Dominion and Caiman Energy II LLC are forming a $1.5 billion joint venture to provide midstream services to natural gas producers operating in the Utica shale in Ohio and portions of Pennsylvania.  The companies expect to close on the joint venture by Dec. 31.

Recent announcements by the UK government encouraging development of shale gas are not enough to ensure its commercial viability, and the key determinant will be the quality of the subsurface and well performance, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said.

Shareholders of Petrobank Energy & Resources Ltd. and its 56%-owned subsidiary PetroBakken Energy Ltd., both of Calgary, have approved a reorganization in which the companies will emerge as separate entities (OGJ Online, Oct. 30, 2012).

Statoil ASA has acquired 70,000 operated net acres in the central Marcellus shale in Ohio and West Virginia for $590 million from three US private companies: Grenadier Energy Partners LLC, PetroEdge Energy LLC, and Protege Energy LLC.  The transaction closed Dec. 18, with Sept. 1 being the effective date.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) investigating a recurring sheen near the deepwater Macondo wellhead and Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible wreckage identified no sources of leaking oil, officials said.

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex) has approved commercial in situ development of its Hangingstone oil sands project south of Fort McMurray, Alta., by its consolidated subsidiary Japan Canada Oil Sands Ltd. (Jacos).

Cavalier Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Paramount Resources Ltd., Calgary, has filed a regulatory application for the Hoole Grand Rapids project with the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.

The US drilling rig count edged downward by 1 unit during the week ended Dec. 14, with the total number of rotary rigs reaching 1,799, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

Insufficient distance between wellbores caused a vertical oil well to leak fluids after hydraulic fracturing of a nearby horizontal well last January in Red Deer County, Alta., an investigation by the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board has determined.

Suncor Energy’s Firebag in situ production complex in the oil sands region of Alberta was producing 130,000 b/d of bitumen at the end of November following start-up of the project’s fourth phase.

Oil & Gas UK welcomed publication by the UK Treasury of details of agreements between the government and oil and gas operators covering tax relief for decommissioning offshore facilities.

The Canadian oil and gas industry improved safety and environmental performance last year in most but not all categories covered by the annual Responsible Canadian Energy progress report of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Natural gas appears likely to supplant coal as the world’s second biggest energy source—after crude oil—by 2025, ExxonMobil Corp. said as it released its 2013 Energy Outlook.