Never

U.S. natural gas prices may never return to the double digits of yesteryear, but there are “a lot of reasons” to see some upside in pricing going forward, Apache Corp. CEO G. Steven Farris said Wednesday at Sanford Bernstein’s 29th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference 2013.

In a stunning setback for shale development in New York state, an appellate court ruled unanimously to uphold two local bans on oil and gas activities.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has issued a final rule that is aimed at enhancing the safety of oil and gas rig workers on the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

A trio of New York legislators opposed to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) held court over a lengthy public hearing Thursday on rules that would govern the practice, but officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) were not in attendance.

Houston-based eCORP Stimulation Technologies LLC claims to have successfully tested a waterless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid consisting solely of propane in Frio County, TX, in the Eagle Ford Shale. The test simulated conditions in the shale play at 5,950 feet, the company said.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Wednesday clinched multiple agreements to sell most of its prized Permian Basin properties to heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell plc and Chevron Corp. and its remaining midstream properties to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which together with other asset sales would give the cash-strapped producer total net proceeds of $6.9 billion.

Pundits and analysts alike watching the developments among domestic fossil fuels in the United States have never been busier. New data and extrapolations pop up almost daily, contributing to what is becoming a rich stew of trends and counter-trends. Last week was no exception, with a “comeback” for coal in the power generation space being forecast as coming perhaps as early as next year, and the head of one of the nation’s largest fleets of gas-fired generation plants predicting coal-fired generation plant retirements will accelerate, not recede.

As energy companies begin collecting production data from the few wells drilled so far in Ohio’s portion of the Utica Shale, a picture is starting to emerge that company executives and industry experts agree will determine how, where and when the play will ultimately be developed.

Noting that progress never comes without some hardship, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple last Tuesday said his state is prepared to spend up to $1.2 billion over the two fiscal years ending in mid-2013 to pay for enhanced local infrastructure and services needed to support the rapid oil/gas development in the western part of the state. From July through October $312 million was already allocated for infrastructure, water and housing needs.