Independent

Far from the oil and gas patch in a seaside annex to Hollywood, CA, independent filmmakers are working on documentaries that attempt to push back at critics of the industry. FrackNation, a pro-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) documentary under way, questions information in the controversial 2011 Academy Award-nominated Gasland, as well as creator Josh Fox, who is now pursuing a sequel.

North America offers the “greatest opportunities” for the natural gas and oil industry this year, according to new survey of executives.

Tulsa-based WPX Energy, which recently spun off from Williams as an independent exploration and production company, has elected its 10-member board of directors. William G. Lowrie, the former deputy CEO of a BP plc predecessor company, is to chair the company, which is focused on natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil reserves, particularly in the Piceance Basin, Bakken Shale and Marcellus Shale. The directors are WPX CEO Ralph A. Hill, Kimberly S. Bowers, John A. Carrig, William R. Granberry, Don J. Gunther, Robert K. Herdman, Henry E. Lentz, George A. Lorch and David F. Work. Lorch is to serve as chair of the board’s nominating and governance committee. Granberry was appointed to serve as chair of the compensation committee, while Herdman will chair the audit committee.

Historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called a “rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

With a portfolio and focus on U.S. unconventional shale plays, Houston-based independent Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. strives to become a “drilling factory,” said CEO Gary Evans, who spoke Wednesday to the Pritchard Capital Partners Energize 2012 Conference in San Francisco.

Newfield Exploration Co. has signed a 10-year supply agreement with HollyFrontier Corp. to provide 20,000 b/d of supply capacity at HollyFrontier’s Woods Cross, UT, refinery.

The Bakken Shale and underlying Three Forks formation in North Dakota are the latest targets for independent exploration and production company Breitling Oil and Gas Corp., which in 2011 reported progress in oil and gas projects in its focus areas in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

A staff member of Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), with a background in Marcellus Shale issues and energy taxes, has joined the government relations staff of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). Before joining the IPAA, Matthew Kellogg was legislative assistant to Reed, who is co-chair of the Marcellus Shale Caucus, which was formed earlier this year, and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. “Matt’s legislative background in energy policy, particularly as the head staffer of the Marcellus Shale Caucus, will provide a unique perspective on the industry’s public policy challenges,” said IPAA President Barry Russell. Prior to his stint in Congress, Kellogg worked at the New York State Assembly Minority Counsel’s Office in Albany, where he researched legislation and agency regulations regarding the state’s moratorium on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. At the IPAA, Kellogg primarily will be responsible for the legislative and regulatory issues surrounding Marcellus Shale development. He will also serve as a legal adviser on environment and tax policy.

Two transactions to monetize a portion of Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s 1.5 million net acres in the Utica Shale of Ohio are expected to give the independent about $3.4 billion in proceeds, CEO Aubrey McClendon said late Thursday.