that has since taken its estimable talents to the Marcellus, on Wednesday saw its share price jump almost 20% in early trading after reports surfaced that Royal Dutch Shell plc or another major oil company might make a bid for the company.

Schlumberger Ltd. is seeing continued strength in its North American operations in part because of its hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technology, which is reducing time and costs to complete a well, management said Friday.

Officials with the City of Morgantown, WV, said the city might take Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) to court if the city passes an ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) and the company subsequently starts using the practice at two Marcellus Shale gas wells.

Natural gas futures traders took their foot off the accelerator on Wednesday as the July contract came off fresh highs on a round of profit-taking to close back below $5 at $4.978, down 21.1 cents from Tuesday’s finish.