Determining

The UK’s leading energy retailer, Centrica, is taking a bet that shale gas resources in the country’s Bowland Basin are the real deal after making a hefty commitment in explorer Cuadrilla Resources Ltd.

As oil and gas companies continue to ponder the best strategy for unlocking natural resources in the Utica Shale — and industry analysts continue to debate the merits of doing so — data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) indicate that the state has passed an important milestone: 100 horizontal wells online and in production.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) for its Northeast Upgrade Project after determining that it is in the public interest and would not adversely affect the environment. An environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project is not necessary, in part because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its approval in May 2012 (see NGI, June 4, 2012). The Northeast Upgrade Project calls for expanding TGP’s existing 24-inch diameter 300 Line by building five, 30-inch diameter pipeline loops and modifying four existing compressor stations. The $400 million project would allow an additional 636,000 Dth/d of natural gas to be transported via the 300 Line to markets in the Northeast. An interconnection with the Algonquin Gas Transmission line also is to be built in Mahwah, NJ.

Determining whether Lower 48 state natural gas onshore production is falling is proving to be a difficult task because of the variable winter, but the aggregate amount of production curtailments from well freeze-offs “point to peak supply losses of as much as 1.8 Bcf/d,” according to Barclays Capital.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has issued a permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) for its Northeast Upgrade Project after determining that it is in the public interest and would not adversely affect the environment.

Operators in Pennsylvania spud fewer Marcellus Shale gas wells last month than the year before, shifted their focus to counties in wetter areas of the play and saw turnover at the top in terms of most wells spud, data from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Tuesday approved draft rules to implement new or amended potential matrices to be guidelines in determining penalties for safety violations of state regulations governing safety of pipelines, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as underground pipeline damage prevention.

Range Resources Corp. said its estimated unproved resource potential at the end of 2010 reached 35-52 Tcfe, versus 2009’s estimate of 24-32 Tcfe, which was fueled by stronger drilling results. By itself, the resource potential in the Marcellus Shale leasehold jumped to 20-31 Tcfe on higher per/well reserves.

Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. and a drilling partner are packing up and moving operations out of two Pennsylvania counties after determining that the first natural gas wells drilled in Luzerne County, PA, “were unlikely to produce natural gas in commercial quantities.”