Substantial

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn the “imminent and substantial endangerment order” that it issued against Range Resources Corp. in December 2010 for alleged methane contamination of water wells in North Texas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn the “imminent and substantial endangerment order” that it issued against Range Resources Corp. in December 2010 for alleged methane contamination of water wells in North Texas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn the “imminent and substantial endangerment order” that it issued against Range Resources Corp. in December 2010 for alleged methane contamination of water wells in North Texas.

Two transactions completed late in 2011 have helped Chesapeake Energy Corp. achieve “substantial progress” toward a goal of reducing debt by 25% by the end of this year, the company said last week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has refused to reconsider its decision to throw out a ban on oil and natural gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest. Judge Jane Richards Roth denied a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc that was requested by the Sierra Club, the Allegheny Defense Project (ADF) and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, which are appellants in the case Minard Run Oil Company v. United States Forest Service et al. (Case No. 1-09-CV-125, Appeals Docket No. 10-2332). Last September the appeals court’s three-judge panel ruled that the U.S. Forest Service could not refuse to give operators permission to drill in the forest while an environmental impact study was being conducted (see NGI, Sept. 26, 2011).

Two transactions completed late in 2011 have helped Chesapeake Energy Corp. achieve “substantial progress” toward a goal of reducing debt by 25% by the end of this year, the company said Tuesday.

Ontario-based Epsilon Energy Ltd., which is working with Chesapeake Energy Corp. in the Marcellus Shale, said Friday it ended 2011 with a “substantial” increase in Pennsylvania natural gas production, which was in line with its exit guidance.

January natural gas swan-dived lower Friday as traders noted a continuing deterioration in both the fundamental and technical dimensions to the market. At the close January had fallen 14.0 cents to $3.317 and February had given up 13.3 cents to $3.353. January crude oil added $1.07 to $99.41/bbl.

Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. continued to chip away at its substantial debt during the third quarter and managed to set a quarterly production record.