Halt in offshore drilling.

Virginia's lieutenant governor called President Barack Obama's decision to cancel the proposed oil drilling lease sale off the coast of Virginia a knock to employment in the state, the Washington Business Journal reported. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is expected to disclose Friday that it has reached an agreement to pay nearly $5 billion for East Resources Inc., a closely held U.S. natural-gas explorer, according to people familiar with the deal, a transaction that underscores the frenzied global interest in North American shale-gas production. Alberta handed the oil industry the final breaks in its rejigged royalty regime on Thursday, offering up incentives for shale gas and other unconventional resources for which spending has lagged.

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News & Politics

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• Virginia's lieutenant governor
• President Barack Obama
• coast of Virginia
• offshore energy development
• Royal Dutch Shell PLC
• East Resources Inc
• U.S. natural gas explorer
• frenzied global interest
• Alberta
• oil industry
• unconventional resources
• Western Canadian government
• oil and gas news