Manager

It’s a shale world and it’s only getting bigger, according to Ziff Energy Group’s natural gas consulting manager.

As part of a broader asset-shedding strategic plan, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) interim general manager proposed selling the utility’s substantial natural gas reserves in Wyoming’s Pinedale Basin.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. has named board member John Vering as interim president and general manager of its oil and gas exploration and production unit. Vering is being moved in temporarily to run Black Hills Exploration & Production (BHEP) to replace existing management at BHEP, which the parent company acknowledged has had “disappointing” results. Vering is a former CEO of Union Pacific Resources Inc., a Canadian affiliate of Union Pacific Resources Group, a $7 billion oil and gas company prior to its acquisition 10 years ago by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. While reiterating that Black Hills senior management still thinks the oil and gas business has value for Black Hills shareholders, CEO Dave Emery said BHEP results have been “disappointing, and we are pleased that Vering has agreed to lead the effort to strengthen our long-term strategic plan and make improvements with an objective of achieving stronger financial and operational results.”

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources Inc. said Monday they would jointly develop new natural gas gathering, processing and transmission projects to support increased production volumes in the northern West Virginia area of the Marcellus Shale.

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources Inc. said Monday they would jointly develop new natural gas gathering, processing and transmission projects to support increased production volumes in the northern West Virginia area of the Marcellus Shale.

Midstream operator Frontier Gas Services LLC said Wednesday it has acquired two more natural gas gathering systems in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale, adding to the four it already operates in the play.

Midstream operator Frontier Gas Services LLC said Wednesday it has acquired two more natural gas gathering systems in Arkansas’ Fayetteville Shale, adding to the four it already operates in the play.

As the downfall of Amaranth Advisors LLC continues to produce more questions than answers, Robert McCullough, manager of McCullough Research, said Tuesday that he believes Amaranth trader Brian Hunter quite possibly attempted to corner the natural gas market and that the “lack of federal oversight” of energy markets and hedge funds by FERC, the CFTC and the SEC helped him almost accomplish his goal.

A project aspiring to grow up into the next oil sands breakthrough includes the ultimate in substitutes for natural gas — pure heat. As oil sands manager and chief financial officer of Petrobank Energy and Resources, Chris Bloomer makes the earth burn. “It’s aggressive in the reservoir,” he said in describing the new production method at an industry conference and trade fair in Fort McMurray, the oil sands boom city 500 miles northeast of the Canadian gas capital of Calgary.