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Anschutz Exploration Corp. has exited the Bakken Shale play after closing the sale of its remaining operated and nonoperated oil and gas producing properties in the Williston Basin, including undeveloped acreage, to an undisclosed Canadian oil company for $115 million. The deal comes less than a year after the company sold 180,000 net acres to Oxy USA in December 2010 for $1.4 billion.

Even counting higher estimated emissions of methane (CH4) from shale gas production activities, natural gas-fired power generation still beats coal-fired power by a wide margin when it comes to overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a new study published by the gas-friendly American Clean Skies Foundation (ACSF).

The Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved an ordinance prohibiting natural gas drilling in the city, despite questions about the ordinance’s legality.

EnerVest Ltd. and affiliated partnerships including EV Energy Partners LP have agreed to buy oil and gas properties in the Barnett Shale from Talon Oil & Gas LLC for $967 million. The price, subject to adjustments, includes 3-D seismic across all of the acreage and hedges from the seller. The majority of the 20,207 gross acres is in the core of the Barnett Shale in North Texas. The properties produce 87 MMcfe/d from 212 active wells, with 1.1 Tcfe in reserves. The acquisition adds the Barnett Shale as EnerVest’s fourth core operating area. Production from the wells is 29% natural gas liquids/71% natural gas, the company said. EnerVest said it will produce 384 MMcfe/d from 18,530 wells with 2.7 Tcfe of reserves upon closing of the acquisition, which is scheduled for Dec. 30.

Temperatures over the next three months will average below normal in the North Central and Northwest and parts of the Southeast, but will be warmer than normal across most of the Northeast and southern United States, according to WSI forecasters, who said a strong La Nina and the persistent negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation will drive much of the nation’s winter weather pattern.

With the peak season for Atlantic hurricanes upon us as the calendar flips to August, natural gas futures kept the momentum to the upside rolling on Friday as the September contract added 9.6 cents to $4.923. The contract closed the week 36 cents higher than the previous week.

A “big portion” of the capacity on the new Gulf Crossing Pipeline will become available Wednesday, a spokeswoman for parent Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP said Monday.

Unable to build upon Monday’s 41.4-cent gain, July natural gas futures on Tuesday backed off 12.9 cents to close at $4.120. Despite the pullback and continued soft fundamentals, some market experts are still convinced that now is the time to buy before prices really break out higher.

Natural gas futures bulls made a strong statement Friday as they not only secured the gains of the week, but also built upon them, leaving market watchers to seriously ponder whether the lows for the extended downtrend were already in. The June contract soared another 23 cents Friday to close at $4.311, up an astonishing 76.5 cents from the previous week’s finish.