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FERC has approved Wyoming Interstate Co. Ltd.’s (WIC) request to begin service on Phase II compression expansion facilities of its Piceance Lateral in northwestern Colorado.

Calgary-based Nexen Inc. is reviewing alternatives for its natural gas and power marketing businesses, which may include the sale of all or part of them. Nexen’s marketing business was the eighth largest North American gas marketer in the first quarter of this year, according to NGI’s Top North American Gas Marketers survey. The firm transacted about 5.1 Bcf/d during the quarter. Earlier this year Nexen scaled back its marketing operations (see NGI, May 4; Feb. 16). The company said it has selected an adviser to assist with this initiative to continue the alignment of its marketing activities with its upstream oil and gas business. Nexen has operations in the North Sea, Western Canada (including the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta and unconventional gas resource plays such as shale gas and coalbed methane), the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, offshore West Africa and the Middle East.

Calgary-based Nexen Inc. is reviewing alternatives for its natural gas and power marketing businesses, which may include the sale of all or part of them, it said Thursday.

The nearly $3.5 trillion budget resolutions passed by the House and Senate Thursday had some moderately good news for producers — lawmakers did not include the $32.6 billion tax hike on oil and natural gas that President Obama proposed for fiscal year 2010, at least not at this stage of the budget process (see Daily GPI, April 2).

Apache Corp. CEO G. Steven Farris has formed an office of the chief executive, which will include CFO Roger B. Plank, Co-COO John A. Crum and Co-COO Rodney J. Eichler. Plank, Crum and Eichler have separate functional responsibilities, but “they will have joint and equal roles in the daily decision making and direction of the company,” Farris said. In addition to his current responsibilities, Plank will lead the business development, internal audit and policy and governance groups. Crum will lead the Gulf Coast, central and Canada regions, as well as the worldwide drilling, corporate environmental health and safety and purchasing groups. Eichler will lead the North Sea, Egypt, Australia and Argentina regions.

House Democrats plan to introduce energy legislation, possibly as early as this week, that would include a recycled proposal and some sweeteners in an attempt to boost production of domestic oil and natural gas resources in the Lower 48 states and Alaska. The legislation comes as Republicans’ calls to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and more of the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling grow louder, and as crude oil, natural gas and gasoline prices continue to steadily rise.

House Democrats plan to introduce energy legislation, possibly as early as next week, that would include a recycled proposal and some sweeteners in an attempt to boost production of domestic oil and natural gas resources in the Lower 48 states and Alaska.

Enterprise Products Partners LP subsidiary Petal Gas Storage LLC has applied to FERC to further expand its gas storage facility in Petal, MS. The project would include construction of two underground salt caverns, creating 10 Bcf of working capacity, which could be completed and in service as early as the second quarter of 2010.

Royal Dutch Shell plc will not include oil and natural gas reserves estimates in its 2007 annual results Thursday, waiting instead to release the numbers in its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 20-F annual report, the company said.