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With solid second quarter results in the books, Encana Corp. is taking a look at its entire North American portfolio and has begun putting a “new emphasis on our portfolio of emerging liquids plays,” CEO Doug Suttles told investors on Wednesday.

The leading California state lawmakers bird-dogging proposals to stiffen the state’s oversight of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) brought a new issue to the table — acidization to unlock Monterey Shale oil deposits — during a state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee hearing last month in Sacramento .

Houston-based and Alaska-focused Buccaneer Energy, which has struggled to fund its Cook Inlet drilling program as its shares have languished, is facing a move to replace its entire board by two dissident shareholder groups that argue the company needs to streamline its operations and tone down its ambitions.

Houston-based and Alaska-focused Buccaneer Energy, which has struggled to fund its Cook Inlet drilling program as its shares have languished, is facing a move to replace its entire board by two dissident shareholder groups that argue the company needs to streamline its operations and tone down its ambitions.

Dubbing it the nation’s most stringent, the Illinois state Senate on Friday passed oil and natural gas drilling regulations (SB 1715), sending the proposed provisions to Gov. Pat Quinn for his signature. The governor is expected to sign the bipartisan legislation.

Cheniere Energy Partners LP’s Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC has engaged 17 financial institutions for credit facilities to fund the remaining debt necessary to develop and place into service the first four trains of the Sabine Pass liquefaction project. “We will amend and upsize the existing term loan A credit facility that was entered into last year for the financing of the first two trains [see Daily GPI, April 17, 2012], extending the available capacity to accommodate four liquefaction trains,” Cheniere said. Obtaining debt financing is one of the last steps to complete before proceeding with construction of trains 3 and 4.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has allowed itself “to be co-opted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing [fracking] for shale gas,” and does not speak for local communities on the issue, representatives of 67 grassroots organizations said Wednesday.

Midstates Petroleum Co. Inc. is buying producing properties, as well as developed and undeveloped acreage, in the Anadarko Basin in Texas and Oklahoma for $620 million in cash from Panther Energy LLC and its partners Red Willow Mid-Continent LLC and Linn Energy Holdings LLC.

EOG Resources Inc. has struck a joint exploration and development agreement with Eaglebine formation partners ZaZa Energy Corp. and Range Resources Corp. in Walker, Grimes, Madison, Trinity and Montgomery counties, TX.