Leading

Leading House opponents of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) said their nearly year-long investigation revealed that oil and natural gas service companies have continued to use diesel fuel to produce shale gas without receiving regulatory approval.

Lucien Bouchard, the popular former premier of Quebec, has been tapped to chair the Quebec Oil and Gas Association (QOGA), which is leading the charge to expand exploration in the province’s Utica Shale basin. Bouchard, who was Quebec’s premier from 1996 to 2001, previously served as Canada’s Minister of the Environment and once was Head of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. He will replace Andre Caille on Feb. 21 at QOGA’s general assembly. Quebec’s drilling industry is much smaller than its provincial counterparts; QOGA was established less than two years ago in April 2009.

Oil- and liquids-rich natural gas plays marched to the forefront of drilling activity in the past year with the Niobrara, Eagle Ford and Bakken leading a 38% increase in active rigs from 684 active rigs a year ago to 947 rigs as of Jan. 7, according to a shale basin rig count compiled by NGI’s Shale Daily.

Steve Malcolm, 62, who guided Williams Cos. from the brink of financial collapse in 2002 to becoming one of the leading natural gas operators in the country, announced that he will retire as CEO and chairman in December.

Natural gas is on a road leading to increased markets in electric generation and transportation that are driven by climate change mitigation efforts to reduce our societal carbon footprint, according to Thomas Powers, marketing executive for El Paso Corp.’s western pipelines unit.

Steve Malcolm, 62, who guided Williams Cos. from the brink of financial collapse in 2002 to becoming one of the leading natural gas operators in the country, announced that he will retire as CEO and chairman in December.

Natural gas is at a crossroads leading to increased markets in electric generation and transportation that are driven by climate change mitigation efforts to reduce our societal carbon footprint, according to the marketing executive for El Paso Corp.’s western pipelines unit, Thomas Powers, who delivered a luncheon address at the “LDC Forum: Rockies and the West” Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. and Norway’s Statoil ASA have formed a joint venture (JV) to acquire 97,000 net acres of liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale properties from Enduring Resources for US$1.325 billion, the companies said.

Nine of Colorado’s leading natural gas and oil producers joined with Gov. Bill Ritter last week to announce agreements designed to expedite the drilling permit process while minimizing impacts to wildlife habitat on hundreds of thousands of acres in the Piceance Basin on the Western Slope.