natural gas

Brad Sylvester is joining Chesapeake Energy Corp. as vice president of investor relations and communications. He was the investor relations chief for Southwestern Energy Co. and had been employed by the Houston company since 1996. Sylvester previously was a portfolio manager at Greenwood & Associates Inc.

If last week’s national average price change of a 3-cent decline was uninspiring, the NGI Weekly National Spot Gas Average 6-cent decline to $3.60 for the week endingAugust 22 wasn’t much better.

ZaZa Energy Corp.and an affiliate of private equity firmQuantum Energy Partnershas struck an East Texas joint venture (JV) agreement that includes acreage in Walker, Grimes, Madison, Trinity and Houston counties. ZaZa is to receive about $17 million, consisting of cash and a right to receive Quantum’s interest in the next 15 East Texas JV wells. ZaZa is to assign to Quantum 6,000 net acres in undeveloped leases within its East Texas JV and is to retain its interest in all existing wells and the right to participate with respect to Quantum’s working interest in reserved wells. Following the assignment, ZaZa will have about 30,000 net acres in its East Texas JV and about 10,000 net acres in its East Texas focus area. Closing is subject to the approval of ZaZa’s existing East Texas JV partner. “ZaZa has been meeting with Quantum for more than a year to lay the groundwork for this new relationship,” said CEO Todd Brooks. “Our new partnership validates the progress ZaZa has made, and we look forward to working with Quantum as we move forward with our East Texas acquisition and development plans.”

Physical gas for Friday delivery inched higher in Thursday’s trading as buyers and sellers raced to get their deals done before the release of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report.

Natural gas futures worked lower following the release of government storage figures that were somewhat greater than what the market was looking for.

Given the “boom” label placed on Bakken/Three Forks shale formation oil/natural gas production, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has directed scientists to undertake multiple studies of water quality in the parts of the sprawling Williston Basin found in North Dakota.

WPX Energy Inc. is swapping the rest of its neglected coalbed methane (CBM) property in the Powder River Basin (PRB) for a bigger slice of oily property in the San Juan Basin.

BP plc has named David Lawler, now COO of onshore operator SandRidge Energy Inc., as the CEO for the soon-to-be separate Lower 48 onshore operations. Lawler, coincidentally, is the younger brother of Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Doug Lawler.

FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller plans to convene a meeting Sept. 18 “for interested parties to discuss ideas to facilitate and improve the way in which natural gas is traded, and to explore the concept of establishing a centralized trading platform for natural gas,” the Commission said Tuesday.