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Last year, natural gas-fueled plants accounted for 57% of the generating capacity in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and more than 44% of energy use. As the reliance on gas-fired power grows, ERCOT is working with other organizations to protect against and prepare for a large-scale system-wide blackout.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. is buying a 66.7% working interest in producing assets and about 277,000 gross acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) for $26.7 million as it continues to build scale in the play and improve its drilling performance.

The capacity of underground natural gas storage facilities increased by about 2% from November 2011 to November 2012, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a new report. The increase was seen in both demonstrated maximum and design capacities.

A wide variety of outcomes are possible when contemplating the likelihood that an oil or natural gas injection well could increase the chance of seismic activity, including the possibility of not operating the well at all, according to a draft report by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) workgroup.

Most of the United States — and particularly parts of Texas and the Northeast — can expect above-normal temperatures through October, but the Southeast may see some relief from the worst of summer heat, according to forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI). The forecaster also trimmed the number of tropical storms it expects to form in the Atlantic Basin this year.

Industry executives who recently offered Oregon regulators an updated natural gas outlook for the Pacific Northwest said they see faint signs of potential added gas-fired industrial loads taking shape, but flat near-term demand projections nevertheless dominated their forecasts.

A unit of Halliburton Co. on Thursday agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of destroying evidence in connection with the April 2010 Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said. The settlement is subject to district court approval.

Nabors Industries Inc., the largest onshore drilling fleet operator and the biggest supplier of pressure pumping equipment, is not optimistic about seeing gains in the U.S. oil or gas patch through the rest of this year, CEO Tony Petrello said Wednesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Friday it is planning to exit the physical commodities business, including its remaining holdings of commodities assets and its physical trading operations.