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Elliott Associates LP, a hedge fund that owns a 4% stake in Hess Corp., is urging other shareholders to elect its five nominees to the company’s board of directors and has called on Hess to spin off its assets in the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shale plays.

A bill that would legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in North Carolina and lay the groundwork for its regulation tentatively was scheduled for a second reading Wednesday in the state Senate, one day after clearing a key legislative committee.

If Range Resources Corp. is reading it right, last Tuesday’s deposition by the company of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee in an ongoing Barnett Shale well water contamination case is proof that it’s good to talk things out.

If Range Resources Corp. is reading it right, Tuesday’s deposition by the company of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee in an ongoing Barnett Shale well water contamination case is proof that it’s good to talk things out.

Dismissing a natural gas storage injection report that was right in line with industry estimates, expiring September natural gas futures pushed to a new low for the move at $2.692 before rebounding to go off the board at $2.843, down 6.7 cents from Wednesday’s finish. The October contract dropped 8.8 cents to close at $3.206.

UGI Corp.’s UGI LNG Inc. subsidiary is holding a nonbinding open season through Feb. 25 for the proposed expansion of its Temple LNG (liquefied natural gas) peaking facility near Reading, PA. The expansion would involve adding a 1 Bcf LNG storage tank and increased deliverability of 150 MMcf/d to provide on-peak supplies for the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast markets. The expansion would connect directly to the Texas Eastern Transmission system and would be in service no later than 2012. The existing 0.25 Bcf Temple facility has operated since 1972. Any party interested in contracting for service must submit a bid by 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 25. For information and a bid package, contact Matt Dutzman at (610) 568-1362 or mdutzman@ugilng.com.

Reading the handwriting on the waves from state rejections last month of a similar project, the sponsors of the Clearwater Port liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the Southern California coast late Tuesday offered to take stepped-up air emissions mitigation measures. They made the pledge to federal and state air quality regulators.

Reading between the lines from the experts gathered at GasMart 2007 in Chicago last week, domestic and Canadian natural gas production are at their limits and demand is increasing. Pipelines from the far north are years, possibly multiple decades or lifetimes away. Conventional wisdom is that liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas will fill in the gap; but will it? And what happens if it doesn’t?

Reading between the lines from the experts gathered at GasMart 2007 in Chicago last week, domestic and Canadian natural gas production are at their limits and demand is increasing. Pipelines from the far north are years, possibly multiple decades or lifetimes away. Conventional wisdom is that liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas will fill in the gap; but will it? And what happens if it doesn’t?