Begun

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has begun responding to market participant’s questions about the regulations stemming from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, namely the start date for swap data reporting and the reporting of cleared swap transactions. Compliance with the final rule is required once the agency has responded to a question or clarified a Dodd-Frank issue, said Commissioner Bart Chilton (see Daily GPI, Oct. 10). But in the event the CFTC doesn’t answer questions by Friday, Chilton said, “it would not be appropriate, reasonable or responsible for the Commission to proceed against entities for non-compliance with a Dodd-Frank rule unless and until they have received a response from the agency to an existing request.”

Continental Resources Inc. disclosed Tuesday that it has begun reworking a legacy shale play in south-central Oklahoma geographically similar to the Bakken, Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales that could add 1.8 million boe to its reserves in the next few years.

To reduce the amount of drilling waste that has to be transported to landfills and to provide a renewable solution, Chesapeake Energy Corp. has begun an innovative recycling project with TWMA Ltd. in the Eagle Ford Shale.

Finger pointing has begun among the federal, state and industry stakeholders in the ongoing effort to determine whether natural gas drilling in and around Pavillion, WY, has impacted ground water supplies.

Finger pointing has begun among the federal, state and industry stakeholders in the ongoing effort to determine whether natural gas drilling, and specifically hydraulic fracturing (fracking), near Pavillion, WY, has contaminated groundwater.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP (PVR) has begun service on a new 30-mile, 24-inch diameter trunkline serving Marcellus Shale producers in north-central Pennsylvania with 750 MMcf/d of capacity. The capacity gives producers shipping gas out of the Marcellus a way around constraints on Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s congested 300 Line.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. is selling legacy properties in the Cana Woodford Shale, including the rights to 298 producing wells, “because it does not have the drilling budget to adequately develop the abundant additional opportunities in the area,” according to a sales listing. Ninety-eight percent of the leases are held by production.

Commercial natural gas storage services have commenced at the Ryckman Creek Gas Storage Facility in Uinta County, WY, and customers have begun injecting gas at an aggregate rate exceeding 230 MMcf/d, Ryckman Creek Resources LLC said Tuesday.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced Friday that the state process has begun to include natural gas vehicles (NGV) on West Virginia’s bid list for 2013 model year vehicles, following a recommendation he received from his NGV Task Force. The contract bid has been included in the state’s current purchasing bulletin, calling for 36 different vehicle models with 10 of those specified as being fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG), an announcement from Tomblin’s office said. The contract is officially out to bid, the first step towards attaining the state’s goal of using its abundant gas supplies to fuel its vehicle fleet, Tomblin said. He also said that the NGV Task Force is exploring potential partnerships “with and among natural gas producers, infrastructure developers, vehicle manufacturers and other industry leaders” to expand the state’s fueling infrastructure for CNG. The Purchasing Division will hold a pre-bid conference Aug. 22 and the bid opening is scheduled for Sept. 6. Additional information is available to prospective bidders by contacting the Purchasing Division at (304) 558-4785 or (304) 558-2306.