Forest

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has issued a temporary special use permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC (ACP), a joint venture (JV) led by Dominion Resources Inc., to survey more than 17 miles of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The U.S. Forest Service has issued a temporary special use permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, a joint venture led by Dominion Resources Inc., to survey more than 17 miles of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took preliminary steps Wednesday that could lead to the leasing of heretofore untouched federal forest lands in south-central Utah for possible oil and natural gas exploration. The appeal period for the action ends March 25.

Forest Oil Corp. told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it will need more time to file its quarterly Form 10-Q after an internal audit found problems with the company’s accounting software system and related compensating controls, and “material weakness” in its internal control over financial reporting.

East Texas and Eagle Ford Shale players Sabine Oil & Gas LLC and Forest Oil Corp. announced an all-stock merger that will create a Houston-based publicly traded company with acreage also in the Granite Wash, Permian and Arkoma basins.

The Council of the District of Columbia has approved a resolution expressing “the sense of the Council that the United States Forest Service should prohibit horizontal hydraulic fracturing [fracking] in the George Washington National Forest [GWNF] to protect regional water quality and supply.”

Shares of Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. lost nearly 38% of their value Wednesday after the company said it was deferring drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale while it mulls 3D seismic data and evaluates recent well completion designs due to poor well performance. Capital is to be redirected from the South Texas play to liquids-rich opportunities in the Ark-La-Tex.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is hoping to generate $75 million in extra revenue and additional oil and gas royalties for the state’s general fund by lifting a more than three-year ban on drilling in state-owned forests and allowing exploration and development for the first time ever in state-owned parks.

Forest Oil Corp. struck a $1 billion deal to sell oil and gas assets in the Texas Panhandle to Templar Energy LLC as part of a deleveraging program that will allow the company to focus on the Eagle Ford Shale. One analyst called the sale a positive, but investors booed and sent Forest shares tumbling on Friday.