Enhanced

U.S. financial markets “took a step closer today to enhanced transparency,” Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said Thursday after the Commission voted out final rules covering the vast swap transactions market.

Dover, OH-based Dennison Disposal LLC has applied for a permit to drill a Class II wastewater injection well in Union Township in Tuscarawas County, OH, to support oil and natural gas drilling in the Utica Shale. The well would be drilled to a depth of 7,900-9,000 feet, according to the permit application with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) The well, classified as a saltwater injection well, would have an average disposal capacity of 5,000 barrels a day of wastewater, and a maximum disposal capacity of 8,000 barrels a day. An ODNR spokesman said a public comment period on the proposed well is to end April 24. Last July, Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order temporarily giving the ODNR power to regulate injection wells (see Shale Daily, July 13, 2012). Specifically, the chief of the Division of Oil Gas Resources Management, currently Rick Simmers, has the authority to enact rules for injection wells, including requiring additional testing before drilling and possibly setting a maximum allowable injection pressure. The ODNR currently has an inventory of 151,000 Class II injection wells, including saltwater injection, enhanced oil recovery and annular disposal wells.

As its first major decision following the San Bruno pipeline failure two years ago, California regulators on Thursday approved a three-year pipeline enhanced safety plan for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) but denied utility ratepayer support for most of the cost of the utility proposal.

California regulators last week approved a three-year natural gas pipeline enhanced safety plan for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), but they denied ratepayer support for most of the cost of the utility’s proposal. Separately, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) adopted new protections for safety-related whistleblowers as directed by a new state law (AB 705).

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has launched an enhanced natural gas safety technology available to the industry that it said would validate the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) for safe gas operations. The MAOP Validation Calculator is the result of a four-year license agreement between PG&E and Coler & Colantonio Inc., a privately owned firm that specializes in, among other things, pipeline software and services. The technology is incorporated into a geospacial information system, or GIS, and the software performs calculations to validate the MAOP for each pipeline component. The calculator output allows for standardized report generation and the engineering analysis of MAOP validation issues.

Oil prices above $75/bbl and increased need for carbon capture programs are quietly converging as a possible long-term boost for the increased use of enhanced oil recovery (EOR), according to industry sources working to drive commercial-scale projects with the help of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and selected state initiatives.

An affiliate of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on Tuesday took on Linn Energy LLC as a partner in an enhanced oil recovery project on the 22,000-acre Salt Creek Field of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. is investing $2.9 billion to acquire a 40% stake in Encana Corp.’s Cutbank Ridge leasehold in British Columbia, the companies said Friday. The deal is set to close this month.

UK-based Weir Group plc this week struck a $176 million deal to acquire Dallas-based Novatech LLC, its second oilfield services purchase in two months. The transaction would give Weir an even bigger footprint in North America’s onshore.