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Long on the defense regarding the historic Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico three years ago, BP plc has gone on the offensive to recover some of the settlements it’s paid out for Gulf Coast businesses that may have been inflated or fictitious.

For the fourth year in a row, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. investors soundly defeated proposals calling for more disclosures regarding shale extraction operations.

Poland on Wednesday suffered a double dose of bad news regarding its prospective shale plays after Marathon Oil Corp. and Talisman Energy Inc. issued separate statements indicating that they were pulling out of the country.

Crestwood Midstream Partners LP on Tuesday said it is building its foothold in the Marcellus Shale after wresting control of a natural gas partnership created last year.

Nebraska environmental officials on Friday issued a final evaluation report regarding TransCanada Corp.’s alternative route for the norethern portion of its proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. The rerouting avoids environmentally sensitive areas in the Sand Hills region of the state, and carries 57 special conditions that TransCanada has agreed to fulfill.

Nebraska environmental officials on Friday issued a final evaluation report regarding TransCanada Corp.’s alternative route for the norethern portion of its proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. The rerouting avoids environmentally sensitive areas in the Sand Hills region of the state, and carries 57 special conditions that TransCanada has agreed to fulfill.

After relying on industry voluntary actions regarding drilling setback and water sampling approaches, Colorado regulators are poised to establish new mandatory rules covering exploration and production (E&P) companies.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) has requested a public forum with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on the agency’s plans regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA) because members are concerned that new listings could harm domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production. In a letter to FWS Director Daniel Ashe, IPAA CEO Barry Russell said members understand that the agency is obligated to meet certain deadlines under a court-approved settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Earth Guardians. However, there has been “little transparency afforded to the public on which species are coming up for review,” Russell said. “The pure depth and breadth of these settlement agreements could harm our membership and create uncertainty in the development of domestic oil and natural gas.” By 2016 FWS is required to complete a review of 250 candidate species for final listing on the ESA and is required to complete other actions on listings and critical habitat petitions of more than 1,000 species.

Former Sen. George Mitchell will not mediate talks to resolve enforcement cases against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) regarding the natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA, in September 2010, as had been previously announced by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the regulator said last Friday.