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A small midstream outfit with utility status in Pennsylvania is looking to add some Marcellus Shale business.

Pipeline flows recorded by Bentek Energy LLC show that Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale region has surpassed the Fort Worth Basin/Barnett Shale region of North Texas in natural gas output. The two shale plays themselves are neck and neck in output. While it’s too soon to call a new Lower 48 shale king, all signs are that the Barnett will soon bow to the Haynesville.

A U.S. senator and a representative from Colorado last Tuesday wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a fellow Coloradan, urging that the federal government take steps to make so-called “produced water” from oil and gas production accessible to supplement depleted water supplies. They want drought-stricken areas, such as Colorado, to benefit from use of the byproduct of traditional fuel generation.

A U.S. senator and representative from Colorado on Tuesday wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a fellow Coloradan, urging that the federal government take steps to make so-called “produced water” from oil and gas production accessible to supplement depleted water supplies. They want drought-stricken areas, such as Colorado, to benefit from use of the byproduct of traditional fuel generation.

Southwestern Energy Co. isn’t going to let something like tight capital markets keep it down in 2009. Unlike a growing number of its peers, the Houston-based natural gas producer stepped up its planned capital expenditures (capex) in 2009 by half a billion dollars, with most of the money directed toward the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas. The producer also expects to drill 10 more wells than it had scheduled for 2008.

Backers of NorthernStar Natural Gas’ Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, slated for a site along the Columbia River, wrote to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski Tuesday to address concerns he and others have raised about the project’s FERC environmental review.

Six western state governors wrote to the Congressional leadership of both major political parties Thursday urging comprehensive action on global climate change, while one of the region’s major power utilities threw its support behind a bipartisan three-part approach to promoting plug-in electric vehicles with new power transmission legislation.

This tax season Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wrote checks collectively totaling $100 million for franchise fees and surcharges to the 244 cities in California in which it provide natural gas and electricity distribution utility services. It turned out to be $62 million for its electricity service operations and $38 million for the natural gas system. Another $39 million was paid to counties, the utility said.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. wrote a new chapter in the energy industry’s continuing clashes with Native American tribes throughout the West on Thursday when its CEO traveled to the Arizona town of Topock on the Colorado River, which forms the border with California, to solidify an agreement and make a public apology to the Fort Mojave Tribe.