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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday released a draft of its long-awaited guidance to oil and natural gas producers on the use of diesel fuel in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The physical market slipped another 2 cents on average Thursday with Northeast points taking the larger hits. In Southern California forecasts of summer-like weather on top of planned maintenance were enough to skew traditional price differentials, and price declines were minimized.

The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement was “taking steps” Thursday to identify the source of a “light sheen” sighted in the central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) said to be about 10 square-miles-long. The sheen was reportedly spotted near the Mars and Ursa deepwater production units, both operated by Royal Dutch Shell plc.

A well count “evolution” is taking place across the United States because the “cost of opportunity of drilling shale gas is growing,” said Societe Generale analysts in a note to clients.

The cash market on average dropped a dime Tuesday with Northeast points and the Rocky Mountains taking the biggest hits. Volatile weather prompted New England losses, but the Great Lakes and Texas points were weak as well. At the close of futures trading April had fallen 1.8 cents to settle at $2.208 after having ventured as low as $2.176. May lost 2.5 cents to $2.294. May crude oil rose 30 cents to $107.33/bbl.

An environmental group is suing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, claiming that his administration is misusing revenue from Marcellus Shale development on state lands. Although Corbett is being sued, most of the actions cited in the litigation first were undertaken by his predecessor Ed Rendell.

Affiliates of private equity firm Blackstone are taking a stake in Cheniere Energy Partners LP’s (CQP) project to add liquefaction and export capability to its Sabine Pass LNG terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast as well as other activities, Houston-based Cheniere said Monday.

Unconventional shale gas in the United States has proved to be a boon to the domestic economy, but if it’s only a “bridge” to a low carbon future, efforts have to be stepped up to “prepare a landing at the other end” — and that won’t be easy, energy economists said in a new report.

California natural gas for electricity generation rose nearly 250 MMcf/d in the past week in the wake of Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) taking its 2,300 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) entirely offline. The shutdown came from a scheduled outage at Unit 2 and an unplanned outage of Unit 3 when a small leak occurred last Tuesday.