Value

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives, which last year approved a natural gas severance tax bill only to see it die in a subsequent lame duck session, will have another chance to implement the tax during its 2011 current session.

Caiman Energy has completed a 120 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant in the Marcellus Shale in Marshall County, WV, and, prompted by drilling projections from existing and potential customers, plans to open a 200 MMcf/d facility at the same location later this year, the Dallas-based company said Wednesday.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and 40 other state organizations have sent a letter to Gov.-elect Tom Corbett asking him to maintain the moratorium signed last year by Gov. Ed Rendell that prevents new leases for deep natural gas drilling in the state’s forests.

Billionaire Carl Icahn, known for investing in what he considers underperforming companies and helping them to achieve a better value, has become Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s second-largest shareholder, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Canada’s Corridor Resources Inc. saw its stock lose almost one-third of its value on Monday after announcing “unexpected and perplexing” results from a shale gas appraisal program in New Brunswick.

Mainland Resources Inc. is poking around in a portion of the Haynesville Shale in Mississippi that has been largely unexplored. The Houston-based independent said Thursday its Burkley-Phillips No. 1 well on the Buena Vista prospect in Jefferson County has penetrated the top of the target Haynesville at a depth of 19,980 feet.

BP plc’s market value was slashed further Friday as shares plunged to new lows since its well blowout April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The company’s market cap has been beaten down about $100 billion since the disaster. Liquidity concerns and the threat that a major storm could enter the GOM and disrupt oil collection are making investors nervous.

BP plc’s market value was slashed further last Friday as shares plunged to new lows since its well blowout April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The company’s market cap has been beaten down about $100 billion since the disaster. Liquidity concerns and the threat that a major storm could enter the GOM and disrupt oil collection are making investors nervous.

Interest in developing infrastructure to handle Appalachian natural gas liquids (NGL) production continues to grow along with producer interest in moving high-value NGLs to market.