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Sempra Energy senior officials were popping superlatives, if not champagne corks, Friday, celebrating the first shipments for their liquefied natural gas (LNG) West Coast project and the western half of the Rockies Express Pipeline, along with an increase in first-quarter net income compared to the same period in 2007 ($242 million, or 92 cents/share, versus $228 million, or 86 cents/share, last year).

Sempra Energy senior officials were popping superlatives, if not champagne corks, Friday, celebrating the first shipments for their liquefied natural gas (LNG) West Coast project and the western half of the Rockies Express Pipeline, along with an increase in first-quarter net income compared to the same period in 2007 ($242 million, or 92 cents/share, versus $228 million, or 86 cents/share, last year).

Chesapeake Energy Corp. made a new unconventional natural gas discovery in the Haynesville Shale near Shreveport, LA, which could have a larger impact on the company than any other play to date — including the Barnett and Fayetteville shales, CEO Aubrey McClendon said Tuesday. Chesapeake now controls about 7.5 Tcfe in the Haynesville Shale and with additional leases, it could control “as much as 20 Tcfe over time.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated he will move forward with an energy bill (HR 6) that includes a slightly larger tax package ($21.8 billion), ignoring threats of a counterattack by Republicans and a possible veto by President Bush.

As Europe’s natural gas markets unbundle and gas supplies from the North Sea decline, gas company executives from the European Union and its suppliers projected a larger role for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and debated the development of a global gas market at the 22nd annual European Autumn Gas Conference in Dusseldorf earlier this month.

As Europe’s natural gas markets unbundle and gas supplies from the North Sea decline, gas company executives from the European Union and its suppliers projected a larger role for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and debated the development of a global gas market at the 22nd annual European Autumn Gas Conference in Dusseldorf earlier this month.

Tulsa oilman Randy Foutch, who created two Midcontinent-focused exploration and production (E&P) companies that were gobbled up by larger independents, has launched Laredo Petroleum with the backing of long-time financial partner Warburg Pincus.

Tulsa oilman Randy Foutch, who created two Midcontinent-focused exploration and production (E&P) companies that were gobbled up by larger independents, has launched Laredo Petroleum with the backing of long-time financial partner Warburg Pincus.

Lower natural gas and oil prices affected the profits of Marathon Oil Corp. in the first three months of 2007. However, for some of the larger independents, it wasn’t only lower prices — Anadarko Petroleum Corp. was hit by an unexpected international windfall profits tax, and at EOG Resources Inc., mark-to-market losses made a big dent in the bottom line.