Commercial

The Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to add a referendum to the fall ballot that, if approved by voters, would amend the city charter with a ban on all commercial natural gas extraction inside the city limits.

As it prepares to begin commercial operations later this month, El Paso Corp.’s Ruby Pipeline holds a narrow initial market in the West centered on Northern California. Markets in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California remain virtually untapped, according to sources in those regions.

The Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City in the state of Qatar has sold its first commercial shipment of GTL gasoil, partners in the project Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell plc said Monday. Pearl GTL is the largest energy project ever launched in the state of Qatar, they said.

A $619 million, 580 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle electric generation plant has begun commercial operation in Virginia, according to owner/operator, Dominion Virginia Power. The Bear Garden Power Station is in the central part of the state, about 60 miles west of Richmond. Construction began in spring 2009. Bear Garden has two gas-fired combustion turbines, with oil as a backup fuel source. The turbines each generate 170 MW, and their exhaust is used to generate an additional 240 MW.

Buoyed by a new gas processing plant and 10 Marcellus Shale wells drilled in the first quarter, Rex Energy Corp. is increasing its capital budget by $26.7 million for the year to support increased drilling activities.

Europe’s unconventional commercial gas reserves likely rival those in North America and could begin making contributions to supply in 10 to 15 years, according to IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA).

Despite reporting a $16.3 million net loss for 2010, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. believes that recent and pending acquisitions could help the company more than triple production, allowing it to compete with bigger companies in three major shale plays.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP (PVR) has begun commercial operations on the first large-diameter gathering pipeline in the north-central Pennsylvania Marcellus fairway, the Radnor, PA, company said.

Truck traffic on Pennsylvania roads that is generated by Marcellus Shale drilling operations has cost the state $30-35 million more than the industry is providing for road repairs, according to a report by the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT).