Third

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman on Tuesday approved a revised route for the northern portion of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline that would run through his state. He notified both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of his decision in a joint letter.

Gulf of Mexico operator McMoRan Exploration Co. on Friday reported a big loss in the final three months of 2012 because of impairments and a sharp revenue decrease related in part to its gassy shallow-water operations.

UGI Corp. has entered into agreements with Tenaska affiliate Tenaska Resources LLC to jointly develop natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale in north-central Pennsylvania, the company said Monday.

U.S. hydraulic fracturing (fracking) capacity utilization has fallen by almost one-third since January, and all of the major domestic plays are in a “negative frack pricing environment,” according to PacWest Consulting Partners.

Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP) has picked up its third big leasehold this year in the Barnett Shale by agreeing to pay $255 million to DTE Energy Co. for an affiliate that owns close to 35 million boe of proved reserves in the Fort Worth Basin and in the Marble Falls, TX, area.

Oneok Partners LP is holding an open season through Dec. 17 for its 600-mile Bakken Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Pipeline, which would transport unfractionated NGLs from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin to an interconnection with the partnership’s 50%-owned Overland Pass Pipeline in northern Colorado. The Bakken NGL Pipeline is under construction and is expected to be in service during the first quarter. In July Oneok said it would expand the project with additional pump stations in a project to be completed during the third quarter of 2014. For open season information, contact Lisa Nishimuta at (918) 588-7730, lisa.nishimuta@oneok.com.

Chevron Corp. on Friday said net income plunged in 3Q2012 by one-third from a year ago on lower production and lower sales prices.

Portland, OR-based NW Natural received less than one-third of the general rate increase it had been seeking as the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Monday approved an $8.7 million annual increase, or 1.28%, for the state’s largest natural gas utility.

Houston-based independent Sanchez Energy Corp. grew its production by more than 350% from a year ago as of the end of the third quarter, said the company, which has a 95,000 net acre position targeting the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale, Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone.