Cities

The Obama administration has issued a presidential permit for the 80-mile U.S. pipeline link in North Dakota that is slated to carry ethane as part of a 430-mile international pipeline through Saskatchewan and terminating in Alberta.

Like other cities and its own county in Colorado, the Boulder City Council is set to consider two actions related to the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on open space within the city limits.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Wednesday he will continue to take legal action against cities and counties that insist on passing bans on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

In the midst of two lawsuits filed by Colorado officials against locally passed oil and natural gas drilling rules, Longmont, CO, gained some support Thursday when the Sierra Club and Earthworks’ attorneys filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate an ordinance passed last year.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has about $700,000 available in grants to help public fleet operators, such as school districts, cities and counties, buy new natural gas vehicles. The grant funding, which the RRC originally received to use for propane-fueled vehicles, has now been expanded to natural gas vehicles and can be used to offset some or all of the incremental costs of a natural gas fuel system on a new or retrofitted vehicle. Matching funds for the purchase of the vehicles must come from non-federal sources. Public fleets statewide are eligible to apply for the grants, regardless of the fleet location’s air-quality classification. More information is available at the RRC website.

A nonprofit economic and public policy research firm is warning policymakers in Western Canada that shale gas development in British Columbia (BC) and oilsands development in northern Alberta are “stress points” that could negatively impact water quality and supplies if not properly regulated.

The cash market was a “Tale of Two Cities” Tuesday as the bulk of locations meandered within a couple of pennies of Monday’s settlement, but the swooning Northeast suffered $1 plus declines as near-term weather was expected to moderate. Futures prices resorted to a mixed finish in light trading, and at the close April had risen 0.1 cent to $2.356 and May had dropped 1.0 cents to $2.462. April crude oil followed weak equity markets lower and tumbled $2.02 to $104.70/bbl.

It was still cold along the East Coast Wednesday, with some cities in Florida having established date-specific records for low temperatures the day before. But forecasts of widespread warming trends either already getting under way or starting Thursday caused prices to plummet by triple digits at quite a few Northeast trading points. Outside the Northeast, the market was close to evenly divided between small gains and small losses.

IHS CERA chairman Daniel Yergin, whose expertise about all things energy has made him a go-to authority, said last week the world’s energy supply and demand picture is less clear today than it was a year ago.