Major

In another major victory for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision that found the agency did not act illegally in promulgating the Dodd-Frank regulations.

BP plc’s Alaska presence will become more visible over the next five years as the oil major pours an additional $1 billion into natural gas and oil development on the North Slope with a to-do list that includes more drilling rigs and more workers.

Dallas-based Summit Midstream Partners LP (SMLP) is buying two shale gas gathering systems — one in the Bakken and the other in the Marcellus — in two deals worth a combined $460 million. The Marcellus transaction marks the company’s entry into the play.

BP plc’s Alaska presence will become more visible over the next five years as the oil major pours an additional $1 billion into natural gas and oil development on the North Slope with a to-do list that includes adding more drilling rigs and more workers, the operator said Monday.

Hess Corp. has ended a proxy battle with major shareholder Elliott Management Corp. (4.4%) by agreeing to appoint three Elliott-backed nominees to its board of directors. The reconstituted board would comprise 14 members; nine were replaced following the annual meeting Thursday. The activist hedge fund, which had claimed that the company was mismanaged and controlled by Hess family interests, agreed to support five Hess nominees. The board now will be reelected every year instead of every three. Elliott also led the charge to split the chairman and CEO roles, now held by John Hess, the son of the company’s founder, and it has forced the company to sell its downstream arm and monetize Bakken Shale midstream assets.

Chevron Corp. on Friday said quarterly earnings were down 4.5% and revenue was off more than 6% as the integrated major spent for some big-ticket natural gas projects that won’t be ramping up for years, and it dealt with refinery maintenance issues in the United States.

The federal government’s budget sequestration has hit the Energy Information Administration (EIA), forcing the agency to suspend publication of its Annual Energy Review (AER) and its companion publication, Energy Perspectives. The publications, which were to have come out later this year, were to have included data compiled during 2012.

Chevron Corp.’s quarterly earnings fell 4.5% and revenue was off more than 6% from a year ago as the integrated major spent for some big-ticket natural gas projects that won’t be ramping up for years, and it dealt with U.S. refinery maintenance issues, executives said Friday.

Rosetta Resources Inc. has raised its 2013 guidance for spending and production and increased its borrowing base in light of its pending acquisition of Permian Basin assets announced last month.