Table

Natural gas groups Wednesday said they were hopeful the Obama administration will provide a more cohesive energy policy during the president’s second term, at the same time urging various industry segments to speak to lawmakers and the public with one voice on hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. last week put a $9 billion cash-and-stock transaction — $20 billion total including debt — on the table to buy U.S. producers Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) and McMoRan Exploration Co., a deal that is expected to vault Freeport into the upper ranks of domestic producers but initially with faltering shareholder support.

Gulf of Mexico (GOM) explorer Energy XXI Ltd. on Monday said it has two deals on the table with ExxonMobil Corp. to buy some shallow water properties in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and to jointly explore some adjacent targets.

There’s enough water in the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer in South Texas to support Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing as well as other uses, such as irrigation, according to the Eagle Ford Task Force. This is in spite of a drought that has gripped most of Texas, according to experts.

The head of a major Pennsylvania water utility sees a two-fer in convincing Marcellus Shale operators to replace trucks with pipelines to supply water for fracking, thereby saving roads and supplying piped water to rural customers.

Norwegian heavyweight Statoil ASA, which already holds substantial assets in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, has a deal on the table to acquire Austin, TX-based independent Brigham Exploration Co., which would give it access to the Williston Basin’s Bakken and Three Forks oily formations.

Norwegian heavyweight Statoil ASA, which already holds substantial assets in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, has a deal on the table to acquire Austin, TX-based independent Brigham Exploration Co., which would give it access to the Williston Basin’s Bakken and Three Forks oily formations.

Encana Corp., Canada’s No. 1 natural gas producer, on Tuesday said it has ended talks with a subsidiary of PetroChina International Ltd. to jointly develop a gassy Cutbank Ridge leasehold, which straddles the borders of northeast British Columbia (BC) and northwest Alberta.

Making ethanol from newly abundant natural gas instead of corn would avoid taking food off the world’s table and could create another market for growing gas supplies coming from U.S. and other shale basins. Dallas-based Celanese Corp. last year announced a technology to do just that and is gearing up its efforts as Washington lawmakers move closer to repealing an ethanol subsidy supported by corn growers.