Much of the public concern about possible water contamination from unconventional oil and gas operations is misdirected, David Blackmon, director of government affairs for El Paso Corp., told a Mayer Brown LLP energy conference in Houston on May 23.

The Texas Railroad Commission and the TRC’s Eagle Ford Task Force plan to study whether existing state regulations on flaring and venting associated with oil and natural gas operations need to be updated, Commissioner David Porter said in a May 23 news release from his Austin office.

Americas Petrogas Inc., Calgary, said it will spud the La Hoya x-1 exploratory well in early June 2012 with the Jurassic-Cretaceous Vaca Muerta shale as primary objective on the 293,600-acre Totoral block in the Picun Leufu subbasin of the Neuquen basin in Argentina.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners will begin building natural gas pipeline extensions in the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania, providing an outlet for producers to link to El Paso Corp.'s Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Williams Cos.’ Transcontinental pipeline for shipment to markets in the US Northeast.

Bakken Hunter LLC, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., closed a $312 million acquisition of Baytex Energy Corp.’s nonoperated interests in North Dakota.

Underground Energy Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., will attempt to complete the Monterey shale at the Chamberlin 3-2 well on the 7,750-acre Chamberlin lease in its Zaca field extension project in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

Billions of dollars will be needed to build additional pipelines, terminals, and storage facilities to bring new US oil and natural gas resources to market, experts said on May 21 during Deloitte LLP’s 2012 Washington Energy Conference.

Water management will play an increasingly crucial role in energy globally as well as in the US, experts at Deloitte LLP’s 2012 Washington area energy conference forecast on May 21.

MDU Resources Group Inc., through its Bitter Creek Pipelines LLC subsidiary, plans to pay $66 million for a 50% interest in Whiting Oil & Gas Corp.’s Bakken midstream assets near Belfield, ND.