Coal

Groundwater levels are impacted by coalbed methane (CBM) production, decreasing as production increases, and vice versa, according to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) report that analyzes data from 62 groundwater monitoring wells in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin (PRB).

Consol Energy Inc. said Tuesday that its 2014 capital budget would remain flat compared to last year, announcing plans to once again invest $1.3-1.5 billion on its operations.

Natural gas lost a bit of ground last year in its share of the Texas power generation pie, according to data released by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state.

For the second month in a row, gas-fired power generation gained ground on coal-fired plants compared to the previous year by not falling off nearly as sharply, according to Genscape Inc.’s “Generation Fuel Monitor Report.”

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) has taken on additional regulatory functions, including responsibility for the Public Lands Act and Part 8 of the Mines and Minerals Act for all oil, natural gas, oil sands and coal development in the province, and has launched an online private surface agreements registry and expanded public notice of applications, the agency said Monday.

Eight coal units at three plant sites with combined generating capacity of 3,000 MW-plus are being retired by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to diversify the generating mix and keep pace with “changing economic and regulatory conditions,” TVA’s board of directors said last week.

Consol Energy Inc. on Monday marked a transformative step to advance its natural gas-weighted exploration and production (E&P) business in the Appalachian Basin, not to split the coal operations as some had anticipated, but rather to sell a big coal subsidiary and shift from exploration to exploitation in the Marcellus, Utica and Upper Devonian shales.

Texas Eastern Transmission LP (Tetco) has asked FERC for authorization to undertake certain activities to protect its pipeline system in Pennsylvania from potential ground subsidence during longwall coal mining that is planned by Emerald Coal Resources LP.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) should announce a new CEO by the middle of the month, according to the industry group’s chairman.