Williams Partners LP is holding an open season through April 2 for the remaining capacity on its 260-mile Atlantic Access Project, a pipeline that would carry more than 1 Bcf/d of Appalachian gas supply to eastern markets along the Atlantic Seaboard by late 2014. The partnership already has a binding precedent agreement from a shipper for half of the project’s anticipated initial capacity of 1.8 million Dth/d. The pipeline would connect Marcellus and Utica shale supply in western West Virginia and Pennsylvania to markets via Williams’ existing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco). The project would enable Transco to move natural gas through about 350 miles of new pipe from receipt points in Marshall County, WV and Butler County, PA to connect to Transco’s Station 195 in York County, PA (see NGI, Jan. 2). Interconnections are planned with several processing plants and other pipelines along the route, including Columbia Gas Transmission, Dominion Transmission, EQT and National Fuel, as well as Williams Midstream‘s proposed Confluence pipeline. For information contact Gary Duvall at (713) 215-2589.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Chesapeake Energy Corp. subsidiary Chesapeake Appalachia LLC $565,000 for three incidents that occurred in the Marcellus Shale, including a blowout at a Bradford County well in April 2011 (see NGI, April 25, 2011). Chesapeake said it has voluntarily entered into an agreement with the DEP to pay the fines associated with the three incidents. “Chesapeake worked proactively with all appropriate regulatory agencies throughout the response and analysis of these incidents to achieve compliance, identify and implement operational improvements and ensure proper resolution,” Chesapeake spokesman Brian Grove said. “Through the course of the analysis and response to each of these matters, we have identified ways to enhance our operations and have fully implemented them.” Chesapeake was fined $190,000 for the blowout of the Atgas 2H well in Leroy Township; $215,000 for failing to implement adequate erosion and sediment controls at a well pad in Potter County (see NGI, March 28, 2011); and $160,000 after discovering in July 2010 that part of its elevation well pad near Towanda, in Bradford County, was built on wetlands.

A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission administrative law judge has certified an uncontested settlement resolving claims that Tuscarora Gas Transmission Co. significantly overrecovered its cost of service, making its current transportation rates unjust and unreasonable. The settlement, which Tuscarora and affected shippers filed in December, establishes the rates for mainline transportation services and specifies that costs for the pipeline’s 2002 and 2008 expansion projects will be rolled into Tuscarora’s system-wide rates permanently for as long as the 2002 and 2008 expansion projects are in service. It establishes a three-year moratorium period during which Tuscarora and the settling parties are prohibited from taking certain actions, including but not limited to any filings under Section 4 and Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act that would be inconsistent with the terms of the settlement (see Daily GPI, Dec. 28, 2011). It lists permissible filings during the moratorium period.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have extended until March 23 the public scoping period over plans to protect the greater sage grouse. The agencies have concluded a series of public scoping meetings concerning environmental impact statements on land use in 10 western states to conserve the bird’s sagebrush habitat (see NGI, Jan. 16). The meetings and comments are to be incorporated into a joint BLM-USFS report expected by September 2014 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will ultimately decide whether or not to list the greater sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Philip Moeller has asked the energy industry to respond by Feb. 29 on how the agency can best coordinate the natural gas and electricity markets to avoid a repeat of the severe outage that curtailed natural gas service to thousands of customers in the Southwest last winter (see NGI, Feb. 7, 2011). Given the co-dependence of the electricity industry on natural gas and the natural gas industry on electricity, he asked industry to specify what role FERC should have in overseeing better coordination. And “what duties, if any, should be delegated to the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the North American Energy Standards Board, or other entities?” Moeller asked. He further asked whether the Commission should help to harmonize trading in the gas and power markets. The expanded use of natural gas for electricity generation is likely to change the flows of gas on pipeline systems, he also pointed out. “How should FERC help to harmonize these markets?” Comments are to be sent directly to jennifer.murray@ferc.gov.

