The US drilling rig count was down 7 units during the week ended May 24, reaching a total of 1,762 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

The recent decline in oil prices slowed to a trickle in volatile trading May 23 ahead of the extended Memorial Day holiday weekend that marks the start of the summer driving season in the US.

Approval of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project should be based on its merits, and not linked to higher taxes or more regulations, John A. Barrasso (Wyo.), John Hoeven (ND) and 22 other US Senate Republicans said in a May 23 letter to US President Barack Obama.

FracFocus, the online registry of chemicals and other hydraulic fracturing ingredients, will become easier to use when its new version goes into operation on June 1, a witness said during the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s final natural gas forum.

Rosneft and a subsidiary of Petroleo de Venezuela SA have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to develop heavy oil resources in Venezuela’s Orinoco belt.

Reliance Industries Ltd. and partners plan an appraisal program with a view to developing a deepwater natural gas and condensate discovery on the controversial KG-D6 Block offshore eastern India.

InterOil Corp. and its joint venture partner, Pacific LNG Group, are talking with ExxonMobil Papua New Guinea Ltd. regarding development of Elk and Antelope gas-condensate fields.

Statoil has agreed to acquire a 12% working interest in 5,549-sq-km Block 6 offshore Tanzania from Petrobras Tanzania Ltd., the operator.

Increased flexibility for operators remains an open question in a revised proposal for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, according to a May 23 legal update by Roger W. Patrick of the law firm Mayer Brown.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has let a subsea equipment contract to FMC Technologies Inc. in a move to continue development of Stones oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pacific Gas and Electric and the California Energy Commission held the official ribbon-cutting for the Yerba Buena Battery Energy Storage System Pilot Project in California Thursday.

Vestas received a 155.1 MW wind turbine order for a wind power project in Baja California, Mexico.

The 845 MW Tenaska Gateway combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Texas has saved more than $3.2 million in operational expenses and reduced its use of water treatment agents by using GE’s advanced water treatment technology.

The New York Independent System Operator has reported the state’s grid will have an adequate power supply to meet the state’s demands this summer.

The Henry Hub is the pricing point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

The Weekly Coal Production shows how much coal is being produced across the U.S.

Areva signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week with 20 Finnish suppliers in connection with the Olkiluoto 3 European Pressurized Reactor construction project.

Coal-fired power generation is slowly regaining market share from natural gas-fired power generation.

Westinghouse Electric Co. announced Thursday that it has appointed Jeffrey Benjamin as senior vice president for Nuclear Power Plants, effective May 31.

Enel Green Power North America Inc. announced it has increased its ownership in two wind power projects, raising its ownership to 75 percent in each.