Conduct

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved a Republican amendment that authorizes up to $10 million for the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service to conduct a seismic inventory of oil and natural gas resources in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Florida senators have vowed to do everything in their power to block the proposal on the Senate floor.

New Orleans-based Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL) on Friday said it had retained a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into “possible environmental violations” at its East Bay field in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The East Bay field, located at the mouth of the Mississippi River, is EPL’s largest single holding.

New Orleans-based Energy Partners Ltd. (EPL) on Friday said it had retained a law firm to conduct an independent investigation into “possible environmental violations” at its East Bay field in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The East Bay field, located at the mouth of the Mississippi River, is EPL’s largest single holding.

FERC enforcement authorities last Thursday said they planned to conduct audits of four regulated natural gas companies to determine if they are in compliance with certain agency regulations.

FERC enforcement authorities Thursday said they planned to conduct audits of four regulated natural gas companies to determine if they are in compliance with certain agency regulations.

Chevron Corp. CEO Dave O’Reilly on Tuesday called on the federal government to conduct an updated inventory of key areas in the Outer Continental Shelf, as authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. If the results indicate the potential is there, he said, leasing programs to evaluate the resources should begin.

Florida Gas Transmission said it must excavate its mainline just upstream of Galveston Bay in Texas to conduct a thorough examination. FGT was making preparations for the excavation during Wednesday’s gas day but continued to schedule up to 150,000 MMBtu/d through Station 6; that is half of the station’s normal capacity due to an unscheduled upstream pipe examination that began Tuesday (see Daily GPI, Jan. 9). FGT plans to begin the excavation and thorough examination Thursday, saying the work may take two days. For the gas days of Thursday and Friday, zero gas will be scheduled into the system upstream (west) of Galveston Bay. Volumes will be scheduled as normal downstream (east) of Galveston Bay. NGPL Jefferson is one of the first major interconnects just to the east of Galveston Bay that will be scheduled as normal Thursday and Friday, FGT said. It will resume scheduling normal capacity of up to 300,000 MMBtu/d through Station 6 on those days.

Duke Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) pipeline announced Monday that it will conduct an open season to test shipper interest in an expansion project that would transport natural gas from prolific supply basins in North America to energy-hungry markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

FERC on Thursday granted Mississippi Hub LLC an exemption from Section 7 certificate requirements to conduct certain temporary activities to assess the economic and technical feasibility of developing a natural gas storage facility in southern Mississippi.