Service

Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded Chesapeake Energy Corp., as well as its midstream and oilfield services units, to “negative” from “stable” because first quarter results pointed to “an even larger capital spending funding gap for 2012” from low natural prices but also because of a planned increase in spending.

TransCanada Corp. has submitted a presidential permit application to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to Steele City, NE. The company said it will supplement that application with an alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected.

Regulators with the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) have approved plans by two PPL Corp. subsidiaries to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Jefferson County and to purchase an existing gas-fired plant in Oldham County.

High prices for oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) relative to dry natural gas will continue to save the day for independent exploration and production (E&P) companies, Moody’s Investors Service said in a note Wednesday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., which is facing scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), on Tuesday stripped company co-founder Aubrey K. McClendon of his role as chairman of the board of directors and terminated the Founder Well Participation Program (FWPP).

In the wake of last week’s decision by the Argentine government to nationalize YPF SA, Moody’s Investors Service has placed Spain’s Repsol and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC (M&N) under review for possible downgrades.

Oneok Partners LP plans to invest $1.5-1.8 billion to build a 1,300-mile crude oil pipeline with capacity to transport 200,000 b/d of light sweet crude from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin in North Dakota to the Cushing, OK, crude oil market hub, the partnership said Monday.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s shareholders once again will see a resolution on their proxy statements that would force the largest U.S. natural gas producer to issue a report about the financial impact from regulatory and community impacts associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within its drilling operations.

Focusing on oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) has paid off for small exploration and production (E&P) companies, according to Moody’s Investors Service, as they are expected to gain from rapid production and reserve growth.