Recently released Q3 results indicate that Canadian natural gas producer Progress Energy Resources (PRQ:TSX) generated cash flow per share (CFPS) of C$0.22 and produced an average of 42,937 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The CFPS generated was slightly below investment bank Canaccord Genuity's prediction of C$0.25 and the prediction of research firm Macquarie Equities Research of C$0.24. Both Canaccord and Macquarie attributed this shortfall in CFPS to unplanned production outages which reduced total output levels to 4 percent below Canaccord's estimate of 44,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day and 5 percent below Macquarie's estimate of 45,244 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The company maintained its previous 2011 exit production guidance of 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Progress also advised that its 2011 capital expenditures program was increasing to C$400 million from infrastructure investments, a truncated timeline for development of North Motney and land purchases.

Progress Energy Resources Corporation closed at C$14.80 on October 27 and hit a 52-week high/low of C$15.65 and C$10.52, respectively.  

On October 25, New York State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens said his group won't be able to generate its report on drilling in the Marcellus Shale by November 1, creating uncertainty surrounding the timeline for issuing drilling permits for New York's portion of the Marcellus.

After participating in a meeting of the governor's advisory panel, which was created to advise the state on how to assemble the infrastructure needed to supervise a spike in drilling activity associated with the Marcellus Shale, Martens stated that the group will probably need several more months, Times Union reports.

The High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel is missing several crucial details needed to finish the report, including information on how local governments would be affected by the drilling activity, according to the media outlet. Martens stated that estimates are on required resources are still needed from four state agencies, which include Public Service, Health, Agriculture & Markets and Transportation.

While estimates of the resources contained in the Marcellus shale have varied, the U.S. Geological Service released a report in August which estimated that the formation contains 3.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids and 84 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas.  

A new study released by Pennsylvania State University has found that hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" does not contaminate well water. People involved in the study have expressed their concern that further testing is needed to know more definitively whether fracking has an impact on well water, television station WFMJ reports.

Some people are concerned that the fracking process, which involves shooting a mixture of sand, water and chemicals into rock existing far beneath the surface could contaminate drinking water, according to the media outlet. The Penn State study asserts this concern is without basis.

"We looked at 233 water wells before and after drilling of nearby Marcellus gas wells. And in a nutshell what we found was there was no evidence of influences from hydraulic fracturing at least on the wells that we looked at in the time frame that we looked at them," stated study spokesman Bryan Swistock, the media outlet reports.

New regulations on fracking have arisen in many states, and New Jersey lawmakers attempted to outlaw the practice entirely. The process did not succeed as Governor Chris Christie vetoed the proposal, instead imposing a one-year moratorium on the practice.  

On October 26, a Pennsylvania State Senate panel approved the latest updates to preliminary Marcellus Shale legislation. The amendment, which received unanimous support from the members of the panel, removed the drilling fee and enhanced the state's environmental regulations through various provisions, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The provisions contained in the legislation involve the disclosure of mixtures used in fracking activities, public water sources and wells and an increase in the bonding fee that drillers must pay the Department of Environmental Protection, the media outlet reports.

The recent alterations represent crucial progress towards passing the final bill, Joe Scarnati, Senate President Pro Tempore told the media outlet.

Discussion of how to collect revenue from drillers is expected to continue this week, and proposals surrounding an impact fee will be added to the text of the legislation before it receives a vote next week, according to the media outlet.

Governor Tom Corbett announced earlier in the month that he planned to implement impact fees for each well drilled in the state after various polls showed public support for such a measure, according to The Patriot News.  

The existence of a substantial gas play in Northern Spain has been discovered after the assessment of drilling and test data gathered from 14 wells drilled over the last 50 years or so.

The wells reached into the Cretaceous shale, but only three wells drilled through the entire section, according to Oil and Gas Journal. The drilling of these wells resulted in the discovery of a midrange resources which independent sources estimated had 200 trillion cubic feet of gas absorbed in the shale and gas free of the shale.

Various companies are planning on drilling the first two appraisal wells for the shale formation in 2012, the media outlet reports.

George Yates, president of HEYCO Energy, told the media outlet that the two appraisal wells will drill to a depth of between 15,000 and 17,000 feet.

He added that up to two-thirds of every wellbore used will puncture the targeted formation.

If the play is productive, it will create jobs and investment in the area, according to the media outlet.

The Energy Information Administration recently released a report containing estimates on the amount of technically recoverable shale gas contained in various countries. Spain was not included on the list as a country having significant shale deposits.