The Vermilion Parish, LA, Police Jury Monday voted unanimously to stand against a lawsuit filed by Keith Stutes, district attorney for the 15th Judicial District on behalf of the parish against dozens of oil/natural gas companies for alleged coastal wetlands damage (see Daily GPI, July 29). “Hopefully, the district attorney respects the wishes of the elected officials and drops the lawsuit against industry,” said Louisiana Oil & Gas Association President Don Briggs.

ExxonMobil Corp. plans to invest $15 million as a leadership member in the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute to pursue technologies that meet energy demand while reducing environmental impacts. The joint research initiative is designed to study a range of emerging technologies. The oil major also is expanding a collaboration with the university’s Gulf Coast Carbon Center to complement a partnership with FuelCell Energy Inc. to advance carbonate fuel cell technology for use at natural gas-fired power plants (see Daily GPI, May 6).

Summit Natural Gas of Maine (SNGME) has asked the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to authorize it to dissolve Natural Gas Conversion Co. (NGCC), a Summit Utilities Inc.‘s (SUI) subsidiary formed less than two years ago to convert home and business heating systems to natural gas (see Daily GPI, Sept. 17, 2014). NGCC “has provided valuable conversion assistance to Maine residents and business…[but] is no longer consistent with SUI’s business objectives,” according to a petition filed at the PUC by SNGME July 29. If the PUC authorizes the request, SNGME plans to wind down NGCC operations, terminate affiliate transaction support services between SNGME and NGCC, liquidate the subsidiary’s property, transfer any remaining NGCC assets to SUI and transfer any liabilities to either a third party or to SNGME. SNGME committed to ensuring that ratepayers are held harmless and that NGCC financial obligations and liabilities do not affect earnings sharings.

Global engineering and design firm, HDR Inc., has been selected as the engineer for REV LNG LLC‘s small-scale liquefied natural gas facility in Northeast Pennsylvania’s Bradford County. HDR said last week that it would be responsible for the project’s management and detailed engineering. The facility, which was announced in 2014, would have 180,000 gallons of storage capacity and a liquefaction capacity of 50,000 gallons/d. It would primarily serve as a fuel supplier for trucks, but also for the exploration and production sector and eventually for marine customers. HDR’s announcement is the latest indication that the facility will be built. It was initially proposed to be completed in the Summer of 2015. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, REV has operations across the country.