2007

Chesapeake Energy Corp. recently initiated production of approximately 30 MMcfe/d of gas from the first 11 wells on its 18,000-acre Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport lease, the company said last week.

Environmentalists, conservationists and medical officials called on a House committee last Wednesday to close the loopholes in the federal clean air and water regulations for oil and natural gas development that they say are damaging public health, wildlife and the environment.

More than 29 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, including some blocks in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Planning Area available for the first time in 20 years, will be up for lease next spring when the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) holds lease sales 206 and 224.

Environmentalists, conservationists and medical officials called on a House committee Wednesday to close the loopholes in the federal clean air and water regulations for oil and natural gas development that they say are damaging public health, wildlife and the environment.

More than 29 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, including some blocks in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Planning Area available for the first time in 20 years, will be up for lease next spring when the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) holds lease sales 206 and 224.

In advance of a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing last Wednesday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a report calling on Congress to enact legislative changes giving the agency heightened oversight authority of certain lightly regulated contracts in exempt commercial markets (ECM) that perform significant price discovery for commodities in interstate commerce.

A state district court judge in Billings, MT, upheld state water quality standards that had been challenged by coalbed methane (CBM) producers. Conservation groups claimed “a major legal victory” while at least one producer said it was in compliance and no changes to operations would be necessary.

Natural gas futures were for the most part unfazed Thursday despite news that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed a bearish 68 Bcf storage build for the week ended Oct. 19, which puts this year’s inventory back on track to reach record levels. After working lower prior to the 10:30 a.m. EDT report to record a $6.900 low, November natural gas futures reversed course, registering a high of $7.200 before settling the day at $7.188, up 21.6 cents from Wednesday.

After testing the low side of a well defined trading range on Tuesday and again on Wednesday morning, November natural gas futures pushed higher during Wednesday’s regular session. The prompt-month contract reached a high of $7.030 before settling the day at $6.972, up 21.1 cents from Tuesday’s close.