Founded

A federal district judge last Saturday rejected a bid by SandRidge Energy Inc. to dismiss an investor lawsuit that claims the Oklahoma City operator provided misleading information regarding natural gas drilling programs.

A Canadian-based exploration/production (E&P) company founded five years ago put a chill on its bullish joint venture aimed at drilling on some of its extensive Monterey Shale acreage in California just as federal leasing policy in the state has been called into question for slowing development.

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary-designate Ernest J. Moniz fielded questions about his position on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), natural gas exports and climate change during his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon, whose retirement from the company he founded 24 years ago was announced late Tuesday, told employees in an email that the departure centered on some differences with the board of directors.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Aubrey McClendon, who has served as chairman and CEO since he co-founded the company in 1989, will no longer be running the board of directors after Friday (June 22). Questions remain about how the incoming nonexecutive chairman may change the company’s direction — and how McClendon conforms in his more tightly defined role.

Aubrey McClendon, who has run Chesapeake Energy Corp. and helmed the board of directors since he co-founded the company in 1989, officially will step down as chairman of the board at some point this week.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Aubrey McClendon, who has served as chairman and CEO since he co-founded the company in 1989, will no longer be running the board of directors after Friday (June 22). Questions remain about how the incoming nonexecutive chairman may change the company’s direction — and how McClendon conforms in his more tightly defined role.

Oil and gas industry billionaire T. Boone Pickens and other investors injected another $150 million into the natural gas transportation fueling company Pickens founded, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., it was reported Thursday. Clean Energy’s CEO confirmed the additional capital for the gas transportation infrastructure company, which is based in Seal Beach, CA.

Michael C. Linn, who founded Linn Energy LLC in 2003, is retiring from the company and is stepping down as executive chairman at the end of the year. Linn is to continue to serve as a director. Linn President and CEO Mark E. Ellis is to add the role of chairman to his responsibilities. Under Linn’s leadership, the Houston-based producer became the first publicly traded exploration and production (E&P) limited liability company in 2006 (see Daily GPI, March 9, 2007). The company now has an enterprise value of close to $10 billion with focus areas in the Midcontinent and Permian and Williston basins, as well as Michigan and California — “far more successful than I ever envisioned,” said Linn. Linn Energy grew from a “small company in Pittsburgh, with a few natural gas wells and three employees, to a company that ranks among the largest independent E&P companies in the U.S. and has 800 employees across the nation. Throughout that growth, we have increased our quarterly cash distribution to unitholders by more than 70%,” Linn said.