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Wednesday physical natural gas trading for Thursday delivery saw widespread weakness of a few pennies at most spots around the country offset by significant strength in California and New England, where colder temperatures were beginning to set in.

After several months of decline, rail transport of crude oil is likely to pick up during the rest of the year, according to North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad, who said the widening spread in global Brent and U.S. WTI oil prices will drive more shipments back to rail.

Despite the fact that they may not be needed anytime soon, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced Tuesday it is crafting new rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to reflect the concerns of residents and environmentalists.DEQ regulators have hosted or attended more than 200 public meetings around the state during the past two years. “We have heard loud and clear that there is a growing concern about fracturing,” said DEQ Director Dan Wyant.DEQ’s proposed fracking changes focus on four key areas:

Encana Corp. now has four natural gas wells producing to sales at the Deep Panuke platform offshore Nova Scotia, the producer said Wednesday.

Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp. continued to increase its emphasis on oil over natural gas with an agreement to sell its West Tavaputs gas property in the Uinta Basin in Utah.

Denver-based Berry Petroleum Co. said Wednesday it expects to see its natural gas assets in the Piceance in Colorado and East Texas Haynesville/Bossier Shale decline this year as its continues to target its investment toward oil assets in the Uinta and Permian Basins.

Houston-based Shell Trading Risk Management LLC, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has applied to become a registered swaps dealer, according to a registry kept by the National Futures Association (NFA).

As an outgrowth of the North American shale revolution, natural gas increasingly will capture a bigger piece of global energy demand with a denser network offering greater flexibility and improved economics, according to a white paper released Friday by General Electric Corp. (GE).

Newport Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp., one of the nation’s largest providers of natural gas transportation fuels and fueling infrastructure, said Monday it has formed a strategic alliance with the transportation finance unit of General Electric Corp. (GE) aimed at heavy duty trucking fleets.