General

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) on Tuesday published recommended practices to respond to stray gas incidents, the fourth in a series of guidance documents published by the industry group.

The cash market overall gained about 3 cents on average Tuesday as traders cited screen strength and a general tendency for buyers to forsake index pricing and rely on spot shoulder month purchases.

James R. Webb has been appointed general counsel and senior vice president of Chesapeake Energy Corp. Webb, who has been a partner at McAfee & Taft in Oklahoma City, had been serving as chief legal counsel to Chesapeake on a contract basis for the past four months. Henry J. Hood, who has been senior vice president of Land and Legal since 1997, is transferring his legal responsibilities to Webb. Hood is retaining his responsibilities for managing Chesapeake’s land and regulatory departments.

Two oil and natural gas industry executives lauded the economic success brought about by shale gas development, but warned that continuing success depends in large part upon educating the public on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), training future regulators and policy makers, and exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).

A special state appeal panel has invalidated the selection by Maine’s Bureau of General Services (BGS) of a proposal by Maine Natural Gas (MNG) to build an 80-mile-long natural gas pipeline to the state capital, Augusta, and the surrounding Kennebec Valley.

Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) said Monday that its recent request for proposals (RFP) for power generating resources, including several hundred megawatts of natural gas-fired baseload power, has resulted in 32 bids from 15 different projects, totaling more than 9,000 MW. Oregon state regulators are scheduled to discuss the draft RFP at a public meeting Sept. 25.

Encana Corp.’s board of directors has concluded that the producer did not collude with “competitors” on land leasing in Michigan two years ago.

Former Colorado Assistant Attorney General Matthew Lepore on Monday took the reins as director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

Williams Partners LP said shipper interest supports a portion of Transcontinental Gas Pipeline’s (Transco) Atlantic Access project: expansion of the Leidy Line in northern Pennsylvania by up to 800,000 Dth/d by late 2015. However, the remainder of the previously announced Atlantic Access project will have to wait.