Wages are up and confidence in future hiring is surging despite lingering concern for the global economy, according to the “Oil & Gas Global Salary Guide 2012,” a 32-page report by the Australian consulting firm Hays plc and Oil and Gas Job Search, an industry jobs website. Global permanent salaries in the industry averaged $80,458/year in 2011, a 6.1% increase from 2010’s average of $75,813. The survey also found that 26.7% of employers had “extremely positive” confidence in the current employment market, compared with 9.7% in 2011. Another 46.8% of employers had a “positive” outlook for hiring, meaning that combined, 73.5% of employers believe they will add jobs in the near future, compared to 54.8% in the previous survey. More than 14,400 people were interviewed for the survey, including 5,400 employers and 1,200 employees from 53 countries and represented 24 energy industry disciplines. About two-thirds of the survey’s respondents (66.1%) said their salaries increased at least 5% over the last 12 months, compared to just less than half of the respondents (49.8%) last year. Most respondents (83.3%) also said they believe salaries will continue to climb by at least 5% per year.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has asked the California Public Utility Commission to separate a pair of natural gas pipe proceedings for greater differentiation between the proceedings, which involve new rules and safety standards, as well as an order instituting investigation of pipeline maintenance and safety programs. PG&E asked the CPUC to amend the proceeding to focus on the safety and technical aspects of its pipeline safety enhancement plan exclusively and deal with testimony and evidence regarding past practices in a parallel proceeding. Separately PG&E has completed validating safe operating pressures on the about one-third of its 6,000-mile natural gas transmission pipeline system that cuts through “high consequence areas” (HCA). PG&E verified the maximum allowable operating pressure for 2,088 miles of its transmission pipelines, fulfilling an agreement with CPUC’s Consumer Protection and Safety Division. The lines traverse HCA areas in Northern and Central California.

Boardwalk Field Services said it is expanding its Eagle Ford Shale gathering system and constructing a cryogenic gas processing plant to handle growing production. The project is supported by long-term, fee-based gathering and processing agreements. It will add about 55 miles of 20- and 24-inch gathering pipeline to its existing 340-mile South Texas gathering system. Once complete, the system would have the capability to move more than 300 MMcf/d of liquids-rich gas from Karnes and Dewitt counties.

Shareholder resolutions for the third year in a row have been filed with top domestic explorers, urging them to disclose their internal plans for managing health and safety risks, for, among other things, hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Investors coordinated the resolutions with Ceres, which leads a national coalition of investors and public interest groups. None of the resolutions have been adopted by U.S. producers thus far. About 29% of ExxonMobil Corp. shareholders supported the fracking resolution at the 2011 annual meeting; Chevron Corp. shareholders defeated the proposal but it captured almost 41% of the total vote (see NGI, May 30, 2011). In addition to ExxonMobil and Chevron, other producers targeted again this year include Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources Inc., Noble Energy Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Penn Virginia Corp., Range Resources Corp., Southwestern Energy Co., Stone Energy Corp. and Ultra Petroleum Corp.

Wyoming is facing a potential budget shortfall exceeding $100 million due to rapidly declining natural gas prices in a state that has seen gains from the shale boom, Gov. Matt Mead said. Mead’s initial 2012 budget proposal was based on an assumption of $4.00/Mcf gas prices, but budget advisers have reduced that assumption to $3.25/Mcf. With sub-$3.00 prices continuing, officials are concerned the revised assumption may prove to be inadequate. Mead delivers a state-of-the-state address on Monday (Feb. 13). With the uncertainty surrounding plummeting gas prices, Mead’s administration is having discussions with the state joint appropriations committee to put aside $150 million of contingency funds to address further erosion of gas prices. “If things continue to deteriorate in terms of gas prices, we’ll at least have a buffer,” he said.

Crosstex Energy LP and Crosstex Energy Inc. have upsized their Cajun-Sibon natural gas liquids (NGL) Louisiana-Texas pipeline extension project and plan to have it in service during the first half of 2013. The 130-mile, 12-inch diameter pipeline is to extend the partnership’s existing 440-mile Cajun-Sibon NGL system and connect Crosstex’s NGL fractionation facilities in south-central Louisiana to Mont Belvieu supply pipelines in East Texas. Construction is to begin in the third quarter. Due to strong supplier interest, the estimated $230 million pipeline project now includes an additional supply connection.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP‘s Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP is seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to offer a new natural gas exchange service in the Perryville, LA, area. The Perryville Exchange Service (PXS) would provide customers with a streamlined process to facilitate the trading of gas across multiple pipeline interconnects in an approximate 70-mile area, near Perryville, the pipeline said. “The pricing and convenience of PXS service will allow a greater number of customers to participate in the buying and selling of gas in the Perryville area,” the pipeline said in its filing [RP12-372-000]. “This increase in liquidity will benefit the marketplace by supporting further integration of the interstate pipeline grid without adversely affecting any existing firm customers.” The proposed effective date for the PXS rate schedule is March 9, which would be the first day that customers could submit a request for the service; however, the commencement of service would be no earlier than April 1, Boardwalk said.

