Increased

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday that natural gas production in Pennsylvania increased 69% in 2012, despite a reduction in drilling activity.

Increased natural gas sales by BP plc weren’t enough to overcome mild winter-sparked decreases reported by several other big name companies, resulting in a 4% (5.86 Bcf/d) decline in gas sales transactions in 4Q2012 (135.01 Bcf/d) compared with 4Q2011 (140.87 Bcf/d), according to NGI’s 4Q2012 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking. The full-year 2012 total for participating companies was virtually unchanged from 2011.

In some cases operators just aren’t drilling and in others they are leaving the state for greener pastures as 2012 continued to be another year for declining natural gas production in Northwest New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, according to the latest state statistics that showed the region produced 780 Bcf last year.

Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. is buying a 100% operated working interest in 2,700 net acres in South Texas in the liquids-rich area of the Eagle Ford Shale for $117.5 million.

A lengthy review of outgoing Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon’s controversial financing transactions “did not reveal any improper benefit” to him “or increased cost to the company as a result of the overlap in financial relationships,” the board of directors announced Wednesday.

Santa Fe Petroleum Inc. announced Thursday that it had acquired additional leased acres in North Central Texas for oil and natural gas drilling, expanding its position in the Barnett Shale.

Natural gas utilities increased their investment in gas efficiency programs to nearly $958 million in 2011, which resulted in a total savings of more than $300 million for U.S. gas customers last year, according to a report issued Wednesday by the American Gas Association (AGA).

ExxonMobil Corp., the No. 1 natural gas producer in the United States, continues to reign supreme as the world’s top energy enterprise, and it has regained its footing as the largest domestic publicly traded entity.

Saying they needed more time to implement new oil and natural gas drilling regulations, elected officials in Boulder County, CO, have extended for four months a drilling permit moratorium to June 10.