Rich Nemec

Environmental groups in desert lands between Tucson, AZ, and Mexico have asked FERC to reject the current draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and force Kinder Morgan to look at alternative routes for its proposed Sierrita Pipeline Project, which is slated to connect with a new pipeline in Northern Mexico at the U.S. border.

Dozens of requests will be heard Wednesday and Thursday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) hearing panel, reviewing operator requests for increased well densities and spacing unit changes in the Bakken/Three Forks formation.

There are indicators that natural gas prices may have bottomed out in North Dakota and there could be the start of a long, slow trend for price increases starting next year, the state’s top oil/gas official said in reporting the state’s latest increased production statistics.

The year-end lull that comes with the onset of winter is likely to give way next year in North Dakota to a million-barrel-a-day oil and natural gas industry that will see a number of positive changes, including decreases in production costs and amounts of flared associated gas, along with continuing technology advances in drilling operations, the state’s chief oil/gas official said Friday.

Retail natural gas utility rates in Colorado will increase by 14-17% in the first quarter compared to the same period this year, Minnesota-based Xcel Energy said. The combination utility’s electric utility rates will drop slightly quarter over quarter.

While much of the focus of the booming natural gas market is drilling, production and new pipelines, in the background is a drive to speed up repair and replacement of older lines that are straining under new, heavier loads.

ConocoPhillips Alaska (COPA) has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to resume exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Kenai, AK, facility located in the Cook Inlet, according to an e-mail to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) and other stakeholders.

There are indicators that natural gas prices may have bottomed out in North Dakota and there could be the start of a long, slow trend for price increases starting next year, the state’s top oil/gas official said last Friday in reporting the state’s latest increased production statistics.

While oil and natural gas production continued on its record-breaking trajectory, North Dakota’s burgeoning Williston Basin also produced some significantly higher prices for natural gas in the most recent statistics released Friday by the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).