Abandoned

Harkening back to an abandoned, high profile, public/private sector coal gasification project in his state, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead at a press conference on Friday indicated he wants to rekindle similar like coal gasification projects in the state, drawing on advancements now in commercial operation in China.

Abandoned coal mines in Pennsylvania may be a technically viable source of water for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, but economics and regulations ultimately could decide whether operators find the solution feasible, according to a recent report by the Rand Corp.

Calling them a model for other states, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Tuesday unanimously approved new rules for the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), including trade secret protections sought by the oil and gas industry. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) said the state “now has the strongest hydraulic fracturing rule in the country,” and environmental groups praised the action.

Exasperated with being at the center of a pitched debate over the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), elected officials in Dimock Township, PA, voted unanimously Monday evening to decline an offer by the city of Binghamton, NY about 30 miles away, to deliver potable water supplies to some of the town’s residents.

A lawsuit filed by Energy Transfer Partners LP against Enterprise Products Partners LP and Enbridge Inc. over an abandoned proposal to construct an oil pipeline from Cushing, OK, to Houston “is about a company…trying to get in the courthouse what it could not achieve in the marketplace,” Enterprise said in a motion for summary judgment.

Enterprise Products Partners LP and Entergy Transfer Partners LP for now have abandoned plans to construct a 584-mile crude oil pipeline from Cushing, OK, to Houston, Enterprise said Monday.

Calypso U.S. Pipeline LLC has notified FERC that it has abandoned its undersea pipeline project, which was destined to deliver regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a deepwater port offshore Florida to customers in the Sunshine State.

Marcellus Shale development is not bringing much money into local governments, but also not taking much money out of local governments, according to a recent study of two prolific Pennsylvania counties.

Natural gas drilling in West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale already has enriched the state through new jobs and more revenue and is on track to create up to 20,000 jobs by 2015, according to a study by West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER).