Researchers are one step closer to developing super strong composite materials, thanks to the mantis shrimp, a small, multicolored marine crustacean that crushes the shells of its prey using a fist-like appendage called a dactyl club. Their latest research describes for the first time a unique herringbone structure, not previously reported in nature, within the appendage's outer layer.

Hydraulic fracturing remains stymied in two of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. New Brunswick has extended indefinitely a moratorium on the completion technique imposed in 2014. And an independent panel appointed that year to assess hydraulic fracturing in Newfoundland and Labrador has refused to endorse the method. 

Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has acquired 100% of Timor Sea permit WA-523-P, which borders the western edge of the Joint Petroleum Development Area between Australia and Timor Leste and contains the small abandoned Buffalo oil field.

Ninety percent of Colorado’s surface acreage would be off-limits to future oil and gas development or hydraulic fracturing under a November ballot initiative that would establish a minimum 2,500 ft mandatory setback from any “occupied structure” or “area of special concern,” the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation said in a May 27 report.

Timothy J. Cutt has been named chief executive officer and Class 1 member of the board of directors of Cobalt International Energy Inc., Houston, effective July 2. Until last March, he was president, petroleum, of BHP Billiton.

Crude oil prices settled below $50/bbl on May 27 after having briefly crossed that threshold on May 26 before ending the day down slightly. For the week, crude prices on the New York market gained.