Demonstrated

Williams, which has been expanding its onshore presence in the Marcellus and Utica shales, late Tuesday snagged a deal to significantly expand its onshore footprint in a $2.4 billion transaction to acquire half of the natural gas pipeline system once owned by Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Total SA wants to cook up some new deals in the U.S. shale patch, either through more joint ventures (JV) or on its own, a top executive said Wednesday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday issued certificates for National Fuel Gas Supply Corp.’s Northern Access Project and Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 230C Project, both of which would clear the path for the delivery of more Marcellus shale gas north into Canada.

The cloud of confusion surrounding the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) recent estimate of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) contained in the Marcellus Shale — and the apparent differences between the USGS assessment and previous estimates — cleared somewhat Friday as the agency clarified its methodology.

Following last Friday’s Earth Day commemorations, two sectors of the federal government demonstrated that a combination of state and federal policy efforts are needed for renewables to make the large-scale breakthrough that their backers envision.

In a move that he said clearly demonstrated that Virginia supports oil and natural gas exploration, development and production 50 miles or more off its coast, Gov. Bob McDonnell last week signed legislation allocating future offshore royalties and revenues to transportation and the Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium, which researches and develops renewable energy solutions.

The market demonstrated once again Thursday that widespread severe cold is not necessarily a gas price booster. Prices dropped at nearly all points as two prior days of major futures weakness took their toll on the cash market. Increased use of storage was still believed to be supplanting potential new purchases of spot gas, and while frigid weather will last into the weekend in northern market areas, it would be less cold than before in many sections.

A climate change activist group in the Pacific Northwest Monday demonstrated against Northwest Natural Gas Co. for its support of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility and related pipeline as an offshoot of wider demonstrations in Portland, OR.

The experience of existing U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities during the recent Gulf of Mexico hurricanes has supported the designs for new terminals and demonstrated that onsite power generation is probably the single most important added consideration for the new projects, according to Sempra Energy COO Donald Felsinger.