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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) White River field office in Colorado has extended to Jan. 28 the public comment deadline for a draft resource management plan (RMP) for parts of the Piceance Basin, which when finalized could result in thousands of new natural gas wells.

Anchor Drilling Fluids USA Inc. announced Monday that it has opened a drilling fluids production plant in Wellsville, OH, the first such facility in the state and designed to service oil and natural gas operators in the emerging Marcellus and Utica shales.

By a narrow margin, voters last Tuesday elected President Obama to a second term in office, and kept Republicans in control of the House of Representatives and Democrats in the majority in the Senate. By maintaining the status quo in Washington, DC, this may ensure that the stalemate over energy policy will continue for another four years.

Most of the candidates who ran for office in New York on a platform opposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were soundly defeated at the polls on Tuesday, but it was unclear if Republicans would maintain control of the state Senate with two races too close to call.

By a narrow margin, voters Tuesday elected President Obama to a second term in office, but with Congress still split — a majority Republican House and a majority Democratic Senate — the passage of significant legislation relating to the energy industry or anything else remains problematic.

By a narrow margin, voters Tuesday elected President Obama to a second term in office, but with Congress still split — a majority Republican House and a majority Democratic Senate — the passage of significant legislation relating to the energy industry or anything else remains problematic.

A coalition of New York landowners that supports natural gas development has endorsed a slate of candidates — all of them Republicans — for election to state office.

A Mexican government official said state-owned petroleum company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will spend $200 million over the next three years exploring two shale formations in the country for natural gas.

The Railroad Commission of Texas appointed Milton Rister executive director of the agency effective Oct. 1. Rister comes from Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office, where he has served as director for administration since 2010. Before that, Rister was executive director of the Texas Legislative Council from 2006 to 2009. He also served as a senior advisor for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in 2005. Former Executive Director John Tintera announced his retirement effective April 1 after 22 years of service to the commission (see Daily GPI, March 9).