Taking

The global energy business is for the optimistic, those unafraid of facing challenges and taking risks, and it will forever be so, BP plc Group CEO Bob Dudley said Wednesday before a crowd at IHS CERAWeek 2013 in Houston.

Williams Partners LP said Wednesday the Japanese firm, Marubeni Corp., is taking a 49% stake in its Gulfstar FPS project, the first floating production system built entirely in the United States.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) CEO Pete Miller believes a slump in North American onshore drilling will continue through this year, but the international energy equipment business is high on his radar, particularly in China.

Williams is taking the long view on North America’s natural gas, agreeing to significantly build its onshore pipeline network by putting up to $2.4 billion into a system once owned by Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Tom Hassenboehler, who has been vice president of policy development and legislative affairs at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) since January 2011, is taking over as chief counsel for the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over controversial energy and environmental issues. Hassenboehler previously worked on Capitol Hill for a decade as counsel for Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) on the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, and as counsel on the House Energy and Commerce panel. He also worked in the offices of former Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Bob Riley (R-AL). Hassenboehler will succeed Maryam Brown, who House Speaker John Boehner tapped to be his top energy aide, according to sources. He has a bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from Louisiana State University.

Tom Hassenboehler, who has been vice president of policy development and legislative affairs at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) since January 2011, is taking over as chief counsel for the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over controversial energy and environmental issues. Hassenboehler previously worked on Capitol Hill for a decade as counsel for Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) on the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, and as counsel on the House Energy and Commerce panel. He also worked in the offices of former Reps. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Bob Riley (R-AL). Hassenboehler will succeed Maryam Brown, whom House Speaker John Boehner tapped to be his top energy aide, according to sources. He has a bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from Louisiana State University.

With a new president taking the reins of power for a six-year term and the rest of North America undergoing an energy transformation, the time is right for Mexico to use its deep energy resources to become a fully developed nation over the next two decades, a Mexico City economic consultant and former federal official told a Manhattan Institute forum on Monday.

On a 6-3 vote after dozens of citizens and business representatives spoke, the Colorado Springs, CO, City Council late Tuesday night approved rules to allow the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil and natural gas drilling, mirroring similar statewide rules.

U.S. steel and iron producer Nucor Corp. last week said it is taking a half-stake in some of Encana Corp.’s U.S. natural gas wells in Colorado to guard against an expected increase in U.S. gas prices.