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An official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said a progress report on its study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on drinking water should be issued before the end of the year, and the final report published in 2014.

Houston-based ZaZa Energy has completed drilling and casing its Eaglebine Stingray A-1H well in Walker County, TX, and evaluation results are “very encouraging,” with estimates of 21 Bcf of gas and 29 million bbl of oil per section in place. ZaZa expects to begin hydraulic fracturing operations on Monday (Nov. 12), with initial production planned for late this month.

Houston-based ZaZa Energy has completed drilling and casing its Eaglebine Stingray A-1H well in Walker County, TX, and said evaluation results are “very encouraging,” with estimates of 21 Bcf of gas and 29 million bbl of oil per section in place. ZaZa said it expects to begin hydraulic fracturing operations on Nov. 12, with initial production planned for late November.

EnCap Flatrock Midstream LLC has closed its second private equity fund, EnCap Flatrock Midstream Fund II LP (EFM II), with commitments of $1.75 billion.

In a campaign speech in Cincinnati, OH, President Obama expressed full support for the development of natural gas and acknowledged that “a lot of folks” in the industry are engaging in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in a safe manner. He dismissed claims that his administration — namely the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency — is blocking oil and natural gas development.

eCorp International LLC and a property owners organization in New York have decided to scrap a “complex” plan to create a company indirectly owned by the landowners and will return to the drawing board, delaying the possibility of bringing waterless hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to the Empire State.

While this is “out of my area of expertise, I think…it’s inevitable that natural gas is going to be a world commodity, and that because of very substantial price differentials between the price in this country and the prices in Europe and Asia it will happen,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said during a roundtable briefing with reporters last week at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

While this is “out of my area of expertise, I think…it’s inevitable that natural gas is going to be a world commodity, and that because of very substantial price differentials between the price in this country and the prices in Europe and Asia it will happen,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said during a roundtable briefing with reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

Texas could lose an estimated $4.4 billion in revenue from oil and gas sales taxes, depending on how a district court judge tailors his ruling on exempting oil and gas companies from paying the state sales taxes on extraction equipment.