Operating

In its reluctance to share its natural gas resources with the world, the United States is operating in a scarcity mode, which is at odds with today’s abundance, Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday.

Doug Suttles, the former operating chief for BP plc’s global exploration and production arm, on Tuesday took the helm of Canada’s largest natural gas producer, Encana Corp., as CEO and president.

Former BP plc operating chief Doug Suttles on Tuesday took over as CEO and president of Encana Corp., one of the largest natural gas producers in North America.

Dave Hager, 56, who has been running Devon Energy Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) program since 2009, has been promoted to COO, giving him responsibility for all operating areas and related corporate functions. Hager had been COO of Kerr-McGee Corp. prior to its 2006 merger with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Tony Vaughn, 55, will move into Hager’s former job as executive vice president of E&P. Vaughn has been senior vice president, exploration and strategic services. He joined Devon in 1999 after spending 12 years with Kerr-McGee.

Natural gas has become the fuel of choice of power generators operating in the seven independent system operators (ISO) and regional transmission organizations (RTO) across the nation, and demand is expected to grow.

Natural gas has become the fuel of choice of power generators operating in the seven independent system operators (ISO) and regional transmission organizations (RTO) across the nation, and demand is expected to grow.

Southwestern Energy Co. is producing about 400 MMcf/d in the Marcellus Shale and doesn’t foresee any constraints in moving natural gas to markets north or south for the next couple of years, executives said Friday.

Citing drilling and acquisitions it made last year in the Wattenberg field north of Denver, PDC Energy Inc. on Wednesday reported a 19% jump in production in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, and record output of more than 10,000 b/d of liquids.

With an average production rate of almost 10 MMcf/d in the first quarter, a discovery well in the Piceance Basin may produce in the first few months what a typical well in the Niobrara formation has done over 25 to 30 years, WPX energy CEO Ralph Hill said Thursday.