NYMEX

American Energy Partners LP, the oil and natural gas venture helmed by Aubrey McClendon, is in a legal battle with an Ohio-based coal miner over the use of the name “American Energy.”

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) has completed the sale of assets of Missouri Gas Energy (MGE) to Laclede Gas Co., a subsidiary of The Laclede Group, for an estimated $975 million. The transaction positions Laclede to be the largest natural gas distribution company in Missouri, serving more than 1.1 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. MGE is a division of Southern Union Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of ETP.

Dry natural gas production in June from the Lower 48 states was higher than a year earlier and proved resilient from May, lifted mostly by sharp increases in the Marcellus Shale, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form 914 data.

Physical natural gas prices for Wednesday delivery bounded higher by 12 cents overall on average Tuesday. A change in the near-term weather outlook was enough to shoot the screen higher, and cash quotes quickly followed.

PVR Partners and Hess Corp. have struck a deal for the former to construct an 45-mile natural gas trunkline and gathering facilities to serve Hess’s lean gas production in the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio. The deal also establishes an area of mutual interest (AMI) to the companies.

More than one year after creating a subcommittee to study hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and develop a consensus for best practices, ASTM International has proposed a new standard for data management and reporting that would cover oil and gas operations in shale plays.

Jobs at the core of Ohio’s growing shale industry, including those in pipeline construction and well drilling, grew nearly 18% and paid an average wage of more than $76,000 during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a quarterly report by the state’s Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has approved a Sunoco Pipeline LP request to abandon a portion of its petroleum products pipeline transportation service in the state, moving Sunoco Logistics Partners LP’s plans for the Mariner East pipeline project one step closer to fruition.

Responding to multiple questions from a New York audience a week ago on issues surrounding natural gas production, Energy Department Secretary Ernest Moniz said the fuel is both “part of the problem” and “part of the solution,” and it has a strong role to play in underpinning the U.S. economy.