Fourth

Marathon Oil Corp. has not been pursuing a swap or permit arrangement that would allow it to export domestic oil production, CEO Lee Tillman said Thursday. However, the leading Eagle Ford Shale producer is carrying the torch for the pro-export cause and watching attitudes toward crude exports evolve.

Sunoco Logistics Partners’ Sunoco Pipeline is holding a binding open season for its Granite Wash Extension pipeline to provide crude oil takeaway capacity for growing production from the Granite Wash Shale in the northeastern Texas Panhandle and portions of western Oklahoma. The pipeline would originate in Wheeler County, TX, and terminate in Ringgold, TX, where it would interconnect with an existing Sunoco Logistics pipeline with the ability to provide transportation to Corsicana, TX. From Corsicana, access to multiple Sunoco Logistics and third-party pipelines would provide producers the ability to reach various markets and refineries on the Gulf Coast and in the Midcontinent. The partnership would lay 200 miles of new pipeline and construct pump stations, tankage and truck unloading facilities. The Granite Wash Extension is anticipated to have an initial capacity of 70,000 b/d to Ringgold and is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2014.

For the fourth year in a row, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. investors soundly defeated proposals calling for more disclosures regarding shale extraction operations.

Crude oil from the Bakken Shale will be Delaware-bound under an agreement between leading Bakken producer Continental Resources Inc. and PBF Energy Inc. Crude is to be delivered by rail to PBF’s double-loop track at its refinery in Delaware City.

President Obama’s $3.77 trillion budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014, unveiled Wednesday, for the fourth time seeks to repeal tax breaks for oil and natural gas producers. It also would tack on new fees for operations on federal lands and increase oil and gas royalties to fund renewable fuel development.

Gastar Exploration Ltd. announced a three-way deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Monday, in which Gastar purchased proven reserves in the prospective Hunton Limestone formation in Oklahoma, as well as close to 10% of its common stock. The companies also agreed to settle outstanding litigation.

Natural gas production from unconventional sources in Pennsylvania hit a record 2.04 Tcf in 2012, as the state’s Marcellus/Utica shale gas for the first time edged ahead of the granddaddy Barnett Shale in Texas.

Dry gas player Southwestern Energy Co. is having “success in a low gas-price environment,” not just surviving, said CEO Steve Mueller.

Weak natural gas prices forced Devon Energy Corp. to write down almost $900 million in the value of its assets in the fourth quarter, the Oklahoma City-based operator said Wednesday.