NYMEX

Officials in Harrison County, OH, have agreed to lease more than 300 acres of the county’s industrial park for Utica Shale oil and gas drilling.

The Henry Hub spot price for natural gas is expected to increase to $4.00/MMBtu next year, compared with an estimated $3.71/MMBtu this year and an average $2.75/MMBtu in 2012, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Those projections are both higher than EIA had expected last month, when it estimated 2013 to be $3.68/MMBtu and 2014 to be $3.91/MMBtu.

Colorado officials said Tuesday they have found no evidence of contamination from oil or natural gas spills in water samples taken from rivers and streams affected by last month’s flooding.

The venerable Permian Basin, which has seen its share of booms and busts in its 86-year production history, is booming beyond most of the industry’s recognition, said Alan Chambers, senior gas buyer for Atmos Energy Corp. and a native of the Permian region.

Range Resources Corp. says it is complying with a court order to obtain and provide information for all of the chemicals used at a Marcellus Shale drilling and impoundment site in Washington County, PA, but it took issue with media reports suggesting that the company doesn’t know what chemicals are used in its hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.

The shale gas revolution and and planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to foreign nations have elevated the United States’ position on the global energy stage, said European and Asian energy representatives Thursday. They urged U.S. House lawmakers to seize the new energy tool for diplomatic purposes and to aid allies.

Regency Energy Partners LP plans to buy PVR Partners LP in a $5.6 billion deal (including $1.8 billion of debt) to create a natural gas gathering and processing giant with a presence in Appalachia, West Texas, South Texas, the Midcontinent and North Louisiana.

Gubernatorial candidates in Pennsylvania who have called for severance taxes on the state’s shale natural gas industry are embracing “misguided, job-crushing policies,” the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) said Thursday.

Chevron Corp.’s U.S. upstream production is holding steady from a year ago, with natural gas output higher and liquids holding steady, the operator said late Wednesday in an interim 3Q2013 report.