Sixth

Oil and natural gas industry professionals in the United States are the sixth best compensated in the world, according to an annual report by the Australian consulting firm Hays plc and Oil and Gas Job Search (OGJS), an industry jobs website.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed slashing the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) budget by more than one-sixth for the upcoming fiscal year, dashing hopes that the agency could hire additional oil and natural gas drilling inspectors.

The first of a two-part rate decrease kicked in Monday in Idaho for Intermountain Gas Co., its sixth consecutive natural gas utility retail rate decrease, according to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The second part of the rate reduction comes in December in the form of a one-time bill credit, the PUC said. Combined, the adjustments result in a decrease of 7.1% for the average Intermountain residential customer. The reductions represent nearly $18 million in lower costs for the Boise, ID-based gas utility: $6 million in wholesale gas cost reductions and $11.9 million in the one-time credit from differences in the annual purchased cost projections and the weighted average cost of gas (WACOG). With the latest adjustments, the WACOG drops from 41.8 cents/therm to 33.5 cents/therm, the PUC said, the lowest it has been in 10 years.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) is opening about one-sixth of a game reserve in Bradford County, in the heart of the Marcellus Shale, to oil and natural gas leasing.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is boasting that one of its conventional natural gas wells in Oklahoma is only the sixth in the state’s history to reach 60 Bcf of cumulative production.

May natural gas futures drifted lower Friday as traders noted little in the way of buying as prices completed the sixth day in a row in the loss column and traders shifted their interest to the petroleum complex. At the end of the day May had fallen 1.6 cents to $4.041 and June shed 1.9 cents to $4.107. May crude oil rocketed higher by $2.49 to $112.79/bbl.

After a sixth smog alert this year for the Pinedale Anticline natural gas production area in western Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead, major producers and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) met earlier this month to address a six-year-old air quality attainment issue that had seemed to be in remission over the past two years.

After a sixth smog alert this year for the Pinedale natural gas production area in western Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead, major producers and the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) met earlier this month to address a six-year-old air quality attainment issue that had seemed to be in remission over the past two years.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Friday announced his intention not to seek re-election to a sixth term. He has served as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for nearly eight years (2001-2003 and 2007-2011), making him the top poliucymaker on Capitol Hill on energy issues. Bingaman, who is 67 years old, informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) of his decision Thursday. He is the fourth senator aligned with Democrats to not seek re-election, following announcements already this year by Sens. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jim Webb of Virginia and Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats, the Wall Street Journal reported..