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A new proposal in Pennsylvania aims to protect natural gas gathering lines in the quick growing Marcellus Shale region from accidentally getting damaged during excavation.

Quicksilver Resources Inc., which was one of the early entrants into the Horn River Basin of British Columbia (BC), has launched plans to create a midstream natural gas entity to support its 130,000 net-acre project.

Landowners in the Eagle Ford shale play are worried that plans by the Texas Army National Guard to build a new training center will keep them from their mineral rights.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has asked state legislators, who this week are working through an extended budget session, to come up with an additional $2 million to pay for additional oil and gas inspectors at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Natural gas found in North Texas water wells did not come from the Barnett Shale but rather the gas-bearing Strawn formation, which is closer to the surface, hearing examiners at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said in a report released Monday. If accepted by commissioners, the finding would exonerate Range Resources Corp., which had been accused of contaminating the wells with its Barnett drilling activities.

The persistently sharp contrast between expensive oil and cheap gas has had dramatic effects on Western Canadian drilling, boosting activity and accelerating a trend to targeting oil rather than gas.

EQT Corp. grew its proved natural gas reserves by 28% in 2010, ending the year with 5,220 Bcfe. The growth came due to drilling in the Marcellus Shale, continuing improvement in the estimated ultimate recovery of Marcellus wells, as well as an increase in the projected number of wells to be drilled in the Marcellus over the next five years, EQT said.

Dozens of countries have launched programs to attempt to emulate the successful exploitation of shale in the United States, but it will take more than copying a formula, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

If these feel like hot times, that’s because they are, at least according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which Friday said “2010 is almost certain to rank in the top three warmest years since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850.”