Developing

The Interior Department’s U.S. Geological Survey has been directed to conduct an “independent evaluation” of the “environmental sensitivities in the Arctic” to assist in developing the next five-year (2012-2017) leasing plan for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) .

The Interior Department’s U.S. Geological Survey has been directed to conduct an “independent evaluation” of the “environmental sensitivities in the Arctic” to assist in developing the next five-year (2012-2017) leasing plan for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) .

The news out of the Haynesville Shale and the nearby Bossier Sands keeps getting better for producers there, but to the north production from the developing Marcellus Shale could block the southern gas from traveling north to lucrative markets, some caution.

The news out of the Haynesville Shale and the nearby Bossier Sands keeps getting better for producers there, but to the north production from the developing Marcellus Shale could block the southern gas from traveling north to lucrative markets, some caution.

The news out of the Haynesville Shale and the nearby Bossier Sands keeps getting better for producers there, but to the north production from the developing Marcellus Shale could block the southern gas from traveling north to lucrative markets, some caution.

Apache Corp. is off to “fast start” in 2010 with eight consecutive successful wells in the Gulf of Mexico and plans in place to begin developing some of its big prospects onshore in North America, CEO G. Steven Farris said Thursday.

El Paso Natural Gas Co. said there was no evidence of corrosion, weld defects, prior gas leakage or slow-developing cracks in the “branch” or “tap” connection of a pipeline that ruptured and exploded Nov. 5 in Bushland, TX. “Instead, we learned the rupture was the result of an upward force on the branch connection that put pressure on a small area on the carrier pipe that contained a ‘lamination.’ The force on the lamination caused a fracture to develop in the lamination near the weld of the branch connection to the carrier pipe, resulting in the rupture,” El Paso said. A lamination is a tiny area of separation within a pipe wall where the metal has not properly bonded to itself, and the lamination feature was not a defect under the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the company said. Stress Engineering Services Inc. conducted the metallurgical analysis; “We don’t know yet what caused the upward force on the branch connection,” El Paso said. Information about the investigation is at www.elpaso.com/bushlandinfo.

An affiliate of Hess LNG recently acquired BP’s 100% ownership interest in Crown Landing LLC, which was developing the Crown Landing LNG terminal on the Delaware River in Gloucester County, NJ. Hess LNG sees the site as a strategic location for an LNG facility, which could be completed about seven years from now, the company said last week.

An affiliate of Hess LNG late last week acquired BP’s 100% ownership interest in Crown Landing LLC, which was developing the Crown Landing LNG terminal on the Delaware River in Gloucester County, NJ. Hess LNG sees the site as a strategic location for an LNG facility, which could be completed about seven years from now, the company said Tuesday.