Friendly

Canadian natural gas explorer Compton Petroleum Corp. on Monday agreed to a C$33 million friendly takeover bid by New York-based MFC Industrial Ltd., a global commodities trader.

Atlas Resources Partners LP (ARP) has made a friendly deal to take over privately held Barnett Shale operator Titan Operating LLC for $184 million, giving the Philadelphia-based operator another big natural gas liquids (NGL) lift in the heart of Texas.

eCorp International LLC and a property owners organization in New York have decided to scrap a “complex” plan to create a company indirectly owned by the landowners and will return to the drawing board, delaying the possibility of bringing waterless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to the Empire State.

In a paper released Thursday, researchers from Cornell University firmly stood by an earlier claim that shale gas has a larger greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint than conventional gas and oil or coal, and thus would be an unsuitable bridge fuel.

Recent acquisitions have put Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. in the “shale of the shales” and positioned it to be a low-cost provider in the development-friendly United States, the company’s petroleum unit chief, J. Michael Yeager, told financial analysts, noting that plans to export liquefied U.S. gas to the rest of the world are racing ahead and BHP is ready.

Recent acquisitions have put Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. in the “shale of the shales” and positioned it to be a low-cost provider in the development-friendly United States, the company’s petroleum unit chief, J. Michael Yeager, told financial analysts, noting that plans to export liquefied U.S. gas to the rest of the world are racing ahead and BHP is ready.

A majority of executives and managers from utilities and other industry organizations say natural gas is the most “environmentally friendly” fuel, according to a survey conducted by Black & Veatch.

A majority of executives and managers from utilities and other industry organizations say natural gas is the most “environmentally friendly” fuel, according to a survey conducted by Black & Veatch.

It may be too early to compare it to Houston, but little Canonsburg, PA — until recently known more for its annual Fourth of July parade than its business district — has over the past two years become the home to some of the Marcellus Shale’s biggest operators.