Doing

Colorado regulators and exploration and production companies (E&P) are working together to advance a new groundwater monitoring program that would monitor data at existing drilling sites and drinking water wells in one of the most heavily drilled areas of the state, Weld County.

Energy development and conservation/environmental mitigation can work together and are doing so in Wyoming, the nation’s most resource-intense state, Gov. Matt Mead told a symposium in Cheyenne Monday. Resource development does not have to mean “ruin,” Mead said.

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.

Two separate polls conducted by Quinnipiac University show voters in New York and Ohio have very different opinions of shale gas development, with almost two-thirds of Ohioans saying the economic benefits outweigh any environmental concerns, while nearly half of New Yorkers opposed to drilling.

FERC on Friday gave Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) the go-ahead on rehearing to construct and place into service by Nov. 1 its Northeast Upgrade Project. In doing so it shot down a now-familiar argument from the Sierra Club about infrastructure to serve shale gas production, and it saved TGP from having to get Congressional permission for a river crossing.

FERC on Friday gave Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) the go-ahead on rehearing to construct and place into service by Nov. 1 its Northeast Upgrade Project. In doing so it shot down a now-familiar argument from the Sierra Club about infrastructure to serve shale gas production, and it saved TGP from having to get Congressional permission for a river crossing.

Forest Oil Corp. has agreed to sell all of its South Texas properties — excluding those in the Eagle Ford Shale — for proceeds of $325 million after tax as part of its ongoing deleveraging plan, the company said Thursday.

An official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said a progress report on its study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on drinking water should be issued before the end of the year, and the final report published in 2014.

The Utica Shale may be “the best treasure of American energy,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon said Thursday.