Allowing

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly have ratified and sent to the governor a bill allowing offshore natural gas drilling and calling for the state to form the Governors’ Regional Interstate Offshore Energy Policy Compact with its neighbors, Virginia and South Carolina.

Ohio officials say the percentage of wastewater originating from out-of-state natural gas wells has increased 10% and predicts that it will continue to climb in the coming years.

Lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly have ratified and sent to the governor a bill allowing offshore natural gas drilling and calling for the state to form the Governors’ Regional Interstate Offshore Energy Policy Compact with its neighbors, Virginia and South Carolina.

After two days of being in the dark, power was restored to the Washington, DC, headquarters of FERC, allowing it to reopen its doors Friday, the agency said.

Until further notice, Columbia Gulf said Thursday it will not be accepting imbalance paybacks or allowing shippers to create new length on their contracts.

Oregon regulators on Thursday approved an all-parties settlement for Portland, OR-based NW Natural, allowing the natural gas distribution utility to proceed with its joint venture to develop gas reserves with a U.S. subsidiary of Calgary-based Encana Corp. (see Daily GPI, April 21).

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu said last Monday that he was comfortable with the Obama administration’s decision to resume allowing leases to move forward in the Gulf of Mexico, but he did not address the ongoing controversy over the speed of that process (see NGI, April 4a). He did, however, mention the new offshore drilling requirements.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu said Monday he was comfortable with the Obama administration’s decision to resume allowing leases to move forward in the Gulf of Mexico, but he did not address the ongoing controversy over the speed of that process (see Daily GPI, March 31). He did, however, mention the new offshore drilling requirements.

Williams is investing C$311 million to expand two Alberta off-gas facilities that would support a new long-term agreement to produce up to 17,000 b/d of ethane and ethylene for Canadian petrochemical heavyweight NOVA Chemicals Corp.