Lack

ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., BP plc and super independent ConocoPhillips are expected to lead all other exploration and production (E&P) spenders in the United States this year, with capital expenditures (capex) on average about 5% higher than in 2012, according to a survey by Barclays Capital. Last year’s No. 2 spender, Chesapeake Energy Corp., dropped to No. 5 after cutting its exploration plans.

Citing a lack of market, the developers of a new coal mine in southwestern Wyoming on Thursday said they were suspending development after a year of work. The actions underscore concerns expressed in Wyoming and elsewhere about the state of the U.S. coal industry.

There’s hardly a place in the world more attractive today to petrochemical investment dollars than North America, an IHS Chemical executive said Tuesday.

Hess Corp., which is facing a shareholder revolt for a perceived lack of focus and crony-heavy board, on Monday said it would become a pure-play exploration and production (E&P) company. The plan involves fully exiting the downstream business, selling Bakken Shale midstream, and bringing aboard six new independent directors.

Appalachian midstream provider MarkWest Energy Partners LP and private equity fund The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) have completed an amendment to give EMG a larger stake in their joint venture (JV) in the Utica Shale.

North American onshore spending in 2013 is forecast to be dominated by Big Oil, international oil companies (IOC) and national oil companies (NOC), according to the latest annual review by Barclays Capital.

Differing state and federal environmental regulations, and a lack of political will to streamline them, may retard growth of natural gas vehicles (NGV), but the market continues to push for innovation and growth.

Differing state and federal environmental regulations, and a lack of political will to streamline them, could retard growth of natural gas vehicles (NGV) in the transportation fuel market, according to a white paper by the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center in Pennsylvania.

The only things preventing a continued increase in North American natural gas and oil resources will be regulations and a lack of ingenuity, an ExxonMobil Corp. executive said last week in Houston.