Michael

Michael C. Linn, who founded Linn Energy LLC in 2003, is retiring from the company and is stepping down as executive chairman at the end of the year. Linn is to continue to serve as a director. Linn President and CEO Mark E. Ellis is to add the role of chairman to his responsibilities. Under Linn’s leadership, the Houston-based producer became the first publicly traded exploration and production (E&P) limited liability company in 2006 (see Daily GPI, March 9, 2007). The company now has an enterprise value of close to $10 billion with focus areas in the Midcontinent and Permian and Williston basins, as well as Michigan and California — “far more successful than I ever envisioned,” said Linn. Linn Energy grew from a “small company in Pittsburgh, with a few natural gas wells and three employees, to a company that ranks among the largest independent E&P companies in the U.S. and has 800 employees across the nation. Throughout that growth, we have increased our quarterly cash distribution to unitholders by more than 70%,” Linn said.

“This is a 2013 development. It’s not a 2012 development. The next year is about evaluation. It’s about getting your head around the rock,” said Michael Bodino with Global Hunter Securities LLC.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he completely supports Spectra Energy’s proposal to expand two natural gas pipelines into the city, just days before the Oct. 31 deadline for FERC to take public comments on the project.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he completely supports Spectra Energy’s proposal to expand two natural gas pipelines into the city, just days before Monday’s deadline for FERC to take public comments on the project.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he completely supports Spectra Energy’s proposal to expand two natural gas pipelines into the city, just days before Monday’s deadline for FERC to take public comments on the project.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has declined to have the city join a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over Marcellus Shale development, despite a resolution from the City Council supporting such a move.

The Department of Interior considered preventing BP plc from bidding in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and gas lease sale slated for December but in the end decided against it, Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said at a House hearing on Thursday.

The Department of Interior considered preventing BP plc from bidding in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and gas lease sale slated for December but in the end decided against it, Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said at a House hearing on Thursday.

Michael Bromwich, who now leads the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), has been tapped to take over the newly formed Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) until a permanent director is named, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday.