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The North Carolina Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and begin the process of creating a regulatory framework for the practice.

A bill that would legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in North Carolina and lay the groundwork for its regulation tentatively was scheduled for a second reading Wednesday in the state Senate, one day after clearing a key legislative committee.

Gas pipeline safety laws continue to swirl around in the current session of the California state legislature, with several bills still active, although at least a couple of proposals were declared dead in committee earlier in May. A new bill (AB 478) in the lower house Assembly was introduced Tuesday to redirect fines paid by natural gas utilities to help pay for pipeline upgrades mandated in the wake of the San Bruno, CA, pipeline rupture and explosion nearly two years ago.

A “golden age” is on the horizon for natural gas across the globe, but only if the world’s unconventional resources, including shale, tight gas and coalbed methane, are developed profitably and in an environmentally acceptable manner, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a sweeping report on Tuesday.

Even if all drilling rigs were removed from the northern Marcellus Shale region and current drilling ceased, dry gas production in northeastern Pennsylvania would continue growing for 16 months, thanks to a large inventory of nonproducing wells and high initial production (IP) rates, Bentek Energy LLC said in a market note. “In fact, if zero rigs were operating there, production could still grow from approximately 4.1 Bcf/d today to 5.4 Bcf/d by September 2013, a 31% increase that results exclusively from working off the existing backlog of 1,000 nonproducing wells in the region,” the firm said. The assumptions in its analysis are that the 12-month average completion rate is carried forward and the average IP rate in the area is 6,500 Mcf/d. A “typical” Marcellus decline curve is also assumed. Potential pipeline capacity constraints were not included in the analysis.

Jesus Soto Jr., the current vice president for operations services at El Paso Corps.’ pipeline group, will become Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) senior vice president for gas transmission, operations, engineering and pipeline integrity beginning May 29. At El Paso, Soto deals with providing technical services and support to pipeline field operations covering measurement, compression, reserve/pipeline systems, federal Department of Transportation compliance and risk management. Soto previously worked for ANR Pipeline, Colorado Interstate Gas, Southern Natural Gas and Tennessee Gas Pipeline for onshore and offshore facilities. He holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Texas-El Paso and a master’s in engineering from Texas A&M.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has been downgraded again by Fitch Ratings, and on Monday two proxy services recommended against reelecting two directors at the annual meeting in June.

Higher natural gas prices, even three or four times above current low levels, won’t harm the switch of fleets to compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural Gas (LNG) for transportation, according to a supplier of natural gas for transportation.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP said it will expand the natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator complex at its Sweeny Plant in Old Ocean, TX. Construction is to begin in April for completion in February. The expansion will increase capacity by about 22,000 b/d, or 19%. “One of the main drivers for the project is the rapid development of natural gas, crude oil and NGLs from the shale formations in the region,” said Martin Dale, feedstock procurement manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical. “This expansion positions Chevron Phillips Chemical to take additional raw NGL product from the Eagle Ford and Permian basins and ultimately convert the NGLs into products for consumer and commercial use.” The fractionation unit at Sweeny was built in the 1960s and is composed of two trains with current capacity of 116,000 b/d.