Denver, Colo.-based Petroleum Development Corp. today announced it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Core Wattenberg assets that contain significant liquid-rich horizontal drilling opportunities from a private party for a purchase price of approximately $330.6 million. The effective date of the transaction is April 1, 2012 with closing scheduled for June 29, 2012.

In response to producer demand in the Eagle Ford shale play, Copano Energy, LLC announced today it will add 400,000 Mcf per day of cryogenic processing capacity at its Houston Central complex in Colorado County, Texas.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has authorized a $2.95 billion direct loan to support US exports to the Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The transaction is Ex-Im’s second-largest single-project financing in history and is also the Bank’s first LNG project in Australia.

Houston-based CARBO Ceramics Inc. will begin construction on a manufacturing plant in Millen, Ga., by the end of the year. Operations could begin at the end of 2013.

Houston, Texas-based Apache Corp. today announced it has completed its acquisition of Cordillera Energy Partners III, LLC, a privately held company with operations and acreage across the Granite Wash, Tonkawa, Cleveland and Marmaton plays in western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.

Continental Resources, Inc. has appointed Jose A. Bayardo as senior vice president of business development. In this role, he will lead the company's investment, acquisition and divestiture teams.

Results of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Eagle Ford Shale Economic Impact Study will be presented on two dates in May.

Halcón Resources Corp. and GeoResources, Inc. announced April 25 that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement in which GeoResources will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halcón Resources in a cash and stock transaction that values GeoResources at approximately $1 billion, based on the closing price of Halcón Resources common stock on April 24.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP, announced April 25 that it has signed a definitive agreement with an investment vehicle affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP, whereby KMP will purchase from KKR its 50 percent interest in the joint venture that owns the Altamont gathering, processing and treating assets (Uinta Basin in Utah) and the Camino Real Gathering System (Eagle Ford shale in Texas) for $300 million in KMP common units.

Element Partners, an energy and industrial technology-focused private equity fund, and CSL Capital Management, an energy-services private equity firm, announced April 23 that, along with North Sky Capital and key members of management, they have acquired Environmental Drilling Solutions.

Select Energy Services, LLC, a water solutions and oilfield service company headquartered in Houston, Texas, announced April 25, the appointment of William H. Fronczak and Jeffrey A. Anderson as managers in the company’s Fluidity™ team.

Canada’s Montney Shale play is gaining huge attention due to its unconventional gas reserves, securing enormous investments as operators compete for valuable areas, a new report by GlobalData has found.

Michael R. King has joined Latham & Watkins LLP as a partner in the Corporate Department of the Houston office. 

Calgary-based Encana Corporation (TSX, NYSE: ECA) has reached an agreement with Toyota Tsusho Wheatland Inc., a subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, that will see the Japanese company invest approximately C$602 million (US$608 million) to acquire a 32.5% royalty interest in natural gas production from a portion of Encana’s coalbed methane (CBM) resource play.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bakken  Hunter, LLC, has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire certain Williston Basin oil and gas properties from an affiliate of Baytex Energy Corp. for $311 million in cash.

Capstone Turbine Corp. has received orders for 30 additional C65 microturbines from producers in the Eagle Ford shale play.

Knoxville, Tenn.-based Aqua-Chem, Inc. has named Thomas Gillcrist as CFO and Ron Shook as pharmaceutical applications engineer. They will report directly to David Gensterblum, president and CEO.

On April 5, OFS Energy fund completed a majority recapitalization of Vision Oil Tools LLC, a Wyoming and North Dakota-based oilfield rental tool and fishing services provider.

Houston-based OFS Energy Fund II has completed a growth equity investment in Buckhorn Energy Services LLC, a recently formed provider of oilfield waste disposal in North Dakota.