Step

After rebranding itself last year and finishing a transformation into “a significant resource play company,” SM Energy Co. plans to step up development in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and the Bakken-Three Forks formation while it hopes to sell down Eagle Ford assets, secure a joint venture (JV) partner in the Haynesville Shale and exit the Marcellus Shale.

Canada’s arctic natural gas development scheme has advanced a step by receiving final regulatory approval, after the federal cabinet in Ottawa ratified the favorable decision in December by the National Energy Board (NEB) (see NGI, Dec. 20, 2010).

Canada’s arctic natural gas development scheme has advanced a step by receiving final regulatory approval, after the federal cabinet in Ottawa ratified the favorable decision in December by the National Energy Board (NEB) (see Daily GPI, Dec. 20, 2010).

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett continues to roll back natural gas development regulations put in place by its predecessor.

Responding to the requests of customers as oil and natural gas development continues to increase in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) said Friday it has entered into multiple long-term agreements with shippers to provide additional transportation services, which will require new infrastructure including the construction of the Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM).

One of two problematic liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal proposals in Oregon took a step backward when a newly constituted local county elected board voted 4-1 to rescind approval for a pipeline that would connect Oregon LNG’s proposed terminal along the Columbia River at Warrenton, OR, with the metropolitan Portland area.

As the president and executive director of the two-year-old Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), Kathryn Klaber is charged with addressing the needs and wants of the gas industry, the affected communities and stakeholders, as well as the different governing authorities across an area that extends 95,000 square miles over five states.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani, 75, plans to step down at the 2011 annual meeting and become executive chairman before retiring in 2014. COO Stephen Chazen, who also is president of the Los Angeles-based producer, was tapped to assume the role of CEO. Occidental’s board also said it would “substantially reduce” overall compensation levels to be “more in line with its peers.” Irani made $97 million in total compensation in 2009. By comparison, ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson earned $27.2 million in total compensation last year.

As development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania ramps up, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation continues work on a final supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS), which is not expected to be completed until next year.