Michigan

Two of North America's largest natural gas producers on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired in a 2010 Michigan lease sale.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Encana Corp.'s U.S. division pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to colluding in Michigan oil and gas lease sales.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and the U.S. arm of Encana Corp. on Wednesday were formally charged by Michigan officials for allegedly collaborating in 2010 to avoid bidding against each other in state oil and natural gas lease sale.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Encana Corp. representatives are scheduled to be arraigned in a Michigan county district court on March 19 after the companies were formally charged Wednesday for allegedly participating in a criminal conspiracy in 2010 to avoid bidding against each other in a state oil and natural gas auction.

A Michigan operator that wanted to drill for oil and gas in Bucks County, PA, is abandoning the effort and bringing a six-year-long legal battle to a close.

University of Michigan (U-M) researchers on Thursday issued seven technical reports that together form what they said is the most comprehensive state-focused resource on drilling, and in particular, unconventional drilling using hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Consumers Energy, one of Michigan’s largest natural gas utilities, has agreed to spend $1 million to create a response fund for natural gas disasters and to help train first responders following two deadly incidents in three years, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Monday.

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce on Monday launched a campaign to educate voters about the state’s oil and natural gas business in an attempt to prevent any municipal or legislative bans on unconventional drilling.

To give the growing Permian Basin its full focus, Laredo Petroleum Holdings Inc. has agreed to sell all of its Granite Wash properties in the Anadarko Basin to affiliates of EnerVest Ltd. for $438 million in cash.