Holds

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has been named the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, which holds the purse strings to the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — agencies with which she has had policy disputes during the last couple of years.

Activist shareholder Carl Icahn, famous for shaking up management teams at what he considers undervalued companies, now holds about 5.8% of Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Activist shareholder Carl Icahn, famous for shaking up management teams at what he considers undervalued companies, now holds about 5.8% of Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s original chief financial officer is resigning to run a hydraulic fracturing services company in which the producer holds a 26% stake.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) Friday announced that she will be an independent write-in candidate in November for the Senate seat that she now holds.

El Paso Pipeline Partners LP now holds a 58% stake in Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) after paying El Paso Corp. $215 million for an additional 18% interest. The pipeline partnership funded the transaction after issuing 12.65 million units, which raised about $217 million. With the additional stake in CIG, the partnership plans to recommend to its board a 6% increase from its 2Q2009 quarterly cash distribution to 35 cents/unit, or $1.40/unit on an annualized basis, beginning with the distribution to be declared and paid in 4Q2009. El Paso Corp. owns a 65% limited partner interest and a 2% general partner interest in the partnership, which it formed to own and operate natural gas transportation pipelines and storage assets. In addition to its stake in CIG, El Paso Pipeline Partners owns Wyoming Interstate Co., an interstate pipeline system serving the Rocky Mountain region, and it owns a 25% interest in Southern Natural Gas Co., which operates in the southeastern region of the United States.

Dave Neslin, who has been acting director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC) since November 2007, has been named director by state officials. Neslin, who holds a law degree, has run the commission in an acting capacity since it began to revamp the state’s natural gas and oil drilling rules. “After a rigorous testing and interview process, the commission unanimously recommended David Neslin and I am pleased to have him at the helm of the COGCC,” said Harris Sherman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR),which oversees the commission. Sherman called Neslin “a consummate professional whose fairness and integrity will be invaluable assets as Colorado develops its rich natural gas resources.” Since August 2007 Neslin also had been serving as assistant director for energy and minerals within the DNR. He will step down from that position.

Parallel Petroleum, which holds a 35% stake in 34,500 acres of the Barnett Shale, has struck a deal that allows its leasehold partner, Chesapeake Energy Corp., to take care of all of the drilling and development commitments in the play through 2016.

Parallel Petroleum, which holds a 35% stake in 34,500 acres of the Barnett Shale, has struck a deal that allows its leasehold partner, Chesapeake Energy Corp., to take care of all of the drilling and development commitments in the play through 2016.