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One of SandRidge Energy’s largest investors, hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital, is calling on the Oklahoma City-based exploration and production company to replace its CEO, realign its board of directors and consider the possible sale of the company.

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday unveiled an energy plan that he said would open more federal lands to oil and gas drilling and would make North America energy independent by 2020 — the final year of his second term in office — if he is elected this November.

Houston-based Chimera Energy Corp. has licensed a shale oil extraction technology that is designed to replace hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with a process that was originally developed for use in areas that were too cold for the use of water. Chimera is keeping details of the process under wraps “until the company has their patent in hand, some details about exothermic extraction of shale oil will be closely held,” according to Chimera’s website. The company only said that it does not use “acids or explosives.” Non-hydraulic extraction is “a cheaper and more effective extraction method that does not affect groundwater at all,” according to Chimera, which said it has put in place a procedure for engineering its new method for mass production, patenting, licensing and sales. Testing and third-party certification of the process has begun, Chimera said.

Pennsylvania midstream operator UGI Energy Services Inc. on Wednesday launched plans to replace the diesel now powering its Marcellus Shale drilling fleet with liquefied natural gas (LNG). UGI’s plan mirrors a pilot initiated by EQT Corp. earlier this month to convert its Marcellus diesel rigs (see Shale Daily, July 6).

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said $18 million in grants is available to businesses, governmental entities, school districts and individuals that replace older medium- or heavy-duty gasoline or diesel vehicles with natural gas vehicles (NGV) or repower the older vehicles with natural gas engines. Applicants must apply for Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Grant Program grants through a participating dealer. A list of participating dealers is available at www.terpgrants.org. The predetermined grant amounts are 60-90% of the incremental cost of the NGVs and engines, and are based on the fuel capacity, usage and weight class of the grant-funded vehicles. Grant applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Projects must result in at least a 25% reduction of emissions of nitrogen oxides, and grant recipients must commit to operate the grant-funded vehicles in eligible Texas counties for at least 75% of the annual mileage for four years, or 400,000 miles, whichever occurs earlier. Applications will be accepted until May 31, 2013 or until all funds are awarded. For information call (800) 919-TERP (8377).

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has named Al Walker, the company’s current president and COO, to the post of CEO to replace current CEO Jim Hackett, who will stay on as executive chairman. Hackett became CEO in December 2003. The change will take effect May 15 at the company’s annual meeting. Walker will stand for election to Anadarko’s board of directors at that time. “Throughout his time with the company, Al has demonstrated an exceptional ability to create value for Anadarko, resulting in some of the company’s most noteworthy accomplishments,” said Hackett. “Al has been a member of the company’s executive management team since joining Anadarko in 2005 and has been integral to the company’s major strategic and tactical decisions over that period.” Walker, 55, has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, with a focus on exploration and production. “We see very little change as it relates to the day-to-day operations at [Anadarko],” Wells Fargo Securities analysts said of the CEO appointment.

Because of the abundance of natural gas and oil now being unearthed in North America, energy imports into the United States and Canada will steadily decline and be “down to almost zero” by 2040, an ExxonMobil Corp. executive said Thursday.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2040 may replace coal as the second largest global energy source, ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson said in Qatar this week.

The head of a major Pennsylvania water utility sees a two-fer in convincing Marcellus Shale operators to replace trucks with pipelines for fracking.