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One day after two earthquakes struck Oklahoma, including one believed to be the third-largest in the state’s history, regulators with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) scrambled to take hold of the situation, ordering four wastewater disposal wells shut in and another seven to curtail their operations.

Weekend reports from state and industry sources in Colorado indicated that while the bulk of the oil and natural gas impact from recent devastating floods is concentrated in four counties in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, completing assessments and correcting problems will be a long process (seeDaily GPI,Sept. 20;Sept. 19).

Although the storms are gone, the troubles from historic flooding along the Front Range in Colorado continued to pop up Thursday in the Niobrara Formation portion of the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. wrestled with oil spills from two of its tank batteries damaged by the still-raging flood waters.

Natural gas and oil operators on Thursday made headway in digging out from nearly a week of torrential rains and flash flooding that has claimed lives and property throughout the Front Range of Colorado. Two oil spills related to Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s operations were getting the major attention of industry and state officials as they continued to make post-storm assessments of the impact of historic flooding.

Natural gas production in the Lower 48 and Other States categories, which include some of the nation’s most prolific shale plays, was up in February compared with January and with February 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production Report.

The Ohio Oil and Gas Commission has scheduled a hearing for D&L Energy Inc.’s motion for stay of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) decision to shut the company down after oilfield waste was dumped illegally in late January.

Appalachian midstream provider MarkWest Energy Partners LP and private equity fund The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) have completed an amendment to give EMG a larger stake in their joint venture (JV) in the Utica Shale.

In a state where water historically has dominated the energy discussion, there is more talk of oil and natural gas development, following the state’s adoption of new rules and regulations governing the expected increase in exploration and production (E&P) activity.

Despite the fact that some producers are increasing their dry natural gas shut-ins and retooling their operations to go after liquids, the industry is still facing a supply glut problem, which could be exacerbated later this summer as storage room becomes scarce. As a result, cash prices could easily slip back below $2, according to Evergreen, CO-based Bentek Energy.