Officially

Forecasters at Colorado State University (CSU) expect the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins June 1, will have more activity than the median 1981-2010 season, with an estimated 18 named storms, including nine hurricanes, four of them major (Category 3 or higher) — significantly higher numbers than CSU predicted prior to the 2012 hurricane season (see Daily GPI, April 16, 2012).

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s co-founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon officially stepped out of the batter’s box Monday, but there’s no permanent replacement and no timetable on when a successor will be named, said acting CEO Steven Dixon. However, operations are running “smoothly,” despite some constraints in the Utica Shale.

The 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season, which officially ended Friday, produced 19 named storms, including 10 hurricanes, one of them major (Category 3 or higher), continuing a decades-long high-activity era in the Atlantic Basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The number of named storms this year was well above the average of 12 and the number of hurricanes was above the average of six, but the number of major hurricanes was below the average of three, according to NOAA, which classified the 2012 hurricane seas as above normal. It was the second consecutive year that the mid-Atlantic and Northeast suffered devastating impacts from a named storm. In 2011 it was Hurricane Irene, which turned out the lights on millions of East Coast residents and in doing so cut demand for natural gas by about 2.8 Bcf; this year the region was hit by Hurricane Sandy, which struck the New Jersey coastline Oct. 30. But it was the seventh consecutive year that no major hurricanes hit the United States. The only major hurricane was Hurricane Michael, a Category 3 storm that stayed over the open Atlantic. Hurricane Isaac was the only storm to cause significant disruption to energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico.

The 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season, which officially ends Friday, produced 19 named storms, including 10 hurricanes, one of them major (Category 3 or higher). It continued a decades-long high-activity era in the Atlantic Basin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The closing weeks of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs until Nov. 30, will see what has been a busy tropical season winding down quickly, according to Weather Services International (WSI), which increased its forecast to 17 named storms, including nine hurricanes, two of them major (Category 3 or higher).

Aubrey McClendon, who has run Chesapeake Energy Corp. and helmed the board of directors since he co-founded the company in 1989, officially will step down as chairman of the board at some point this week.

Last Wednesday market forces officially shifted Alaska’s effort to commercialize its North Slope gas from a Lower 48 pipeline project to an in-state pipeline with gas liquefaction and export capability to serve high-value Asian markets. Along the way to export, some of the gas would be diverted for use in state.

On Wednesday market forces officially shifted Alaska’s effort to commercialize its North Slope gas from a Lower 48 pipeline project to an in-state pipeline with gas liquefaction and export capability to serve high-value Asian markets. Along the way to export, some of the gas would be diverted for use in state.

The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins June 1, will start out with a less conducive environment for tropical storms than the 2011 season, resulting in a near-normal number of named storms, according to AccuWeather.com forecasters.