S&P Global Market Intelligence editors' picks for the best stories for the week ended Oct. 5.

1. LNG Canada kicks off next wave of large North American gas export projects

The next wave of natural gas liquefaction and export plants in North America will form in western Canada, after a group led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC decided to commercially sanction a massive project following years of delay.

2. NextEra eyeing expiring renewables, political risk, regulated M&A in future

The two trends most worrisome to NextEra Energy Inc. over the next decade are expiring incentives for development of renewables and changing political risk, its CEO says, arguing that the company is actively preparing to address them.

3. Industry, critics push back on Murray Energy-backed challenge to gas plants

A bid to deny permits for natural gas plants in West Virginia that has financial backing from Murray Energy Corp. could threaten energy investment in the state, critics said.

4. Overcoming resistance, North Dakota embraces a wind-driven future

When Xcel Energy Inc. broke ground Aug. 9 on its 150-MW Foxtail Wind Project in central North Dakota, U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp pointed to the project as an example of the continued growth of wind energy and jobs across the state.

5. Oilfield service firms to benefit from diversification as Permian activity slows

While pipeline bottlenecks in the Permian basin have dragged down U.S. land drilling activity, analysts remain positive on oilfield service companies ahead of the third-quarter earnings season as a recovery in the international onshore market should help offset the stagnating U.S. land market.