Separately

Quicksilver Resources Inc., which was one of the early entrants into the Horn River Basin of British Columbia (BC), has launched plans to create a midstream natural gas entity to support its 130,000 net-acre project.

Interior Department officials last Wednesday outlined the structures and duties of two new independent agencies that will separately manage offshore resources and enforce safety and environmental regulations — functions that were once assigned to the former Minerals Management Service (MMS). The restructuring is aimed at avoiding future conflicts of interest between the agency and oil and natural gas producers.

Interior Department officials Wednesday announced the structures and duties of two new independent agencies that will separately manage offshore resources and enforce safety and environmental regulations — functions that were once assigned to the former Minerals Management Service (MMS). The restructuring is aimed at avoiding future conflicts of interest between the agency and oil and natural gas producers.

Williams Cos. and separately, Williams Partners LP, on Tuesday completed acquisitions that build their portfolios in the Marcellus and Bakken shales.

The Pennsylvania House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday separately voted in lame duck sessions to override Gov. Ed Rendell’s veto of an education bill. However, the severance tax on gas drillers that Rendell and some lawmakers had sought for more than two years was never considered.

With less than a month remaining before an election that could change the makeup of both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the state’s Republican-controlled Senate is preparing to take up legislation (SB 1155) approved last week by the Democratic-controlled House that would impose a 39 cents/Mcf (about 10%) severance tax on natural gas drilling in the state.

Encana Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp. on Thursday separately suspended operations at two natural gas prospects that are offshore Nova Scotia (NS) to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Earl.

A natural gas producer group and interstate gas pipeline association separately stepped up the pressure on Capitol Hill lawmakers Monday by calling for an expansion of the role of natural gas in climate change legislation.

A natural gas producer group and interstate gas pipeline association separately stepped up the pressure on Capitol Hill lawmakers last week by calling for an expansion of the role of natural gas in climate change legislation. The groups urged lawmakers to encourage greater use of existing gas-fired generation facilities in the legislation, provide incentives for natural gas carbon capture and sequestration projects, and address the recovery of gas pipeline costs to buy emissions allowances.