Researchers

Three of the top four natural gas marketers reported volume declines compared with the year-ago period, and 24 leading companies had total sales transactions of 123.44 Bcf/d in 2Q2011, a 3.50 Bcf/d (3%) decrease from the 126.94 Bcf/d they transacted in 2Q2010, according to NGI’s 2Q2011 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking.

West Virginia, which collected less than $55 million in severance taxes from natural gas operations last year, could see that number jump to nearly $120 million by 2016, thanks in large part to the state’s growing Marcellus Shale industry, according to Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have been awarded a $412,000, three-year grant by the Heinz Endowments to identify and mitigate the effects of Marcellus Shale natural gas exploration and development on the state’s forest ecosystem. The interdisciplinary research team, led by two faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences, will evaluate landscape change as a result of gas exploration disturbances, assess local and landscape-scale changes to the forest ecosystem and develop an electronic field guide for onsite remediation and wildlife habitat enhancement at Marcellus drilling sites. The team also plans to pilot a long-term citizen-science based monitoring program to track changes to the physical landscape and biotic communities.

Merrill Lynch & Co.’s agreement to pay $100 million in fines to New York and other states and to change the way it compensates its researchers has ended an investigation for one company, but it already is beginning to have a ripple effect on the rest of the sector. Following the decision to change the way it operates, Salomon Smith Barney (SSB) followed suit, acknowledging that Merrill Lynch had set an industry standard that should be followed.