West Virginia lawmakers developing new rules for the Marcellus shale field would change the way the state hires gas well inspectors.

A House-Senate committee overseeing the Marcellus issue amended its draft proposal Monday September 12, 2011 to abolish the state's Oil and Gas Inspectors' Examining Board. Read more »

A government panel on Thursday August 11, 2011  called the risk of water pollution from natural gas fracking "remote."

The U.S. Energy Department's natural gas advisory subcommittee urged regulators to require drillers to detail what chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing -- which involves blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to release oil and gas -- and release more information about the drilling technique's impact. Read more »

Jefferson County is poised at the beginning of a boom that could last 30 years or more as drillers begin extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale and petroleum from the deeper wells of the Utica shale.

That was the theme of a report by Donna Hrezo, small business hub coordinator for Progress Alliance, during the Progress Partners monthly meeting, held Tuesday afternoon in the J.C. Williams Center at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Hrezo and Salem Township Trustee Terry Bell attended a tour of Greene County in Southwestern Pennsylvania in late June. Read more »

Endeavour International Corporation announced today Monday July 18, 2011 that it has entered into purchase and sale agreements with SM Energy Company and certain other minority owners to acquire the leasehold and producing interests held by SM Energy and its partners in the Marcellus shale in north central Pennsylvania, as well as a pipeline and related facilities for aggregate consideration of $110 million. Read more »