natural gas

President Obama on Thursday nominated Norman C. Bay, current director of FERC’s Office of Enforcement (OE), to the Commission and to be designated chairman upon appointment by the U.S. Senate.

Occidental Petroleum(Oxy) CEO Stephen Chazen said Thursday a search for his successor is going slowly and he may stay on longer than was anticipated when his retirement plans were announced last year (see Daily GPI, Feb. 19, 2013). In response to a question during an earnings conference call, Chazen said Oxy’s board will make a progress report in February, “but I expect to be doing significantly more of these [quarterly] calls than I had planned.”

Backing off Wednesday’s round of over-exuberant short-covering that saw both February and March futures soar by 52.4 cents, the newly minted front-month contract was in full retreat Thursday as the current polar vortex eased and forward-looking weather forecasts also moderated.

Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC and Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP have submitted three filings to FERC asking for permission to amend tariff rate structures.

Noting that liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals are “significant facilities” with applications that require extensive reviews, Acting FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur said the Commission would try to act on project proposals “as quickly as we can.”

PDC Energy Inc.’s total proved reserves went from 193 million boe in 2012 to 266 million boe last year, a record increase thanks in large part to its assets in Colorado and Ohio, where the company continues to focus on liquids production.

A court in Pennsylvania ruled Monday that Seneca Resources Corp. owns the rights to oil and natural gas under about 3,650 acres in Venango County owned by the state Game Commission (PGC), but it said it was unclear whether the company also had the right to perform hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on some of the acreage.

Amid one of the coldest winters in 35 years and basis blowouts in recent weeks that recently drove the price of natural gas to unprecedented numbers, midstream companies are focused not just on new infrastructure, but more storage, and above all, more market outlets for producers, executives said Wednesday.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) announced Wednesday it would invest more in its midstream and retail segments over the next three years to take advantage of growing North American crude oil markets.