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Chesapeake Energy Corp. shareholders jettisoned two board members up for reelection and approved three shareholder-initiated resolutions at the company’s annual meeting in Oklahoma City, signaling a turning point for the operator’s corporate governance and likely for the future of CEO Aubrey McClendon.

North American margins for Halliburton Co. likely have been impacted “more than anticipated” in the second quarter because of the increased cost of guar gum, an additive used in hydraulic fracturing fluids, the oilfield services company said late Wednesday.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) on Tuesday downgraded the corporate credit rating of Chesapeake Energy Corp. to “BB-” from “BB” and said the outlook was “negative.” The ratings on related entities Chesapeake Midstream Partners LP and Chesapeake Oilfield Operating LLC also were cut because the units are so closely tied to the parent, S&P noted.

Legislators in the Ohio House of Representatives have passed a mid-biennium budget review bill but stripped out Gov. John Kasich’s proposals to restructure taxes and regulations on the oil and natural gas industry.

The Northeast, Great Lakes and Southwest areas of the United States will remain mostly warmer than normal over the next three months, continuing a trend that kept a lid on natural gas consumption and prices through most of the winter, according to forecasters at Andover, MA-based Weather Services International (WSI). But conditions may be ripe for a cooler-than-normal summer overall this year, WSI said.

Companies that trade less than an aggregate of $8 billion in swaps annually during an initial phase-in period will not be caught up in many of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulations issued as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, according to a final rule approved last Wednesday. The Commission also clarified that end-users would be exempt.

Companies that trade less than an aggregate of $8 billion in swaps annually during an initial phase-in period will not be caught up in many of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s regulations issued as a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, according to a final rule approved Wednesday. The Commission also clarified that end-users would be exempt.

Natural gas and oil drilling could be slowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed New Source Performance Standards, resulting in less production and royalties, according to a study funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that was released Friday.

The cash market continued to slide lower Thursday with prices mostly dropping less than a nickel, except in the northeast, which recorded a handful of double-digit drops. Midwest points were only modestly lower, while a few spots in the Rockies and in California managed to tally gains.