Discovered

An auditing firm retained by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) said it discovered “serious deficiencies” in Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) natural gas distribution system in 2007 and 2008 that were “pervasive across technical functions and geographic locations.”

The shale gas and oil revolution has created a 20-year opportunity for technology and sustainable economic development, but to realize its full potential, the people who think about energy will have to adopt a new mindset, Deloitte’s Joseph Stanislaw said in a new whitepaper, in which he argues that shale resources should be a bridge to a lower-carbon future.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was put in the hot seat Friday as House lawmakers took the agency to task for its flawed reports on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), most notably the December 2011 report that found groundwater in Pavillion, WY, to be contaminated. That report was later retracted. And before directing any more funds to the EPA for reseach into fracking, the lawmakers demanded that the agency provide Congress with more information on their reseach activities so far.

Researchers have discovered that in the five months following the devastating April 2010 Macondo well blowout, naturally occurring bacteria that exist in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) consumed and removed at least 200,000 tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the deepwater from the ruptured wellhead.

Tight natural gas and shale gas boosted British Columbia’s (BC) reserves numbers to record levels from 2009 to 2010, and more gains are expected as development continues, according to the province’s energy regulator.

A UK-based exploration company whose management team has unconventional exploration experience in the United States claims to have discovered a natural gas shale field near Blackpool, in Lancashire, England, that may rival rock in the United States.

Chief Oil & Gas LLC has paid $180,000 in fines for two violations discovered last year at a well in Somerset County, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Tuesday.

The Canadian subsidiary of Apache Corp. has dropped out of a joint venture (JV) with Corridor Resources because it said poor results from two natural gas test wells in New Brunswick’s emerging Frederick Brook Shale did not justify spending more.

Investigators have discovered a “break” in UGI Corp.’s underground natural gas pipeline that is the “likely source” of the gas involved in the explosion earlier this month in Allentown, PA, which killed five people.