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Robert Douglas Lawler, tapped to be CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. beginning June 17, will earn more than co-founder and predecessor Aubrey McClendon, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing (see Daily GPI, May 21). The compensation package for the first year of employment has the potential to total at least $22 million, if Lawler hits his bonus targets, the SEC Form 8-K indicated. Base salary is set at $1.25 million a year, with a cash bonus of at least $800,000 the first year, a cash signing bonus of $2 million, and shares and options worth $18 million. About $7.5 million of the shares and options are to be paid over the next five years. If Lawler stays for five years, he is to receive another $5 million. About $12.5 million of the share awards are to compensate for losses in pensions and benefits for leaving Anadarko Petroleum Corp. By comparison, McClendon earned a base salary of $975,000 in 2012, with total remuneration of $16.9 million, according to company documents. However, McClendon also earns, and will continue to earn through June 2014, up to 2.5% in profits on wells that the company drills.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) last week said 87 wells in the Utica Shale collectively produced 12.84 Bcf of natural gas and more than 635,000 bbl of oil in 2012.

While there continues to be uncertainty among more than a half-dozen proposed West Coast projects in British Columbia, the backers of two long-standing liquefied natural gas (LNG) export-import projects in Oregon told NGI Wednesday they are alive and well and several steps ahead of their competitors in western Canada.

Denver-based Enservco Corp., a provider of well-site services, said it will invest $6 million in capital expenditures during 2013, with $4.7 million being allocated to new equipment fabrication. The budget also includes $1.3 million for enhancements to existing equipment. Management estimates the annualized revenue potential from the new equipment at about $10 million. The equipment includes nine frack heating trucks with a total of 12 burner boxes, four hot oilers and two well acidizing trucks. The investments will expand the company’s frack heating capacity by 40% and increase its hot oiling fleet by 15%. Enservco said sales during April reached $3.7 million, up 85% from one year ago. The improvement was fueled in part by cool spring temperatures across the company’s service territories, as well as sustained demand for fluid heating services, particularly in regions where new fracking techniques require higher water temperatures than traditional frack designs.

Shares of W&T Offshore Inc. closed more than 15% higher Wednesday after the company reported first quarter adjusted earnings per share that beat expectations and CEO Tracy W. Krohn said during an earnings conference call that W&T is marketing a “sizeable” package of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Continental Shelf properties.

After choosing 12 finalists from more than 70 applicants, Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) on Tuesday selected the three winners of its 2013 Shale Gas Innovation contest aimed at recognizing and promoting small- and mid-sized businesses behind emerging technologies in the Appalachian region’s growing natural gas industry.

Chevron Corp. on Friday said quarterly earnings were down 4.5% and revenue was off more than 6% as the integrated major spent for some big-ticket natural gas projects that won’t be ramping up for years, and it dealt with refinery maintenance issues in the United States.

Spending to create new natural gas liquefaction capacity in the United States may get Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) more bang for the buck than developing additional liquefaction projects at home, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Chevron Corp.’s quarterly earnings fell 4.5% and revenue was off more than 6% from a year ago as the integrated major spent for some big-ticket natural gas projects that won’t be ramping up for years, and it dealt with U.S. refinery maintenance issues, executives said Friday.