Provides

EagleClaw Midstream Services LLC, which provides natural gas and crude oil producers in the Permian Basin with gathering, compression, treating, processing and transportation services, has secured a $100 million equity commitment from EnCap Flatrock Midstream of San Antonio (see Shale Daily, Aug. 2). The company, headquartered in Midland, TX, is pursuing greenfield and acquisition opportunities in the region. EagleClaw is led by President Robert Milam, COO Curtis Clark and Executive Vice President of Commercial Development Charles S. Kuss. “While it has been one of the most prolific basins in North America for a long time, there has been a dramatic resurgence over the past year or two, and it’s more active than ever before,” Milam said of the Permian. “There are more than 500 rigs at work in the area, and production is reaching new highs.”

The upstream industry could see its drilling inventory grow if horizontal drilling opportunities being explored by several companies pan out, according to analysts at Raymond James & Associates Inc.

Tulsa-based Oneok Inc. is selling subsidiary Oneok Energy Marketing Co., to Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. for $22.5 million plus working capital.

The Appalachian region of southeastern Ohio provides supply chain companies with cost-effective and easy access to all of the states involved in the Marcellus and Utica shales, “while maximizing return on investment now and over the life of the shale gas reserves,” according to a white paper by the Ohio Business Development Coalition (OBDC). The state “is the ideal location” for Tier I and II suppliers to the shale gas industry, “offering a central location, logistics infrastructures, a skilled workforce and a favorable state tax structure,” according to the OBDC. Among the tax benefits touted by OBDC: Ohio does not tax products and services sold to customers outside the state.

The Senate Appropriations Commission Thursday narrowly approved a $21.7 billion appropriations bill that provides an 18% funding hike for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in fiscal 2012 to implement reforms under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.

Disclosure of the chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation is becoming the law of the land in the energy-rich Ark-La-Tex region, a natural gas breadbasket for the country, and elsewhere. However, in environmentally conscious California legislation to require disclosure has stumbled.

French producer Toreador Resources Corp. and ZaZa Energy LLC, a privately held oil and gas company based in Houston, have announced plans to merge in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $294 million, creating a single company with significant shale holdings on two continents.

An updated version of Wyoming’s Sage Grouse Core Area Protection Executive Order, which has been signed by Gov. Matt Mead, provides more flexibility for management of the area and adds language requiring continual reevaluation of the science and data for sage grouse management, Mead said Friday.

An updated version of Wyoming’s Sage Grouse Core Area Protection Executive Order, which has been signed by Gov. Matt Mead, provides more flexibility for management of the area and adds language requiring continual reevaluation of the science and data for sage grouse management, Mead said Friday.