2009

CenterPoint Energy said Friday that one of its natural gas compressor stations was “heavily damaged” in the Wednesday explosion and fire near the DCP Midstream East Texas gas processing plant north of Carthage, TX. DCP Midstream has said the explosion was the result of a third-party pipeline rupture outside the company’s property, but it was difficult to tell amidst the devastation at the blast site which of the confluence of pipelines in the area caused the accident.

The Obama administration last Tuesday delivered its second blow to domestic oil and natural gas producers in less than a week — this time considerably stalling the process for review of the new five-year offshore leasing plan (2010-2015) that was issued in the final days of the Bush administration. The action elicited widespread protests from producers.

CenterPoint Energy said Friday that one of its natural gas compressor stations was “heavily damaged” in the Wednesday explosion and fire near the DCP Midstream East Texas gas processing plant north of Carthage, TX. DCP Midstream has said the explosion was the result of a third-party pipeline rupture outside the company’s property, but it was difficult to tell amidst the devastation at the blast site which of the confluence of pipelines in the area caused the accident.

The Senate Tuesday overwhelmingly passed its $838 billion economic stimulus package that offers tax breaks and increased spending for production of renewable fuels, new power transmission facilities and energy efficiency and conservation. But the tough work lies ahead as the Senate and House try to meld their divergent bills into a conference report.

Although moderating temperatures are in the Wednesday forecast for the Midwest and Midcontinent, growing heating load in the South and Northeast along with a prior-day 14-cent increase by March futures were able to generate sizeable gains at all points but one Tuesday.

A retired official of the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) was sentenced Monday to probation and a $2,000 fine for felony violation of rules governing employees after they leave the federal government.

As promised earlier in January, Oregon officials last Tuesday filed with a federal appeals court to reverse FERC’s conditioned approval of the NorthernStar Natural Gas Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal project along the Columbia River. Undaunted, all three of Oregon’s LNG projects kept pushing ahead with various local, state and federal permitting processes.

Temperatures in the Southeast are likely to remain warmer than normal through April, but much of the rest of the country will be dominated by colder-than-normal temperatures for the next three months, according to forecaster WSI Corp. of Andover, MA.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday he has asked officials to review the potential criminal conduct of a group of Minerals Management Service (MMS) employees who were involved in a sweeping scandal last year and to take a close look at restructuring the agency’s oil and natural gas royalty program, as well as examine Interior’s ethics regulations and policies.