Step

Former TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle was tapped last week to take over at Talisman Energy Inc. after CEO John A. Manzoni agreed to step down. The former BP plc executive, had led the company for the past five years (see NGI, June 4, 2007).

Former TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle was tapped Monday to take over at Talisman Energy Inc. after CEO John A. Manzoni agreed to step down, effective immediately, the Calgary-based independent said.

Coming one giant step closer to the creation of the first floating liquefaction facility in the United States utilizing its Floating Liquefaction Storage Offloading (FLSO) vessel technology, Excelerate Energy reported Monday that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has granted the company a long-term, multi-contract authorization to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to free trade agreement nations from its Lavaca Bay LNG project.

Looking for ways to step on the accelerator for natural gas vehicles (NGV), Colorado and Oklahoma state officials — including the two respective governors — paid a visit to Detroit Monday to urge U.S. auto manufacturers to get behind what they are outlining as a “multi-state, bipartisan compressed natural gas (CNG) initiative” to put more vehicles on the road.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) said it would “review and consider” an industry report’s claims that the agency has significantly overestimated methane emissions from natural gas well operations, particularly from unconventional wells using hydraulic fracturing. It contends, however, that its emissions estimates are based on the best data available.

The gas surplus and sub-$2-$2.50/MMBtu prices for natural gas will put downward pressure on power prices this summer, and step up the switching of generation facilities from coal-fired to gas-fired, according to FERC’s “Summer 2012 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment” report, which was released Thursday.

The gas surplus and sub-$2-$2.50/MMBtu prices for natural gas will put downward pressure on power prices this summer, and step up the switching of generation facilities from coal-fired to gas-fired, according to FERC’s “Summer 2012 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment” report, which was released Thursday.

A top energy analyst and some shareholders on Friday called for Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon and members of the board of directors to step aside following disclosures of questionable personal financial transactions by McClendon.

A U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc last week moved another step closer to lowering a drillbit into the frigid waters offshore Alaska this summer after the Department of Interior approved a stringent oil spill response plan.