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Wells Fargo Securities analysts last week increased their outlook for natural gas prices to reflect 2Q2013 average pricing. They also expect to see “slightly increasing” gas output as badly needed infrastructure in the Marcellus, Utica and Eagle Ford shales comes online.

North American exploration and production (E&P) companies will, over the next few weeks, unveil their earnings and operations results for the second quarter, but analysts aren’t expecting any big upside surprises. Instead, they hope for details on Marcellus Shale pricing, emerging sweet spots in the Utica Shale and details about wells in several big onshore basins.

Halliburton Co. is teaming up with Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc. in the Bakken Shale to advance a produced water recycling project for unconventional oil and natural gas drillers.

Colorado drillers may face more scrutiny about emissions from their oil and natural operations under regulations being pondered by the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) said it will focus on regulatory activities and water quality monitoring related to shale gas development within the basin, as the organization begins its latest two-year Water Resources Program for the fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is probing a chemical emergency at an oil well facility in January, where an inventory of chemicals wasn’t available to first responders as required under federal law.

West Virginia’s legal system continues to struggle with surface rights issues, with the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals finding recently that the term “surface” means just what it says and does not include underground resources.

Russia’s Gazprom and Japan Far East Gas Co. Ltd. have signed a memorandum of understanding for the Vladivostok-LNG project that outlines their cooperation on the Russian liquefaction and export project and arrangements for marketing of its output in Japan, Gazprom said Monday.

As industry and energy regulators again were forced to stay away from their offices in Calgary’s flooded downtown a state of emergency still prevailed Monday in the city and much of southern Alberta, according to government and industry sources.