Continental

States should have the authority to decide the level of activity on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a group of Republican governors said this week at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) have signed an interagency memorandum of understanding (MOU) to begin researching the effects of human exposure to airborne emissions from shale gas drilling sites.

Most of the continental United States and northern Alaska will average warmer than normal this spring, while below-normal temperatures are expected for the Pacific Northwest and extreme northern Great Plains, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Spring promises little drought relief for Texas, the Southwest, the Great Plains or Florida, NOAA said. The temperature predictions dovetailed generally with a forecast issued recently by Andover, MA-based Weather Services International, which foresaw a spring warmer than usual in most of the eastern and central United States, but colder-than-normal temperatures are expected to dominate further west (see Daily GPI, Feb. 28).

Energy XXI Ltd. has a deal with Apache Corp. to explore some salt dome structures on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

This year will be a busy one for oil and gas operators in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in terms of new regulations, said an official for a group representing the offshore industries.

This year will be a busy one for oil and gas operators in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in terms of new regulations, said an official for a group representing the offshore industries.

Enbridge Inc. unit Enbridge Rail (Philadelphia) LLC and Canopy Prospecting Inc. have formed the Eddystone Rail Co. to develop a unit-train facility and related pipeline infrastructure near Philadelphia, PA, to deliver Bakken and other light sweet crude oil to Philadelphia area refineries.

Officials with Whiting Petroleum Corp. said the company is poised to meet its production guidance for the year, with increased drilling in emerging shale plays and a slight increase in capital expenditures (capex).

House and Senate Republicans last week stepped up efforts to pass legislation proposing more lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) during 2012-2017, but the action may turn out to be more show, given that the odds of legislation being voted out by both houses of Congress this session are slim.