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Drilling activity in Texas declined steadily through April, reflecting “very weak natural gas markets and defying a crude price rally,” according to the Texas Petro Index (TPI), which was issued on Friday. Employment in the state’s exploration and production (E&P) industry has dropped to its lowest level since January 2008.

The Obama administration has proposed stripping away tax breaks from oil and natural producers for “a very simple reason and that is they are not needed,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday.

Regulatory delays may kill the long-delayed Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP), TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle said Wednesday.

Regulatory delays may kill the long-delayed Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP), TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle said Wednesday.

The White House decision not to include the recently published draft five-year leasing plan for offshore drilling in the Obama administration’s freeze on pending regulations does not signal that the new president supports drilling in long-banned areas of the federal offshore, an Interior Department spokesman said last Thursday.

The White House decision not to include the recently published draft five-year leasing plan for offshore drilling in the Obama administration’s freeze on pending regulations does not signal that the new president supports drilling in long-banned areas of the federal offshore, an Interior Department spokesman said Thursday.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

Global trading exchange competitors Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and Chicago-based CME Group saw very different Novembers as ICE recorded a 8.9% average daily volume (ADV) increase from November 2007, while CME posted a 29% drop when comparing the same two months.

The 2009 natural gas price outlook is “still very ugly” and given the current over supply, even a colder-than-normal winter is unlikely to prevent a gas price collapse in 2009, Raymond James & Associates Inc. said last week.