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Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is betting that its offshore expertise and operational efficiencies will give it the upper hand after agreeing to pay $2 billion-plus for the ailing Gulf of Mexico deepwater portfolio of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX).

The first phase of an expansion of Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) Texas Intrastate Natural Gas system — a 50-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline — entered service at the beginning of September, KMI said in an email. The project cost about $164 million and provides more than 1 million Dth/d of transportation capacity to serve customers in Texas and Mexico. It is supported by commitments from Mexico’s Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) and with Cheniere Energy Inc. for its Corpus Christi, TX, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. (Phase 1 was previously announced as two separate projects: the Texas Intrastate Crossover and the Cheniere Corpus Christi LNG projects.) Phase 2 of the Texas Intrastate system expansion, which has an estimated cost of $161 million, is expected to enter service in late 2018 and is supported by a long-term commitment from SK E&S LNG LLC for service to the Freeport LNG export facility.

The oil and gas services industry has begun to pick itself up from the muck and mire from a “100-year low in activity,” but it has found its bottom, according to top Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. executives.

With opponents peacefully protesting, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held a record-breaking $145.6 million oil/natural gas lease sale on Thursday in Roswell, NM.

California Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislative leaders agreed Wednesday on a distribution plan for proceeds from California’s $3.2 billion cap-and-trade program for the new fiscal year.

The Alberta government’s investment arm announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase a $500 million stake in Howard Energy Partners LLC, a San Antonio-based midstream company with assets in the Eagle Ford and Marcellus shales but also recently expanding into Mexico.

Continental Resources Inc. agreed to take $222 million from an undisclosed buyer for about 80,000 net acres in North Dakota and Montana, the Oklahoma City-based independent said Thursday.

Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group in 2Q2016 completed its exit from the exploration and production (E&P) and refining sectors amid more red ink, while reporting strong earnings in its remaining utility and construction businesses.

Diamondback Energy Inc., Laredo Petroleum Inc., RSP Permian Inc., a trio of Permian Basin pure-play independents, went to town in the second quarter to improve their positions by ratcheting up efficiencies, with all three raising their 2016 production guidance.