Board

The Clatsop County elected Board of Commissioners last Wednesday again decided to challenge an Oregon state board’s ruling favoring the land-use application for a pipeline connected to the proposed Oregon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Gas Natural Inc. has rejected a trio of unsolicited takeover offers from Algonquin Power & Utilities since January, the Mentor, OH-based utility holding company said Monday.

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners has set a new hearing and process for Oregon LNG’s application for a permit to cross county lands with a 36-inch diameter transmission pipeline to link a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility with interstate supply pipelines in the state of Washington.

Citing disasters involving commodities, from the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to recent crude oil tanker train crashes to the Three Mile Island nuclear leak in 1979, the Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday said it was re-examining the risk involved in the physical commodity activity of financial holding companies (FHC). The banking agency issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on how to limit risk.

In a flurry of activity this week, WPX Energy Inc. said farewell to CEO Ralph A. Hill, who stepped down unexpectedly, named an interim replacement, increased the size of its board of directors, and promised to add a new board member nominated by one of its major shareholders.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Meadhas namedBridget Hillas director of theOffice of State Lands and Investments, which is involved in, among other things, associated wellhead natural gas flaring and coalbed methane leases (seeDaily GPI,June 20, 2012). Hill, who was an attorney for the lands office for six years, replacesRyan Lance, who is moving to the private sector. The office supports the state’s Board of Land Commissioners and the Loan and Investment Board, which are composed of the top five elected officials, including Mead.

B.M. “Mack” RankinJr., 83, who co-foundedFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.and served as vice chairman of the board, died Wednesday. Rankin foundedMcMoRan Oil & Gas Co.in 1969 with partnersW.K. McWilliams, who is deceased, and current ChairmanJim Bob Moffatt. In 1981, McMoRan merged withFreeport Minerals Co.to form Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the predecessor parent company, which has since become one of the largest natural resources companies in the world (seeDaily GPI,July 24;Dec. 6, 2012). “We lost a brother, a friend and a valued member of our board of directors,” Moffatt said. “Mack has been a great partner and adviser for many years.” Rankin, who had more than 50 years of experience in the natural resources industry, was a member of the All American Wildcatters and from 2008 to 2010 was chairman of theU.S. Oil and Gas Association. In 2010 the Dallas native received theTexas Oil & Gas AssociationDistinguished Service Award. Rankin, a graduate of theUniversity of Texas at Austin(UT), was a member of the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame and had received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Business Administration. Rankin was an avid supporter of UT and endowed, among other things, a professorship in petroleum land management. The UT Longhorn athletic dining hall is named in his honor. Rankin is survived by his wife, Ashley, and son, Richard.

Pacific NorthWest LNG has applied to the National Energy Board (NEB) for a license to export up to 19.68 million tonnes (mmty) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year for 25 years beginning in 2019 from its proposed facility in Port Edward, British Columbia (BC), not far from nine other proposed LNG projects centered on Prince Rupert, BC.

Williams’ board has voted to approve the company’s Bluegrass Pipeline project. The company has been engaged in development work on the proposed natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline, which has a targeted in-service date of late 2015. The Bluegrass Pipeline will connect supply from the Marcellus and Utica shales to growing petrochemical and export markets in the U.S. Gulf Coast (see Shale Daily, May 30; March 7). The pipeline also will connect NGL supply with the developing petrochemical market in the U.S. Northeast. Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP in May formalized joint-venture agreements tied to the project and related fractionation, storage and export projects.