Wade

Instead of jumping in, natural gas and oil companies instead may wade into the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) pool this year until they have more confidence in the broader business environment, according to the sixth Ernst & Young Global Capital Confidence Barometer.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has extended an olive branch to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials in the dispute over preliminary results from two federally managed groundwater test wells near Pavillion, WY, and the shallow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of natural gas wells that dominate that portion of the state (see Shale Daily, Dec. 9, 2011).

FERC was careful Thursday not to wade too deeply into the running dispute between Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC and Portland Natural Gas Transmission Co. (PNGTS). However, the agency did grant Maritimes’ request for a declaratory order, which found that an engineering design submitted by Maritimes of a planned expansion of the pipelines’ joint facilities was appropriate.

California’s state legislature, which unanimously launchedelectric industry restructuring four years ago, went back to thedrawing board Thursday in Sacramento, examining a series ofmid-course corrections or a spate of re-regulation depending on theviews of different industry sources.