Late

Six former presidents will be appearing in commercials supporting natural gas that will air in theaters before motion pictures this summer, thanks to a new advertising campaign by the American Clean Skies Foundation (ACSF), a nonprofit natural gas advocacy group.

Aggregate U.S. pressure pumping supply exceeded demand late last year and in the first three months of 2012 capacity utilization averaged 93.4%, a big turnaround in a market that had been undersupplied for two years, according to a new analysis. The shift is challenging oilfield service operators, which already were noting the squeeze in quarterly conference calls.

California regulatory staff released a report late Friday urging “significant penalties” for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) lax natural gas pipeline system record-keeping and alleging that some of the misclassifications of gas pipelines resulted in them being operated at pressures that violated federal standards. The staff document alleges that the violations presented “significant risks” to the general public and went unreported for years.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon and National Oilwell Varco CEO Pete Miller, the lead independent director of the board, late Tuesday sent a letter to shareholders addressing”certain issues” raised last week by John Liu, the City of New York’s comptroller, who oversees the city’s pension funds.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. Wednesday confirmed that a recently drilled well in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) of Louisiana and Mississippi had an initial flow rate exceeding 1,000 boe/d.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon and National Oilwell Varco CEO Pete Miller, the lead independent director of the board, late Tuesday sent a letter to shareholders addressing “certain issues” raised last week by John Liu, the City of New York’s comptroller, who oversees the city’s pension funds.

Fitch Ratings late Friday downgraded Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s issuer default rating (IDR) and senior unsecured ratings to “BB-” from “BB,” cut preferred stock ratings to “B” from “B+” and affirmed the senior secured revolving credit facility at “BBB-.” The IDR is a relative measure of default probability.

Wyoming regulators said Thursday a mechanical failure was the root cause of a natural gas well blowout late in April at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. drilling site, but operating errors also were contributing factors. The incident, in which no one was injured, lasted about three days (see Daily GPI, April 30).

Wyoming state investigators said Thursday a mechanical failure in the well was the main cause of a natural gas well blowout late in April at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. drilling site. However, operating errors also contributed. The incident lasted about three days; no one was injured (see Shale Daily, April 30).