Investor

Apache Corp. and its partners in the proposed Kitimat liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project slated for British Columbia (BC) are looking for an investor, a company executive said Wednesday.

Responding in part to the public outcry over hydraulic fracturing (fracking), ASTM International has created a subcommittee to develop consensus standards that would provide best practices for the fracking of oil and natural gas wells in shale formations.

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC, which has transformed more than one U.S. oil and natural gas operator, now is the fourth-largest investor in Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to stock market insiders.

Activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is now the fourth-largest investor in Chesapeake Energy Corp., according to stock market insiders.

Private hedge fund operator Third Point LLC, which is run by activist investor Daniel Loeb, listed Chesapeake Energy Corp. as one of the fund’s largest new holdings in a June exposure report to investors, according to several market followers.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) has cut the corporate credit rating of Fort Worth, TX-based FTS International Services LLC, one of the top five hydraulic fracturing (fracking) service providers in North America, because it said capacity additions and rising costs, combined with moderating demand and low natural gas prices, are pressuring margins in the fracture stimulation industry.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s largest investor on Monday delivered a stinging letter criticizing the board of directors and management team, and urged an outright sale of the company.

Investor guru and natural gas proponent T. Boone Pickens Wednesday blamed President Obama, Congress and Koch Industries for the lack of a comprehensive energy policy in the United States, although not necessarily in that order.

Six investor-owned natural gas and electric utilities in New York — Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., Consolidated Edison Inc., National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp., National Grid, New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. — have formed Energy Coalition New York “to provide public policy leadership on energy issues” in the state, a coalition spokesman said Wednesday.