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Natural gas cash prices Tuesday for Wednesday delivery were uninspired except for in the Northeast, where some points flirted with $2 gains as forecasts turned cooler and power prices surged. February futures gained 8.2 cents to $3.455 and March was higher by 7.5 cents to $3.453. February crude oil fell 86 cents to $93.28/bbl.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s board is withholding CEO Aubrey McClendon’s 2012 bonus and has cut some of his perquisites, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s board is withholding CEO Aubrey McClendon’s 2012 bonus and has cut some of his perquisites, according to a filing late Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly indicated that they will give some consideration to Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to impose new severance taxes on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas liquids (NGL) in 2013, after declining to do so in 2012.

FERC Wednesday granted Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s (Transco) request to place into service some of its Mid-Atlantic Connector expansion facilities to meet the growing demand for natural gas in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC.

Norway’s Statoil ASA on Wednesday said it has snapped up another 70,000 net acres in liquids-rich areas of the Marcellus Shale for $590 million in cash. The portfolio additions, which give the producer full or joint partnership in close to 750,000 net acres in the play, are spread across West Virginia and Ohio.

Penn Virginia Corp.’s 40% working interest partner in its Lavaca County, TX, Eagle Ford Shale acreage has elected to go “nonconsent” on the last 17 initial unit wells on the acreage. Penn Virginia said it will seek a partner to acquire the 40% working interest. Of 17 initial unit wells, seven have been drilled, two are being drilled and eight remain to be drilled, the company said. The current working interest partner will have no participatory rights in any subsequent wells drilled in the unit. As a result, Penn Virginia’s net Eagle Ford acreage in Lavaca County will increase from about 9,200 acres to about 13,400 acres upon the drilling of all of the initial unit wells. “We expect that each of the drilling units will support up to an additional four primary development wells after the initial well,” Penn Virginia said. “To date, our Lavaca County wells have generally met or exceeded expectations with average reserves of approximately 500,000 boe and attractive economics.” In October, Penn Virginia acquired about 4,100 net Eagle Ford acres in Gonzales and Lavaca counties for about $10 million. Other nonoperated working interest owners were expected to acquire some of the acreage (see Shale Daily, Oct. 4). One year ago, the company said it was exploring the Eagle Ford with an undisclosed “major oil and gas company” (see Shale Daily, Dec. 21, 2011).

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Friday has offered a “voluntary separation program” for some of its employees as part of efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. The layoffs, the third round since June, would remove about 2% of Chesapeake’s workforce of nearly 12,500.

Some of the same environmental groups that have asked FERC to reconsider a May order approving Tennessee Gas Pipelines’ Northeast Upgrade Project have asked the agency to rescind its order approving Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s (Transco) Northeast Supply Link project until a full environmental impact statement has been conducted.