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Exco Resources Inc. is back in the acquisition game after having struck a $1 billion deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp. last week, CEO Douglas Miller said Monday. There are plenty of deals, and financing is available, he told analysts following the company.

As an option for fleet operators turned off by high up-front costs of switching off of diesel or gasoline, two firms in the West have come up with a leasing alternative for long-haul liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered tractor trailers.

Enterprise Products Partners LP overcame the effect of lower natural gas processing margins in its pipelines and services segment to deliver record gross operating margin during the first quarter, as well as a 16% increase in profits. Oil-related infrastructure put in a strong showing, particularly in the Eagle Ford Shale

On the energy news front in Washington DC, Senate hearings for new heads of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Obama administration’s energy budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014, and the return visit of the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta to press for U.S. approval of the Keystone Pipeline XL, will dominate the upcoming week.

Crude oil shipments on all U.S. railroads could hit 700,000 b/d by the end of this year, up 40% from current levels, and top 1 million b/d in 18 months, said BNSF Railway Co. CEO Matthew Rose.

A portion of excess funds from a recent Colorado state revenue forecast should be spent to study the impact of oil and gas exploration and development on air quality, according to the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB). In an amended spending request to the state’s Joint Budget Committee, the OSPB asked that $492,776 go to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to conduct the survey, and another $567,000 from the state’s capital construction budget be used to purchase equipment for the survey. Gov. John Hickenlooper also recommended $1.3 million in cash fund spending authority for CDPHE to enter into a collaborative partnership with Colorado State University to begin collecting data for a broader study of the impacts of oil and gas operations on air quality in the state’s northern Front Range (see Shale Daily, Jan. 14).

Global climate change is shaping up to be a front-burner legislative issue in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which slammed into the Northeast coastline last week with such fury that it destroyed homes and buildings, and left millions in the dark (see related story).

The cash market eased nearly 3 cents on average Thursday as Midwest points on the front lines of a major cold incursion saw gains and other locations experienced small losses.

TransCanada Corp. has pulled back from opening a new front in regulatory duels with customers of its international family of pipelines. Nova Gas Transmission, the empire’s Alberta arm, has withdrawn an application to the National Energy Board (NEB) for approval of a contested scheme called NEXT, short for natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction (see Daily GPI, March 19).