Believed

In what is believed to be a first in the industry, elected officials in Mora County, NM, have enacted a total ban on oil and gas drilling.

A report by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research says personal income for the residents of 28 counties in New York that overlay the Marcellus Shale could grow by 15% or more over the next four years, if the state lifts a moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

ProPublica, a nonprofit corporation that pursues investigative journalism on matters of public interest, is criticizing former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and the New York Daily News for failing to disclose Rendell’s ties to natural gas-related businesses in a pro-industry editorial.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell urged New Yorkers — and, by extension, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — to embrace high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in their state, adding that they have “the chance to play a major part in [the] revolution” of U.S. energy independence.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo criticized groups that support high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in the Empire State for focusing on “hallway chatter” and said he doesn’t think two bills calling for a two-year moratorium on the practice will pass the legislature.

Power generators in the Northeast and Southeast last week said they believed changes in the no-bump rule for interruptible transportation (IT) capacity on interstate gas pipelines, to the clearing deadline for the day-ahead market and improvements to the gas infrastructure would go a long way toward improving reliability and coordination of the markets in the two regions.

A well used to dispose of fracking-related fluids in the northeastern corner of Ohio is believed to have been responsible for about a dozen minor earthquakes in the town of Youngstown over the past year, with the latest one coming on New Year’s Eve, according to state regulators.

While producers, local distribution companies (LDC) and processors in the Southwest may have believed they were prepared to meet natural gas demand during extreme cold weather events, their weatherization programs were woefully inadequate, a task force report said (see NGI, Feb. 7).

While producers, local distribution companies (LDC) and processors in the Southwest may have believed they were prepared to meet natural gas demand during extreme cold weather events, their weatherization programs were woefully inadequate, a task force report said (see Daily GPI, Feb. 7).