The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) now accepts electronic filings of oil/natural gas producer well log data; paper logs are no longer required. “This new electronic filing system will save operators about $362,000 annually and reduce the time and resources necessary for them to comply with reporting requirements, as well as make the information they submit more quickly and easily accessible to the public,” RRC said. The commission said it will save about $105,000 and nearly 4,000 hours of staff time per year because of the change. Operators must submit well logs in both .TIFF and .LAS formats. For information, check the L-1 Electric Log Status Report form on the RRC website. RRC began accepting electronically filed well completion reports in 2010.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has issued two wastewater discharge permits and a 401 Water Quality Certification to a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) pcl for its proposed ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH. The permits would allow the facility to discharge wastewater into the Ohio River and storm water into a stream and the river. The agency said PTTGC plans to select one of those to develop. The water quality certificate would allow the discharge of dredged or fill material into streams and wetlands during construction. OEPA said the permits require stronger monitoring requirements and more “detailed analysis” of wastewater intake structures. PTTGC has signed purchase options for nearly 500 acres along the river in Mead Township and invested $100 million for preliminary design work. The company is expected to make a final investment decision sometime early this year.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal developer NextDecade LLC has signed lease agreements with the state of Texas and city of Texas City for a nearly 1,000-acre site at Shoal Point for the potential development of an LNG export facility. Texas City owns almost 376 acres at Shoal Point, while the Texas General Land Office manages the adjoining 618 acres of state land. The Ports of Houston, Texas City and Galveston form the largest port complex in North America, and the NextDecade project could be the first LNG facility in the area, the company said. The Shoal Point site is east of a petrochemical industrial complex and 40 miles southeast of Houston. NextDecade is currently focused on Rio Grande LNG in South Texas, a 27 million tonne per annum project that is advancing through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitting process. The project at Shoal Point would benefit from NextDecade’s ability to replicate much of the design and engineering work done for Rio Grande LNG, a project that is expected to have one of the lowest construction costs of any LNG production facility in the world, the company said.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. has participated in two Haynesville Shale wells in Caddo Parish, LA, that have reached a combined 24-hour peak rate to date of 72,000 Mcf/d. The company owns a 17.4% working interest in each of the wells, which came online in the middle of December. As previously announced, Goodrich has established a preliminary capital expenditure budget for 2017 of $40 million, which will be concentrated in the core of the Haynesville Shale in North Louisiana. The budget contemplates 12-16 gross (three to four net) wells for the year, with plans to commence drilling operations on the Wurtsbaugh 26-14-16 1 Alt well by early February. Goodrich said it has entered into a natural gas hedge through a costless collar of $3.00-3.60 for 12,000 Mcf/d for calendar year 2017.

A subcontractor was killed last week at an Antero Resources Corp. well site in Tyler County, WV. Hunter D. Osborn, 19, of West Virginia, died from his injuries at a local hospital after he was hit by a truck and reportedly pinned between it and equipment at the site, according to the Tyler County Sheriff’s Department. Osborn worked as an equipment operator for Houston-based U.S. Well Services. The company told local news media it was saddened by the event and said an investigation is ongoing, adding that it couldn’t provide further details. The incident occurred early Thursday at Antero’s Hartley East pad. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating.

The Texas General Land Office‘s (GLO) fourth online sale of oil and gas leases has garnered more than $84 million. The auction featured 14,036 acres averaging $5,881.38/acre. Sales are held semi-annually; available tracts may be nominated by contacting GLO. In the first online lease sale in August 2016, Texas Public School Fund tracts of land brought in more than $20 million, which was about $1,500/acre more than the previous traditional lease sale, GLO said. The online lease sale in January 2016 brought in nearly $11 million for 4,393 acres, which is slightly under $2,500/acre. The July 2016 auction showed the greatest returns, netting more than $98 million for 13,339 acres, averaging $7,365/acre. More information is available at the GLO website.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff said it will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) for DTE Midstream Appalachia LLC‘s proposed Birdsboro Pipeline Project in Southeast Pennsylvania [PF17-1]. The 14-mile, 16-inch diameter pipeline, which would supply a 488 MW natural gas-fired power plant, was first proposed in October. The pipeline would have capacity to deliver 79,000 Dth/d to the power plant in Birdsboro, PA, which is being developed by Birdsboro Power LLC, a subsidiary of Houston-based Ember Partners LP. DTE has entered a precedent agreement with Birdsboro Power as the project’s sole customer. FERC is accepting comments on the EA through Feb. 17 and has scheduled a public scoping session in Oley, PA, Feb. 2. Birdsboro Power is aiming for a May 2018 in-service date. To have the pipeline operational by then, DTE said it needs to have approval by December, with construction beginning in early 2018.

Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) is expanding the capacity on its Cactus Pipeline from McCamey to Gardendale, TX, to 390,000 b/d. The expansion, to move increasing production from the Permian Basin to Corpus Christi, TX, and other delivery points along the system, includes manifold and metering enhancements at the system’s origination station, which are anticipated to be completed in 3Q2017. Cactus is a 310-mile, 20-inch diameter crude oil pipeline running from the Permian to the PAA/Enterprise Products Partners LP Eagle Ford Joint Venture (JV) Pipeline. It has a capacity of 660,000 b/d and serves the Three Rivers and Corpus Christi markets directly and can supply the Houston-area market through a connection to the Enterprise South Texas Crude Oil Pipeline. Crude oil delivered on Cactus has access to the Eagle Ford JV barge dock facility in the Corpus Christi area and dock capacity at third-party facilities in Corpus Christi and Ingleside, TX, via connections with the Eagle Ford JV pipeline.