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The pecking order of liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers to Japan, the world’s largest importer of LNG, has shifted. For the first time, Australia has surpassed Qatar to take the No. 1 slot, according to EnergyQuest, a consultancy based in Australia.

Royal Dutch Shell plc hasn’t given any indication that it will back out of plans to build a world-scale petrochemical complex in Pennsylvania, but a developer working on a smaller project in the Northeast thinks bigger isn’t always better.

BP plc CEO Bob Dudley last week said the beleaguered oil major will become a “simpler,” more oily company over the next few years.

Following a steady increase in North American exploration and production (E&P) spending both in the onshore and offshore, operators may “take a breather” and keep upstream capital expenditures (capex) relatively flat, according to a survey by Barclays Capital.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network said more than 50 organizations have signed a petition asking the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to take regulatory authority over natural gas pipelines in the watershed.

Lamar McKay, who has served as chairman and president of BP plc subsidiary BP America since 2009, will take over as CEO of the Upstream business unit effective Jan. 1. In his new role McKay, who has worked for BP for 32 years, would lead the operator’s combined upstream businesses, which include the exploration, development and production divisions, together with the strategy and integration team. The upstream divisions were created in 2010 following the Macondo deepwater spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which led to a major reorganization designed to improve risk management and global standards. McKay would report to Group CEO Bob Dudley. McKay’s successor has not been announced.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, believes the nation should take a careful approach to exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), and endorses sharing federal revenues to develop offshore oil and natural gas with coastal states.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, believes the nation should take a careful approach to exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), and endorses the sharing of federal revenues from the development of offshore oil and natural gas with coastal states.

SandRidge Energy Inc., which has been under fire from investors, has adopted a rights plan to counter any offers to take over the company that management deems to be unfair to investors.