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Sustained by low-cost shale gas resources, the North American natural gas industry has embarked on a period of sustained growth, but it will have to address the challenges of a rapidly evolving U.S. energy market for the economy to fully realize its benefits, according to a report issued Wednesday by Black & Veatch.

Noting that the company is operating in a politically charged environment, PG&E Corp. CEO Tony Earley predicted Wednesday that pending multi-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline fines and penalty cases should be decided by state regulators in the first quarter of 2014. If proposed penalties exceeding $2 billion are imposed, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) will appeal in either state or federal courts.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) CEO Stephen Chazen indicated Tuesday that spinning off the company’s estimated $16 billion oil and natural gas operations in California is a likely offshoot of new strategic plans to sell off some domestic and foreign assets to expand existing U.S. holdings.

President Obama Wednesday sent three energy-related nominations — one for the Department of Interior and two for the Department of Energy (DOE) — to the Senate for consideration, and formally withdrew the nomination of Ron Binz to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Three U.S. West Coast states and the province of British Columbia (BC) in Canada agreed to align their policies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promoting clean energy. The nonbinding Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy calls for a “shared vision” among the four Pacific North American states (California, Oregon, Washington) and BC to “create jobs and new economic opportunities” through efforts to reign in GHG emissions.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has appointed Brian Grove deputy secretary of administration, which is a position responsible for budget, information technology and human resources. Grove previously was senior director of corporate development for Chesapeake Energy Corp., the state’s most active natural gas driller. Among other things, the DCNR oversees drilling operations in state forests. Grove worked at one time for state Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), and for the administrations of former Govs.Tom Ridge andMark Schweiker. John Giordano, whom Grove replaces, has gone to work for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Natural gas for physical delivery Thursday eased 2 cents overall on average in Wednesday’s trading, with New England points leading the charge lower with double-digit losses, while Marcellus points gained ground. For the most part, losers outnumbered winners, but most locations managed to trade within a few cents of unchanged.

Using unusually harsh language, the California Senate Subcommittee on Gas and Electric Infrastructure Safety in a staff-generated report strongly criticized the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for allegedly dropping the ball on safety oversight of the state’s major energy utilities.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has voted to withdraw its appeal of a federal court decision that tossed the agency’s controversial final rule aimed at limiting speculative trading in the swaps markets, clearing the way for a new draft.