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Lower natural gas liquids (NGL) prices weighed down 2Q2012 earnings for both DCP Midstream Partners LP (DPM) and Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE), the companies’ executives said in separate conference calls with analysts Wednesday.

Residents of Pittsburgh and the 32-county area surrounding it believe drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is both an economic opportunity for the region and a potential environmental and public health threat, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by PittsburghToday and the staff of the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research.

TransCanada Corp. received the last of three key permits needed for its 485-mile Gulf Coast Project, an oil pipeline from Cushing, OK, to Nederland, TX, that would help alleviate constraints at Cushing where oil from the burgeoning Bakken Shale has been piling.

All but two of Encana Corp.’s 35 shut-in natural gas wells were back in service Tuesday in the Piceance Basin as the danger from the Pine Ridge fire along the Western Slope in Colorado continued to subside. The two remaining shut-in wells are “low-producing” and located in the north end of the Piceance, an Encana spokesperson told NGI.

A majority of points registered double-digit gains Monday with Northeast locations leading the advance. Expected late spring New England heating loads prompted higher quotes, but a strong screen placed a bullish tone to nearly all delivery points. Futures took much of their cue from longer term weather forecasts showing an axis of warm temperatures engulfing the Midwest and East.

New taxes on companies drilling for natural gas and oil in Ohio have the support of a majority of the state’s voters — especially if the resulting revenue would be spent to cut income taxes for residents — according to the results of a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

New taxes on companies drilling for natural gas and oil in Ohio have the support of a majority of the state’s voters — especially if the resulting revenue would be spent to cut income taxes for residents — according to the results of a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

A district court judge in Texas has reversed his earlier ruling that oil and natural gas equipment used “below ground” should be exempt from state sales taxes on extraction equipment.

The majority of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale drilling law is just starting to go into effect, but two state lawmakers are already proposing tweaks, one small and one large.