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The United States is already significantly “energy independent” in most sectors, with transportation fuels being the notable exception, according to a Deloitte study. Here, alternative fuels, including natural gas, can bolster U.S. energy security, which is a more attainable goal than independence, the firm said.

Americans are divided on whether the United States is heading in the right direction with regard to domestic energy policy, but a plurality of those responding to a recent poll said it is government that should be leading the way.

A research team led by the University of Texas at Austin (UT), with input from nine of the nation’s leading natural gas producers and a conservation group, on Wednesday announced they are collaborating on a major field study to measure methane emissions at onshore gas well sites, about which only a handful of empirical data exist.

CBI said it has been awarded contracts by Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem) for the technology license, basic engineering and front end engineering and design services for a proposed new ethane cracker that is anticipated to have capacity of 1.2 billion pounds per year of ethylene.

Penn Virginia Corp. has acquired about 4,100 net Eagle Ford Shale acres in Gonzales and Lavaca counties, TX, for about $10 million. Under existing joint venture agreements, other nonoperated working interest owners are expected to acquire 17% of the net acreage in Gonzales County and 46% of the net acreage in Lavaca County, increasing Penn Virginia’s Eagle Ford acreage position by about 3,000 net acres to a total of 30,000 net acres (40,100 gross). The acquired 3,200 net acres of leasehold in Gonzales County is adjacent to Penn Virginia’s development area and is estimated to contain 20 horizontal well locations, excluding any down-spaced drilling opportunities. The acquired 895 net acres of leasehold in Lavaca County is complementary to existing leasehold in nine units, with an estimated addition of 10 horizontal well locations, the company said.

With questions lingering about whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the chemicals used in the process are to blame for contaminating the water supply of some Wyoming residents, Encana Corp. has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for “key technical data and information” about water wells re-tested near its natural gas development in Pavillion, WY, to enable the company to properly respond by an October deadline. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), however, issued two reports Wednesday that may fill in some of the blanks.

A coalition of energy groups and other stakeholders on Thursday called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to provide the industry with guidance to calculate the “notional amount” of certain commodity swaps, a prerequisite to determine which entities will be subject to or exempt from the new regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act.

A coalition of mostly energy groups Thursday called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to provide the industry with guidance for calculating the “notional amount” of certain commodity swaps, a prerequisite to determining which entities will be subject to or exempt from the new regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act.

Fresh from being told that portions of its drilling ordinance are incompatible with Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, the city of Pittsburgh plans to support the law’s opponents in court and file an amicus curiae brief.