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The Senate Thursday confirmed Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ending a four-month long stalemate between Republicans and Democrats over her controversial nomination.

Output from the nation’s shale plays has ballooned domestic natural gas production over the past few years, but the industry, and the country, have yet to fully embrace all that the paradigm shift entails, said Rick Smead, a director in Navigant Consulting Inc.’s energy practice.

Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. said it plans to spend more than $700 million on natural gas drilling over a two-year period to meet its contractual obligations with Encana Corp. for low-cost gas supplies.

Pro-business Washington, DC, think tank American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) has a new paper extolling the benefits of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) that it hopes will light a fire under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its export approval process.

BP plc last week launched a Gulf Claims Fraud Hotline “to help protect the integrity of the claims processes” related to the 2010 Macondo well blowout and Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Apache Corp., which had planned to sell about $4 billion worth of assets by the end of the year, accomplished that goal and more last week after agreeing to sell Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf operations and properties, and the asset retirement obligations, to a Riverstone Holdings affiliate for $5.25 billion total.

There is “significant concern” among oil and gas interests that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court could deadlock in a 3-3 tie over the constitutionality of Act 13 because the high court’s newest appointee will not participate in the case challenging the law.

In what would be an historically high fine, the safety staff of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week amended its $2.25 billion penalty recommendation against or Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) concerning the San Bruno, CA, natural gas pipeline rupture, to include a minimum of $300 million paid to the state’s general fund.

Newfield Exploration Co. and joint venture (JV) partner Hess Corp., have terminated about 1,500 leases in northeastern Pennsylvania, dashing hopes that landowners could earn about $187.5 million in royalties.