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An attorney representing D&L Energy Inc. says the company will vigorously pursue its appeal before the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission, calling the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) decision to shut down the company “a gross violation of due process.”

Most of the continental United States and northern Alaska will average warmer than normal this spring, while below-normal temperatures are expected for the Pacific Northwest and extreme northern Great Plains, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Spring promises little drought relief for Texas, the Southwest, the Great Plains or Florida, NOAA said. The temperature predictions dovetailed generally with a forecast issued recently by Andover, MA-based Weather Services International, which foresaw a spring warmer than usual in most of the eastern and central United States, but colder-than-normal temperatures are expected to dominate further west (see Daily GPI, Feb. 28).

Wyoming has hired a new oil/natural gas supervisor, Grant Black, a 30-year geology veteran who will assume his new position May 1. The state has been without a permanent supervisor at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) since long-time incumbent Tom Doll resigned last year after a run-in with Gov. Matt Mead (see Shale Daily, June 18, 2012). Department veteran Bob King has filled in on an interim basis. Once the oil/gas supervisor in Arkansas (1999-2004), Black holds geology degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

Carroll County and operators for Chesapeake Energy Corp. continue to hold the lion’s share of permits issued and producing wells in the Utica Shale, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) figures.

President Obama’s nominee for Interior secretary, Sally Jewell, former CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), told a Senate panel Thursday that she will pursue a balanced approach to developing energy resources on public lands if confirmed by the Senate.

President Obama’s nominee for Interior secretary, Sally Jewell, former CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), told a Senate panel Thursday that she will pursue a balanced approach to developing energy resources on public lands if confirmed by the Senate.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold its annual Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula area-wide oil and gas lease sales, as well as a lease sale for geothermal resources on Augustine Island, on Wednesday, May 8. Terms can be obtained in the “Headlines” section of the DNR website. The Augustine Island lease sale is the fourth geothermal lease sale in state history. The last lease sale of this kind was held in 2008 for acreage on Mount Spurr. The Cook Inlet sale includes 815 tracts encompassing 4 million acres. The Alaska Peninsula lease sale includes 1,047 tracts covering 5.8 million acres. The Augustine Island geothermal sale includes 26 tracts on nearly 66,000 acres. In the past two years, the Cook Inlet hydrocarbon basin has seen a resurgence in investment by small, medium and large energy companies, DNR said. Bidders must be qualified by 4 p.m. May 3, and bids must be received no later than 4 p.m. May 6.

Texas will provide $1 million to close a deal with Ascend Performance Materials Texas Inc. to build a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility near Houston, Gov. Rick Perry said.

A Michigan landowner has filed a lawsuit alleging that Chesapeake Energy Corp., Encana Corp. and a state-based operator conspired to rig a state oil and gas leasehold auction in 2010.