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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) independent Science Advisory Board (SAB) has formed a Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory panel of independent experts to peer review the EPA’s 2014 draft report of results for its national study on potential health and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. EPA said the SAB panel will provide scientific feedback on EPA’s research in “an open and transparent manner.”

Despite the threat of legal action from Gov. John Hickenlooper, the city council of Fort Collins, CO, has adopted a resolution banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within city limits.

Lawsuits have been filed in federal and state courts over a part of North Dakota’s prosperous Bakken Shale that lies under the Fort Berthold Reservation, which according to the state’s latest statistics makes up nearly 20% of the play’s ever-growing oil production.

The shale natural gas market in North America is helping to revamp the U.S. chemicals industry and may benefit a variety of other manufacturing sectors through lower costs for raw materials and energy, according to a report issued on Tuesday by PwC US.

Unconventional oil and gas drilling within the 13 plays tracked by NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count dropped by a combined 13 rigs, or 1%, from the previous week to 869 rigs for the week ending Sept. 28. While some of the plays reporting increases or declines in activity were to be expected, others came as a bit of a surprise.

The shale development frenzy of the last couple of years has cooled dramatically in recent months as natural gas prices, and more recently crude and natural gas liquids prices, have plummeted. Out of the 13 U.S. plays for which NGI’s Shale Daily tracks unconventional rig counts, nine are showing a lower level of drilling activity than one year ago, with most of them recording a drop of 30% or more.

North Carolina’s assistant state geologist said estimates put forth by supporters of natural gas development in the Tar Heel State are overly optimistic and actual reserves are probably much lower.

Individual operators reported record-breaking production from the Marcellus Shale in 2011, producing more than 1 Tcf from the Pennsylvania portion of the play, according to new Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) data.

Apache Corp. is picking up 254,000 net acres in the Granite Wash, Tonkawa, Cleveland and Marmaton plays in Oklahoma and Texas with estimated proved reserves of 71.5 million boe through a $2.85 billion deal to acquire privately held Cordillera Energy Partners III LLC, the Houston-based company said Monday.