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Robert Douglas Lawler, 46, one of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s top exploration and production (E&P) executives, on Monday was named the new CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

LyondellBasell Industries, a worldwide chemical company based in the Netherlands, said it hopes to join other manufacturers in taking advantage of the abundance of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) produced from shale formations as it begins construction this month on the first of several projects to expand ethylene capacity in the United States by about 20%.

Natural gas supplies from Nova Scotia are dwindling, but the province of New Brunswick could join the shale gas renaissance sweeping much of North America, provided its shales can be exploited without harming the environment, New Brunswick Energy and Mines Minister Craig Leonard said Wednesday.

Natural gas supplies from Nova Scotia are dwindling, but the province of New Brunswick could join the shale gas renaissance sweeping much of North America, provided its shales can be exploited without harming the environment, New Brunswick Energy and Mines Minister Craig Leonard said Wednesday.

Piedmont Natural Gas is investing $180 million in Marcellus Shale-focused Constitution Pipeline Co. LLC to join Williams Partners LP and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. as an equity holder in the project.

Dallas-based Bridger Logistics LLC, a division of Bridger Group LLC, plans to join Midland, TX-based Advantage Pipeline LLC in developing its Pecos River Pipeline project, which will transport oil from the Delaware Basin to markets in the Gulf Coast and Midland. The pipeline will originate near Pecos, TX, and terminate in Crane, TX, where it will connect to the Longhorn Pipeline — owned by Magellan Midstream Partners LP — and Centurion Pipeline LP’s Crane Station. Once fully operational, the pipeline will have an initial capacity of 150,000 b/d and consist of more than 75 miles of trunkline. Bridger Transfer Services LLC will develop lateral extensions, gathering stations, origination stations and truck offloading facilities. The pipeline is scheduled to be operational by 1Q2013.

Williams CEO Alan Armstrong last week called on the natural gas industry to join the fight against the Sierra Club’s legal challenge the issuance of nationwide permits (NWP) to natural gas pipelines to cross streams/wetlands during the construction of projects. A win by the environmental group in federal court would require pipeline companies to go through the onerous process to obtain individual Section 404 permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for each water crossing in their project.

Williams CEO Alan Armstrong Tuesday called on the natural gas industry to join the fight against the Sierra Club’s challenge to the pipeline stream crossings rule that threatens construction of pipeline projects across the country.

ExxonMobil Corp. shareholders for the third year in a row turned back a shareholder proposal which would require the corporation to prepare a report on the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Chevron Corp. shareholders defeated a similar measure at their annual meeting, with fewer voting in favor than a year ago.