E&P

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp. has again cut its capital spending plan for this year due to depressed commodity prices. The original plan to spend $1.15 billion has now been cut to $600-650 million with the latest reduction. Previous guidance was for $875 million.

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has ruled to uphold an executive order issued by Gov. Tom Corbett to lift a four-year moratorium on subsurface oil and gas leases in state parks and forests, determining that revenue from those leases could go toward the state budget rather than a special fund for conservation.

Recognizing the growing gloom over sharply falling global oil prices, North Dakota’s chief oil/natural gas regulator Thursday told state lawmakers at a committee hearing in Bismarck that the situation doesn’t necessarily spell doom for the state’s robust energy production, which has set continuous growth records, elevating the state to the nation’s No. 2 spot in oil production.

There is no slippage in the push to build more railroad tank cars for transporting crude oil and other energy products, the CEO of a leading railcar manufacturer told financial analysts.

The city council of Barnett Shale town Denton, TX, on Tuesday continued to hear comments on proposed revisions to the city’s gas drilling ordinance that are intended to address quality of life issues (see Shale Daily,Dec. 15).

The United States continues to be BP plc’s top global economic priority, even though the domestic business is smaller than it was in 2012, the British-based supermajor said Tuesday.

Highlighted by an oil/natural gas “renaissance” and an unparalleled infrastructure buildout, the U.S. energy sector is now a world leader, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which included contributions from trade associations for all of the nation’s major energy sources.

Antero Resources Corp. is laying off about half of its land broker workforce, spread across Ohio, western West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas, to move more money to Appalachia development, a top executive said Tuesday.

The first day of GOP control of the U.S. Senate started off on a testy note Tuesday after a pair of lawmakers introduced a bill to approve construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and President Obama promised to veto it.