Where

As of Monday, Norway’s Statoil has taken over operatorship of the eastern portion of its Eagle Ford Shale assets that it has held in a 50-50 joint venture (JV) since 2010 with Talisman Energy USA Inc.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is probing a chemical emergency at an oil well facility in January, where an inventory of chemicals wasn’t available to first responders as required under federal law.

GDF SUEZ Mexico and GE Energy Financial Services (GEFS) are partnering to extend the Mayakan pipeline in the Yucatan Peninsula, where Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), has agreed to use 300 MMcf/d of natural gas in power plants currently using diesel and fuel oil.

California energy officials last week continued to wrestle with where to find more natural gas, renewables and purchased power sources for electric generation as they dealt with closing San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs). Southern California Edison Co.’s (SCE) decision to shutter the 2,200 MW facility could cost $3 billion cost for up to 50 years (see NGI, June 10).

Rents and royalties reported on Pennsylvania income tax returns from 2006 to 2010 have increased 61% statewide, and 119% in counties with Marcellus Shale activity, according to a report by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (AIPP). Rent and royalty income for landowners and mineral rights owners in the state rose 34% in counties with no Marcellus activity.

The mayor of San Bruno, CA — where a natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion killed eight nearly three years ago — on Wednesday called for the California Attorney General’s Office and state lawmakers to investigate replacement of the state regulatory legal team investigating the event.

As oil and gas companies continue to ponder the best strategy for unlocking natural resources in the Utica Shale — and industry analysts continue to debate the merits of doing so — data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) indicate that the state has passed an important milestone: 100 horizontal wells online and in production.

Southwestern Energy Co. is producing about 400 MMcf/d in the Marcellus Shale and doesn’t foresee any constraints in moving natural gas to markets north or south for the next couple of years, executives said Friday.

Newfield Exploration Co. is “right where we want to be toward execution of our 2013-2015 plan,” CEO Lee Boothby said last week during an earnings conference call in which management talked of a “surge” in Eagle Ford Shale production and the rising prominence of the Cana-Woodford Shale in the company’s liquids-focused portfolio.