Utica

Following the trend toward liquids-rich basins, Penn Virginia Corp. recently announced plans to sell much of its Mid-continent assets to an undisclosed buyer for $30.5 million.

Thomas S. Liberatore has joined Eclipse Resources as a partner, executive vice president and COO, the State College, PA-based oil and gas company said. Liberatore, who resigned as vice president of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s East region following a restructuring there two years ago (see Daily GPI, June 1, 2009), is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Appalachian Geological Society, has served on the board of directors of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association and is a past president of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia. Additionally, Brian Panetta, who was previously a geologist with Waco Oil & Gas and a senior geologist for Chesapeake Energy Corp., has joined Eclipse as vice president of geology. Eclipse focuses on the acquisition, exploration and development of unconventional oil and natural gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, including the Marcellus Shale, Utica Shale and Upper Devonian shales.

Quebec’s environmental bureau has been granted a brief extension to complete a report on the impact that increased Utica Shale development would have on the province.

Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. and a drilling partner are packing up and moving operations out of two Pennsylvania counties after determining that the first natural gas wells drilled in Luzerne County, PA, “were unlikely to produce natural gas in commercial quantities.”

A 3% tax on horizontal wells drilled in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays would help close New York state’s $7.4 billion budget gap, according to New York Gov. David Paterson, who last week proposed just such a tax.

A 3% tax on horizontal wells drilled in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays would help close New York state’s $7.4 billion budget gap, according to New York Gov. David Paterson, who on Tuesday proposed just such a tax.