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Low natural gas prices have created a buying opportunity among dry gas-directed companies for larger players whose pockets are lined with oil dollars, according to consultancy Deloitte. And in the midstream, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will be propelled by a consolidation trend among master limited partnerships (MLP), according to a midyear report on M&A activity.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule to require companies to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on federal and Indian lands would duplicate regulations already in place in states where BLM lands are located, according to several comments filed with the agency over the past six weeks.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule to require companies to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on federal and Indian lands would duplicate regulations already in place in states where BLM lands are located, according to several comments filed with the agency over the past six weeks.

Aggregate U.S. pressure pumping supply exceeded demand late last year and in the first three months of 2012 capacity utilization averaged 93.4%, a big turnaround in a market that had been undersupplied for two years, according to a new analysis. The shift is challenging oilfield service operators, which already were noting the squeeze in quarterly conference calls.

Producers have eschewed dry gas in favor of more lucrative oil and liquids-rich production, and midstream operators are following them. Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) is buying Sunoco Inc. for $5.3 billion in a deal intended give it oil and liquids business and a presence in the Marcellus Shale.

San Diego, CA-based Royale Energy Inc., a publicly held exploration and production (E&P) independent with about 15 MMcf/d of gas production, mostly in Northern California, was the biggest bidder for Alaska North Slope shale oil plays offered last month in a state lease sale.

Ahead of a California Superior Court hearing last week, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) publicly acknowledged liability for the natural gas transmission pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA, last year and said it would compensate all of the victims.

Ahead of a California Superior Court hearing Friday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) on Tuesday publicly said it was liable for the natural gas transmission pipeline explosion last year and will compensate all of the victims of an incident that has rocked the North America pipeline sector.

Weakness in the equity markets has forced Williams to revamp a plan that will create two stand-alone publicly traded companies from its exploration and production (E&P) business and natural gas pipeline unit, the Tulsa -based company said Tuesday.