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The Alberta Energy Ministry said it has sold a record C$2.68 billion in drilling rights so far this year, eclipsing the previous record of C$2.39 billion set in 2010.

Encana Corp.’s Encana Natural Gas Inc. plans to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel fleet vehicles in the Haynesville Shale. It will source the LNG from Pivotal LNG, a unit of AGL Resources, Inc., Pivotal said Monday.

Natural gas futures remained an uncharacteristic beacon of stability and suffered only a modest setback as other markets cascaded lower in volatile trading. At the close September natural gas had retreated 0.6 cent to $3.935 and October gave up just 0.5 cent to $3.957. November through June 2012 posted modest gains. By contrast the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 635 points to 10,810 and September crude oil tumbled $5.57 to $81.31/bbl. Gold rose $70 to $1,722/oz, a record, and the yield on 10-year treasuries zoomed 20 basis points to 2.37%, the highest one-day move since May 2009.

The Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to add a referendum to the fall ballot that, if approved by voters, would amend the city charter with a ban on all commercial natural gas extraction inside the city limits.

Only a few quarterly earnings reports from the exploration and production (E&P) sector to date have been unveiled, but more clarity about Gulf of Mexico (GOM) activity and the strength of natural gas drilling onshore is sure to come this week when the largest U.S. majors and some of the biggest independent E&Ps unveil their profit numbers.

Temple University announced Wednesday that three faculty members will investigate the source of methane gas that has contaminated water wells near Marcellus Shale drilling sites in Susquehanna County, PA, and will also study how the debate over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is affecting public policy.

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) has asked FERC to reconsider a recent order that removed restrictions so that customers of a new mainline displacement-only backhaul service may use secondary points to make forward-hauls.

Interstate natural gas pipelines will extended their integrity management programs — which currently are limited to only those areas in highly populated areas — to the entire pipeline infrastructure over the next two decades to ensure greater safety, said two officials with a major interstate pipeline group.

Two environmental groups have asked a federal court in Pittsburgh to enjoin the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport from accepting any wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations at its sewage plant, but an official with the facility says it hasn’t accepted Marcellus wastewater for the last three months.