Completion

Tulsa-based Williams continues to be primed for solid natural gas infrastructure expansions in North America, with the biggest still planned for the Marcellus Shale, CEO Alan Armstrong said Wednesday.

Although Norse Energy Corp. ASA has put most of its leasehold in New York up for sale, the company said it hopes to continue doing business in the state — especially through a joint venture (JV) — and is currently in negotiations with several interested parties over its assets.

CONSOL Energy Inc.’s Appalachian-based natural gas division produced a record 40.4 Bcf in 3Q2011, or nearly 13% more, than the 35.8 Bcf produced in the year-ago period, the company reported last week. Separately, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. also is seeing strong results in the Marcellus Shale but said gas sales have been constrained because of “volume limitations” in some midstream infrastructure.

CONSOL Energy Inc.’s natural gas division said Thursday it produced a record 40.4 Bcf in 3Q2011, or nearly 13% more than the 35.8 Bcf produced in the year-ago period. Separately, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. also reported strong results in Appalachia, but it said gas sales have been constrained because of “volume limitations” in some midstream infrastructure.

Proposed rule changes for handling drilling waste products and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were approved Tuesday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission. They drew an immediate negative reaction from the North Dakota Petroleum Council, which claimed the changes would add up to $300,000 of added costs/well.

EQT Corp. recently announced early results of a new completion technique in the Marcellus Shale that it said could increase production more than 50%.

Idaho Power Co. has filed an integrated resource plan (IRP) with Idaho and Oregon regulators calling for a near-doubling of its natural gas-fired generation with the completion next year of a third plant. The utility’s 300 MW combined-cycle gas-fired Langley Gulch generation plant is set to open in June 2012. The plant was identified as needed in Idaho Power’s 2009 IRP. Two existing gas-fired plants provide 345 MW of nameplate capacity collectively. Part of the new plant’s development includes construction of a connecting gas transmission pipeline and a 230-kV electric transmission line and substation. Idaho Power said in addition to boosting its power supply portfolio, Langley Gulch is expected to help the utility integrate ever-larger amounts of wind-powered generation into its system. The gas-fired generation is expected to be increased and decreased quickly in response to the intermittent wind supplies.

The operators of two natural gas drilling waste disposal wells in Arkansas have agreed with regulators to keep the wells shut in while an ongoing study of their potential link to seismic activity in the area continues (see Shale Daily, March 17).

The Interior Department Wednesday said it approved a deepwater Gulf of Mexico supplemental exploration plan (SEP) for Shell Offshore Inc. following the completion of a site-specific environmental assessment (SEA) for deepwater oil and natural gas exploration.