Calling

Living up to preliminary estimates earlier in the year calling for a 50-year high (see Shale Daily, Jan. 25), Colorado oil/natural gas officials released statistics showing oil production was up 22% last year, soaring past the 40 million bbl mark for the first time in a half-century at 47.9 million bbl.

The New York State Assembly’s passage of a bill calling for a two-year moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in the state could divide the fragile bipartisan coalition that controls the Senate.

The New York State Assembly’s passage of a bill calling for a two-year moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in the state could divide the fragile bipartisan coalition that controls the Senate.

Projections calling for below-normal water levels in the Pacific Northwest create the prospect for higher natural gas loads this year to make up for the smaller amounts of hydropower expected in the region, according to a Barclays report on the region’s prospects.

Calling it a “rebirth” for combined-cycle plants, Calpine Corp. CEO Jack Fusco said Wednesday that natural gas-fired capacity factors are rising in the electric generation sector, but power prices must also rise to encourage the building of more replacement capacity.

With the domestic shale gale in full force, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the ranking Republican on the committee, vowed Tuesday to work together in a bipartisan effort to rethink energy regulation — but their differences on the issued appear unresolved.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has finalized revisions to general permits for natural gas-fired engines and equipment at compressor stations, which are “75-90%” stricter than current limits for the largest, most common types of engines used at compressor stations. DEP also is suggesting revisions to one section of the air quality permit exemption list governing well drilling sites.

At a one-day meeting of California’s state legislature Monday a new bill was introduced calling for public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil/natural gas drilling by the same state lawmaker who has unsuccessfully sponsored similar bills the past two years.

Cash natural gas prices overall jumped on average more than 10 cents Monday, largely driven by weather reports calling for a brutal nor’easter to pummel New England and the Mid Atlantic. Gulf locations softened, but California locations bounded higher. At the close of trading December futures were unchanged at $3.554 and January had slipped 0.2 cent to $3.678. December crude oil added 79 cents to $85.65/bbl.