Ongoing

President Obama Wednesday defended his energy policy from the ongoing attacks of industry and Republicans on Capitol Hill, and championed natural gas as a new source of energy. The threat of a cut in oil imports due to the political implosions of a number of Middle Eastern countries has added fuel to the verbal battle between the administration and the oil and gas industry over the de facto moratorium on Gulf of Mexico (GOM) drilling.

April natural gas futures drifted lower Wednesday in uninspired activity as traders monitored what seemed to be an ongoing struggle for the April contract to settle above $4.

Following customer complaints of health problems, California regulators on Thursday asked Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) to allow its customers to opt-out of the ongoing effort to install smart natural gas and electric meters. Some customers have alleged that radio frequencies used by the meters are causing a wide range of ailments.

An early report from an ongoing Fort Worth air quality study has been corrected to show that volatile organic compounds (VOC) detected at one of the monitored sites are much lower than stated more than two weeks ago.

If Range Resources Corp. is reading it right, Tuesday’s deposition by the company of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee in an ongoing Barnett Shale well water contamination case is proof that it’s good to talk things out.

Two lawsuits were filed in Dallas Wednesday alleging that units of Devon Energy Corp., Encana Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. contaminated water wells in the Barnett Shale with hydraulic fracturing and the storage of drilling waste.

Thanks to strong oil and liquids production growth and its ongoing divestiture strategy of noncore assets, Devon Energy Corp. boosted 3Q2010 net earnings to $2.1 billion, or $4.81 per common share ($4.79 per diluted common share), up from $499 million, or $1.13 per common share ($1.12 per diluted common share) during 3Q2009. Excluding adjusted items, which included the $1.5 billion gain on the sale of assets in Azerbaijan, the company earned $628 million, or $1.44 per diluted common share.

Thanks to strong oil and liquids production growth and its ongoing divestiture strategy of noncore assets, Devon Energy Corp. boosted 3Q2010 net earnings to $2.1 billion, or $4.81 per common share ($4.79 per diluted common share), up from $499 million, or $1.13 per common share ($1.12 per diluted common share) during 3Q2009. Excluding adjusted items, which included the $1.5 billion gain on the sale of assets in Azerbaijan, the company earned $628 million, or $1.44 per diluted common share.

The ongoing oversupply of natural gas hasn’t deterred most independent exploration and production (E&P) companies from maintaining a robust drilling pace in the shale plays because of the shift by many to crude and natural gas liquids (NGL) for margin relief, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.