Enough

A 73-car train crashed and exploded Saturday in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, igniting its cargo of crude oil — possibly from North Dakota — killing as many as 40 people and forcing the evacuation of nearly 2,000 others.

Some time ago, the North American shale gas surprise gathered enough momentum to turn liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers bound for the United States around, sparking a frenzy to construct liquefaction and export capacity on U.S. and Canadian shores. A “big flood” of LNG is on its way in the next several years, an industry veteran told NGI.

Some time ago, the North American shale gas surprise gathered enough momentum to turn liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers bound for the United States around, sparking a frenzy to construct liquefaction and export capacity on U.S. and Canadian shores. A “big flood” of LNG is on its way in the next several years, an industry veteran told NGI.

For North America’s trucking and municipal bus fleets, it seems that they just can’t get enough compressed natural gas (CNG).

Onshore drilling activity in the United States and Canada has begun to pick up, with excess pressure pumping capacity “being absorbed ever so slowly,” the top financial officer for Baker Hughes Inc. said this week.

Oil and natural gas producers still are poring over the 171-page draft rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities on public lands, and while proponents and opponents agree that some concessions were made by the agency in the latest rule to avoid duplication of state and tribal fracking requirements, they say BLM could have gone further.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has received enough binding commitments to enable its Mariner South Pipeline project to proceed. Mariner South will transport export-grade propane and butane from Lone Star NGL LLC’s storage and fractionation complex in Mont Belvieu, TX, to Sunoco Logistics’ terminal in Nederland, TX. A binding open season continues to solicit additional business (see Shale Daily, March 22). In addition to propane and butane, the pipeline will be available for other natural gas liquids and petroleum products depending on shipper interest, Sunoco Logistics said. It is expected to have initial capacity of 200,000 b/d with the potential for expansion. Operation is expected during the first quarter of 2015.

ConocoPhillips is on track for a “new era of development” in the United States, fueled by a growing list of discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a solid portfolio in some onshore unconventional plays, the exploration and production (E&P) chief said Thursday.

A long list of legislation that targeted the natural gas industry in West Virginia failed to receive enough support from lawmakers before they adjourned last Saturday. However, the House of Delegates enacted a series of resolutions, perhaps offering a glimpse of things to come.