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North Dakota plans to pursue a series of innovative programs, including producing fertilizer at the well sites, to address natural gas flaring, which has risen to more than 30% in the latest monthly production totals.

The board of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) may address the issue of coordinating U.S. natural gas and electricity grids at its next national meeting, according to the head of the natural gas committee.

Combined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration, is advocated for a dozen states heavily dependent on coal-fired power generation as a way to ease off of coal and address global climate change. CHP often relies on natural gas as its fuel source, although biomass, biogas and other fossil fuels also can be used. A report by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy predicts that in the next two decades there will be “substantial changes” in the way electricity is produced, and CHP is one of the tools for making the transition smoother and less carbon-intensive. “Energy efficiency, and CHP, in particular, represent significant near-term opportunities to make highly cost-effective investments in new energy resources,” said Anna Chittum, author of the report, “Coal Retirements and the CHP Investment Opportunity.” The report urges states to encourage their utilities to invest more in CHP as a means of meeting future demand.

Louisiana officials last Friday called for the capture or venting of natural gas in the area of the compromised Napoleonville Salt Dome in South Louisiana. The salt dome is in the area of a mysterious sinkhole that developed earlier this summer, threatening some natural gas pipelines in the area.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing to protect six species of aquatic invertebrates native to West Texas as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Such an ESA listing could have implications for the West Texas oil patch, analysts warned.

For global unconventional natural gas to reach its full potential, the energy industry has to be willing to work with regulators and conservation groups to address legitimate concerns, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) told an audience recently at Rice University’s Baker Institute in Houston.

For global unconventional natural gas to reach its full potential, the energy industry has to be willing to work with regulators and conservation groups to address legitimate concerns, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) told an audience Friday at Rice University’s Baker Institute in Houston.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) on Tuesday downgraded the corporate credit rating of Chesapeake Energy Corp. to “BB-” from “BB” and said the outlook was “negative.” The ratings on related entities Chesapeake Midstream Partners LP and Chesapeake Oilfield Operating LLC also were cut because the units are so closely tied to the parent, S&P noted.

Constitution Pipeline Co. LLC, a development launched in February by frequent partners Williams Partners LP and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., on Tuesday executed precedent agreements for the proposed 121-mile natural gas pipeline, designed to connect Marcellus Shale production in northeastern Pennsylvania to Northeast markets by spring 2015.