Going

Serious Canadian energy investment and equally focused environmental interests are warily eyeing each other in and around the Uinta Basin in southeastern Utah, where energy developers see an extension of their oil sands plays in Western Canada, and a group called Living Rivers warns of a potential environmental and public health disaster.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw profits shrink but production rise in the first quarter compared to the year-ago period, the result of low natural gas prices combined with expansion of operations in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales.

Unconventional plays in North America will be ConocoPhillips’ priority going forward, with the focus on fields rich in liquids and oil, CFO Jeff Sheets said Wednesday.

Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) said he supports exporting surplus Marcellus Shale gas to China and other countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S., and also backs the concept of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a port in Maryland.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) urged President Obama on Monday to authorize a comprehensive study of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Marcellus Shale of six states and its potential effects on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

A series of bills that would affect the regulation of natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) operations in Arkansas failed to clear a hurdle in the state’s House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Thursday and appeared unlikely to move to the full House during the current legislative session.

Two bills aimed at revamping West Virginia’s quarter-century-old drilling regulations are slated for introduction in the state legislature this week. The measures, variously directed at water management and horizontal drilling, would also increase horizontal well permit fees from $400 to $10,000.

Underscoring what a Canadian research firm said earlier in the month about North American shale and Mexico’s growing gas demand, Sempra Energy’s top gas executive told NGI’s Shale Daily that a strong economy and growing natural gas demand make south of the border an attractive future market for ramped up shale gas production.

In the second biggest natural gas market in the United States, California energy officials have kept a keen eye fixed on shale gas, and their revised energy plans and forecasts next year and beyond will reflect a greater impact from North America’s energy game-changer, the author of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) latest report on shale gas told NGI during an interview this week.