Concluded

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Monday concluded a 16-month investigation by announcing that high levels of methane found in three water wells in Franklin Township in Susquehanna County “cannot be attributed to natural gas drilling activity in that geographical area.”

Williams officials said they have concluded that “a failed pressure gauge is the source of the hydrocarbon fluids” the company found last month near its Parachute Gas Plant. “The leak was stopped on Jan. 3, 2013 at 12:33 a.m. The gauge was part of valve set on a four-inch NGL pipeline belonging to Williams Partners.”

The Interior Department’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) said Tuesday that it penalized Chesapeake Energy Corp. $765,000 for “knowing or willful submission of inaccurate information” on its oil and natural gas royalty reports.

A trio of New York legislators opposed to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) held court over a lengthy public hearing Thursday on rules that would govern the practice, but officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) were not in attendance.

El Paso Natural Gas Co. (EPNG), owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Kinder Morgan Inc., has concluded a binding open season for a maximum of 145,000 Dth/d of available capacity on its South Mainline interstate natural gas transmission system. The approximately 750-mile South Mainline system extends from the Waha Hub in the Permian Basin of West Texas to California and serves markets in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and northern Mexico. El Paso Electric Co., which is not affiliated with with the pipeline or its owners, has contracted with EPNG for an incremental 90,000 Dth/d of hourly firm capacity at maximum recourse rates under a 20-year term. El Paso Electric is currently served by EPNG. The new agreement will accommodate existing and planned additions to local generation by the utility. Expected in-service of the new capacity is Jan. 1, 2014.

The New York Department of Health (DOH) conducted a draft assessment of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in early 2012 and concluded that, with appropriate regulation, the practice could be performed safely in the state, according to reports.

EFL Overseas Inc. (EFLO) has acquired from Nahanni Energy Inc. additional rights and interests in the Liard Basin natural gas field and facilities in the Kotaneelee area of the Yukon Territory, the Houston-based company said.

Encana Corp.’s board of directors has concluded that the producer did not collude with “competitors” on land leasing in Michigan two years ago.

A recent analysis of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) data from fracfocus.org and oil and gas well records from eight states, which concluded that nearly half of the wells fracked during the last nine months of 2011 were not disclosed on the website, doesn’t tell the whole story, according to industry sources. The industry supports the disclosure website and continues to flood it with well data, they said.