Draft

The West Virginia Legislature is unlikely to draft legislation on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform before the end of the year, according to a state senator with a key role in the process.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has directed staff to draft regulations for natural gas well pad projects in shale formations in the river basin, which would impact Marcellus Shale operations.

The Senate Finance Committee Thursday unveiled an $85 billion draft jobs package that calls for the extension of a number of energy tax breaks that expired at the end of 2009.

The Senate Finance Committee Thursday unveiled an $85 billion draft jobs package that calls for the extension of a number of energy tax breaks that expired at the end of 2009.

FERC staff on Friday issued the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for El Paso Corp.’s proposed Ruby Pipeline Project, which would be capable of transporting up to 1.5 million Dth/d of natural gas about 675 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast.

FERC staff on Friday issued the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for El Paso Corp.’s proposed Ruby Pipeline Project, which would be capable of transporting up to 1.5 million Dth/d of natural gas about 675 miles from the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast.

House Republicans denounced a “discussion” draft of a continuing resolution (CR) that includes an energy bill (HR 6899) passed last week that would allow drilling as close as 50 miles off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

El Paso declared a systemwide Strained Operating Condition (SOC) for a draft condition Tuesday. The imbalance tolerance was initially set at 10%, but El Paso warned that it will reduce the tolerance “if conditions do not sufficiently improve.” A significant increase in system loads was a result of high ambient temperatures in the pipeline’s service area in combination with takes in excess of scheduled quantities resulted in a loss of about 300 MMcf in linepack since noon MCT Monday, El Paso explained, and its Washington Ranch storage facility was at maximum withdrawal rate. Interruptible Storage Service was suspended Tuesday until further notice.

FERC issued a draft order Wednesday granting a certificate for development and operation of the $750 million Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, LA. With a proposed peak sendout of 2.6 Bcf/d of regasified LNG, Cheniere LNG’s Sabine Pass terminal will be the largest of the three proposed and four existing U.S. LNG terminals with FERC certificates.