Award

The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) has named a dozen finalists in its annual Shale Gas Innovation Competition, which will award a total of $75,000 to three winners to be selected next month.

Williams Olefins LLC has awarded CB&I a $300 million contract for expansion of ethylene production capacity in Geismer, LA (see Shale Daily, Sept. 21, 2011). The award includes the license and basic engineering for the ethylene technology, the supply of the cracking furnaces and engineering, procurement, and construction of the expansion. Plant capacity is expected to be increased from 1.35 to 1.95 billion pounds per year. “The petrochemicals market is re-emerging in the U.S. due to the abundance of lower-cost ethane feedstock, directly attributable to increased shale gas production,” said CB&I CEO Philip K. Asherman. Ethylene, mainly produced via steam cracking, is the primary building block for the chemical industry and is used to produce a variety of products including plastics, fibers and rubbers.

The Arlington, TX, City Council voted 8-1 to award Chesapeake Energy Corp. for its Bobcat 1H well on a site that is about a half-mile southwest of the Cowboys Stadium. The approval followed a public hearing and an agreement by Chesapeake to coordinate heavy truck traffic around events at the stadium and the nearby Rangers Ballpark, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. As many as a dozen wells could be placed on Chesapeake’s Truman site accessing the mineral resources of about 1,200 property owners. Some area residents had expressed concerns about traffic and pollution, but others at the council meeting said they supported development of their mineral rights.

In yet another side story to a toxic contamination and natural gas transmission pipeline saga that spans decades and inspired an Academy Award-winning motion picture, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) made local news just before the Thanksgiving holiday by offering to buy up to 100 properties in the town of Hinkley, CA, about 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles. That move comes in the wake of residents and the local board for state water regulators expressing new concerns about PG&E’s handling of ongoing toxic mitigation work corralling a 2.5-by-1-mile plume of groundwater tainted with hexavalent chromium, which was previously used by PG&E in its gas transmission pipeline operations in the Hinkley area (see Daily GPI, Nov. 16). A report in the Los Angeles Times quoted a utility spokesperson confirming that if residents in the plume zone want to sell, PG&E will be willing to buy the properties. Meanwhile, the regional water board is still investigating PG&E’s work in containing the plume and is considering options proposed by the utility. Tests have shown elevated — albeit not necessarily dangerous — levels of hexavalent chromium in domestic and agricultural water supplies. The utility and more than 600 residents reached a $333 million settlement in 1997.

In a case involving an arcane issue for natural gas distribution utilities, a California appeals court has reversed a $12 million jury award in a lower court lawsuit by two plaintiffs against Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas). The utility had appealed the 2005 verdict.

In a case involving an arcane issue for natural gas distribution utilities, a California appeals court last Thursday reversed a $12 million jury award in a lower court lawsuit by two plaintiffs against Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas). The utility had appealed the 2005 verdict.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) was awarded a “green leadership” award at a state environmental summit and exposition in Sacramento Tuesday, calling out both private- and public-sector research and development grants under the CEC’s $83.5 million annual Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) was awarded a “green leadership” award at a state environmental summit and exposition in Sacramento Tuesday, calling out both private- and public-sector research and development grants under the CEC’s $83.5 million annual Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program.

Less than a week after the award of a license giving his company the concession to construct an Alaska North Slope gas pipeline to the Lower 48, the chief executive of TransCanada Corp. has called attention to potential cost hikes with remarks suggesting that the company might seek increased federal loan guarantees for the project.