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Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly and lawyers representing several state agencies filed briefs with the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that an appellate court erred when it said portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were unconstitutional.

Between now and 2016, close to $77 billion will be spent on worldwide subsea vessel operations, representing an increase of 63% over the previous five-year period, according to new research by energy adviser Douglas-Westwood (DW). North American spending is expected to total $13 billion, an increase of 23% from the past five years.

Two Washington, DC-based groups representing oil and gas producers have protested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final new source performance standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells. One of the groups is seeking a stay of the EPA’s action.

While far from satisfied with the Obama administration’s five-year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program, a coalition of five governors representing coastal states said they would not block the plan and hope to work closely with the administration to expand offshore access.

Institutional investor groups representing trillions of dollars in assets have called on the oil and natural gas industry to use best practice control technologies to reduce global methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of unconventional wells.

During the first quarter Pioneer Natural Resources Co. grew production by 10,000 boe/d to 147,000 boe/d, a 7% increase from the year-ago period, thanks to growth in its three core liquids-rich assets in Texas: the Spraberry field, the Eagle Ford Shale and the Barnett Shale Combo play.

A newly formed organization representing nearly 2,000 New York property owners in Tioga County, NY, has signed a preliminary agreement to develop unconventional natural gas wells using waterless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) — a technique that may allow them to bypass the state’s drilling moratorium.

Elected officials in Cecil Township, PA, voted Monday to have the township solicitor look into mounting a legal challenge to Pennsylvania’s new Marcellus Shale law on the grounds that it usurps local zoning authority.

Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, who recently created Halcon Resources LLC, is working with a group of investors to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.