The Appalachian Basin’s leading oil and gas trade groups have formed a partnership to host this year’s Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh. The event has been organized and hosted by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC)for the past five years. But the sixth annual conference on Sept. 21 and 22 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh will be co-hosted by the MSC, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and theWest Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. All three states have been trying to work more closely to promote the region’s shale gas resources. The conference organizers said all three trade groups would combine to create an agenda that offers more value for attendees. This year’s theme is the next phase of the “shale revolution and will emphasize end use and connecting the marketplace through infrastructure,” the MSC said.

Consolidated Edison Inc. and Crestwood Equity Partners LP have completed the previously announced formation of a joint venture to own and develop Crestwood’s existing natural gas pipeline and storage business in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania (see Daily GPI, April 22). Crestwood contributed its existing interstate natural gas pipeline and storage business to Stagecoach Gas Services LLC. A subsidiary of Con Edison Transmission Inc. indirectly purchased a 50% equity interest in Stagecoach Gas Services for about $945 million. Subject to adjustments, the parties’ initial contribution has an implied market value of almost $2 billion. Crestwood has also agreed to contribute to Stagecoach its existing New York intrastate pipeline, and Con Edison Transmission has agreed to contribute $30 million, which will be distributed to Crestwood.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in California has urged Obama administration air regulators to set tougher tailpipe emissions standards for heavy duty trucks. California’s air regulators are already headed in that direction but trucks purchased outside the state wouldn’t be covered by the stricter requirements without a similar federal upgrade. SCAQMD said that environmental regulators from other regions and states joined in the petitions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt an ultra-low emission standard for heavy duty trucks. For the past three years, SCAQMD has led an effort in the state to develop a near-zero emission compressed natural gas engine for refuse-hauling trucks, and Cummins Westport developed an 8.9-liter engine certified last year by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that is commercially available today (see Daily GPI, Oct. 8, 2015). Friday’s petition filing comes on the heels of a vote by the SCAQMD Governing Board earlier this year to urge the federal EPA to adopt a near-zero, or “ultra-low” emissions standard for heavy duty truck engines that would be 90% cleaner than the current standard, anticipating CARB will do the same.

Mexico’s Energy Secretary has issued rules clarifying how the federal government will regulate matters of private land acquired for oil/gas exploration and production as well as pipeline development. The publication, in Spanish in the official federal diary, outlines rights and obligations of parties contracting for the use of private land in energy development. It expands upon the country’s hydrocarbon reforms of 2014 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14, 2014) and includes model contracts and outlines procedures and requirements for dispute resolutions.