Gets

As the Obama administration gets ready to start its second term, now is the time for it to reevaluate how the nation’s energy policy offices can be better structured, said a Washington, DC-based think tank Tuesday.

As the supermajor gets back to business in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater, one of its core areas, BP plc executives are hopeful that they can complete “in a few days” the $7.8 billion settlement tentatively reached last month with thousands of individuals and businesses that were impacted by the April 2010 Macondo well blowout, Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said Thursday at the company’s annual meeting.

Natural gas prices won’t stay as low as they have been for as long as some expect, provided the industry gets a normal 2012-2013 winter heating season and the producer and market response to cheap gas continues, ICF International Vice President Kevin Petak said during one of the firm’s regular industry briefings Tuesday.

As Royal Dutch Shell plc gets closer to announcing a “world class” ethane cracker for the Appalachian Basin, the leading processor of ethane in the region is standing behind its three projects for Marcellus and Utica shales.

As Royal Dutch Shell plc gets closer to announcing a “world class” ethane cracker for the Appalachian Basin, the leading processor of ethane in the region is standing behind its three projects for Marcellus and Utica shales.

The surge of U.S. shale gas supplies has caused a large-scale rethink on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the relationship of the U.S. gas market to that of the rest of the world. Those who used to watch U.S. shores for inbound tankers now wonder how soon and how many tankers will leave this country loaded with liquefied shale gas.

State regulators from eight states — Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas, Michigan, Colorado and Pennsylvania — told the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee (SEAB) that its recommendations on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) should address best practices.

While Quebec’s announcement that hydraulic fracturing could continue on a limited basis has divided people in the province, a government official in the neighboring province of New Brunswick said a moratorium on the practice won’t be implemented there.

As the natural gas and electric-powered vehicle revolution gets set to kick off over the next year, those who are producing the vehicles as well as for those who are developing the utility support infrastructure continue to make preparations.