A continued government role in oil and gas research and development drew bipartisan support at a May 3 hearing of the US House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittee. But Democrats and Republicans disagreed about the scope and direction of US Department of Energy programs that they were defending. Source: News

Jonah Energy LLC, Denver, has agreed to acquire Houston-based Linn Energy Inc.’s interests in western Wyoming for $581.5 million. The move for Linn comes as part of its operational transformation after emerging from bankruptcy earlier this year. Source: News

Noble Energy Inc., Houston, has agreed to sell all of its upstream assets in northern West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania to an undisclosed buyer for $1.225 billion. Source: News

The BP PLC-operated Yakaar-1 well offshore Senegal intersected a gross hydrocarbon column of 120 m in three pools within the primary Lower Cenomanian objective and encountered 45 m of net pay. Source: News

US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke signed a pair of orders on May 1 that implement President Donald Trump’s Apr. 28 offshore oil and gas executive order, and create a new position-Counselor to the Secretary for Energy Policy-to coordinate Interior’s energy portfolio that spans 9 of DOI’s 10 bureaus. Source: News

Because Saudi Arabia makes or breaks the latest rendition of oil-supply management, developments there strongly affect the future price of crude. What safely can be said about developments in the kingdom is that they are changing. Source: News

US President Donald Trump’s Jan. 24 order that the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines be built “using materials and equipment produced in the United States” was clumsy on its surface. Source: News

Crude oil prices gained modestly on markets in New York and London on May 5 after having dropped sharply the previous day and for the week overall, dipping to the lowest level since November 2016. Analysts blamed the price drop on concerns about lingering world oil oversupply. Source: News