Driven mostly by North America, the world market for oilfield specialty chemicals climbed to almost $16 billion in 2010, with the United States and Canada accounting for more than half (52%), according to a global market study by IHS Chemical. The IHS Chemical 2012 Oil Field Chemicals Report, formerly done by SRI Consulting, said from 2010-2015, world demand for oilfield chemicals is expected to grow on average by 3.5%, with sales expected to increase to almost $19 billion by 2015. Health, safety and environment issues have had “a major impact on the current and future use of oilfield chemicals,” with the biggest impact felt in North America and Western Europe.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens said the agency plans to maintain current staff levels during the upcoming fiscal year because the budget doesn’t include funds to monitor new unconventional wells. Testifying before a panel of state lawmakers on Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s executive budget for fiscal year 2012-2013, Martens said “in light of the considerable work that remains before we finalize our regulatory framework, the executive budget does not include any funds for high-volume hydraulic fracturing [fracking].” He said the agency had received more than 60,000 comments on its recommendations in a revised supplemental generic environmental impact statement on fracking, and more than 6,000 people had attended public hearings on the practice. More than 50 employees at the DEC are reviewing the comments, a process expected to take several months.

Quicksilver Resources Inc. said that its Barnett Shale subsidiary, Quicksilver Production Partners LP (QPP), plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) after filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Fort Worth, TX-based company said in addition to the IPO, it plans to contribute some of its Barnett assets and relative derivatives to QPP. Proceeds generated by the IPO would be used retire debt. QPP was formed in October (see NGI, Oct. 24, 2011).

Natural gas and renewables have starring roles in California’s energy future, according to the state’s 2011 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) that was approved unanimously by the California Energy Commission (CEC). Now headed for action by the state legislature, CEC’s IEPR is considered the state’s main energy planning document (see NGI, Dec.12, 2011). The California Independent System Operator has concluded that the state faces a seven-year window (2017-2024) in which adequate amounts of gas-fired power is uncertain without costly upgrades to an aging fleet of coastal facilities (see NGI, Jan. 30). The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which has set a goal of 2020 to be rid of coal-fired generation, also is searching for alternatives to its stake in the Utah-based coal-fired Intermountain Power Project facility, which may be to covert some of the units to natural gas.

Fairfield, TX-based Green Energy Oilfield Services is buying liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled trucks for use in the state’s oilpatch. The company recently broke ground on a 14,000-square-foot facility to house corporate offices and main truck and tank yard. With an incoming fleet of 60 model 388 Peterbilt tractors fueled by alternative fuels, the LNG fleet would be the first of its kind to provide oilfield services on such a scale, Green Energy said.

World-scale engine builder Cummins Inc. says it sees the potential for growth in the market for natural gas engines for trucks. The company is seeing “a growing interest from truck companies to see if, given the low prices of natural gas, this can be a way to reduce the cost of trucking,” Cummins Chairman Tom Linebarger said during a recent 4Q2011 earnings conference call. “We’re excited about that because we’re — we’ve been in it for 10 years now — so we’ve got a bit of a lead over others.” A significant amount of the company’s natural gas-powered business is for off-highway, heavy duty construction equipment, but “there’s a fair bit of momentum building on-highway. It’s historically been primarily a bus market in North America from an on-highway point of view.” Cummins has joint-ventured with British Columbia’s Westport Innovations Inc. to manufacture natural gas-powered engines. “We consider it an area of growth and opportunity for us and for our customers.”

Calpine Corp., has filed an objection with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its proposed settlement with diesel-powered demand response (DR) operators. The settlement could allow DR operators that rely on diesel emergency backup generation to quadruple their allowable operating hours without having to install updated emissions controls, Calpine said. A pending federal court appeal challenges EPA regulations regarding the latest national environmental standards for hazardous air pollutants from reciprocating internal combustion engines used by many DR providers.

©Copyright 2012Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.