London-based oil and gas exploration and production company Magnolia Petroleum plc, has spud its first operated well in the Mississippi Lime in Oklahoma.

Oregon’s Democratic US Senator Ron Wyden, who is preparing to head the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, believes the nation should move cautiously on natural gas exports but is open to sharing revenues from offshore oil and gas development in federal waters with state governments. Wyden made his comments Sunday on “Platts Energy Week,” an all-energy news and talk show program.

Fortescue, the world’s fourth largest iron ore producer, has entered the Western Australia unconventional gas space with an investment in Oil Basins Ltd., reported the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

The long-term fundamental outlook for oil and gas mergers and acquisitions in North America is the best it’s been in the past 20 years, which is very good news for investors and energy companies.

The oil and gas industry is experiencing some transformations in obtaining financing with private equity firms while a steel manufacturer recently took a working interest in Piceance basin natural gas drilling, a spokeswoman with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP told the Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference.

SandRidge Energy’s sixth largest shareholder, TPG-Axon Capital, sent a letter to the SandRidge board of directors requesting a shakeup in management in order to unlock shareholder value, said Stifel Nicolaus analysts in a note to investors today.

Legacy Reserves LP has entered into an agreement to purchase Permian Basin oil and natural gas properties from Concho Resources Inc. for $520 million in cash.

ASX-listed junior oil and gas exploration and production company Central Petroleum has engaged in a farm-out agreement with France’s Total for exploration of six million acres in the Southern Georgina Basin of Australia prospective for shale gas.

On Nov. 6, Houston-based ZaZa Energy Corporation [NASDAQ: ZAZA] issued comprehensive drilling updates on operations in its core Eaglebine and Eagle Ford properties.

On Monday as record setting Hurricane Sandy was plowing into the East Coast, another record was quietly being broken. That record was all time US natural gas production. According to Bentek numbers it increased to 64.9 Bcf/d (total natural gas production less NGLs and other shrinkage, lower 48 states).

As a result of higher crude oil prices, oil and gas producers in the US are targeting liquids-rich areas, which in turn, influences production of NGLs. Relatively high prices for NGLs have kept many wet gas wells profitable despite low gas prices. Is there an oversupply of NGLs? Are we facing a glut and in turn, depressed prices?

An updated survey by URS prepared for America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) has found further reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas production.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has completed the sale of its previously announced asset packages in the Permian Basin.

The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG) has launched a new initiative and dedicated website focused on America’s opportunity to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG).