Enough

Blazing heat and a comparatively robust economy have driven up power demand in the Lone Star State enough to move the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to contract for power from four mothballed gas-fired generating units.

Natural gas production in West Virginia is continuing on an upward swing dating back to 2003, thanks in part to development in the Marcellus Shale, a report released this month by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said.

Ohio officials say the percentage of wastewater originating from out-of-state natural gas wells has increased 10% and predicts that it will continue to climb in the coming years.

Despite a mini-heat wave in the Midwest proving to be short-lived, the cash market found enough support from the previous day’s futures spike and remaining high temperatures in much of the East to realize further gains at nearly all points Friday.

Once the spin-off of El Paso Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) business is completed, the yet-to-be-named independent producer will be formidable competition in some of the prolific unconventional natural gas and oil plays in the United States, CEO Doug Foshee said.

Natural gas experts say they believe the Marcellus Shale play can be developed in a way that benefits both industry and area residents, but they voiced concern about possible federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that they said could be based on situations unique to Marcellus.

In the early days of Barnett Shale drilling in North Texas it would have been nice to have better communication among area residents, municipal governments, regulators and energy companies, Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner David Porter told NGI’s Shale Daily. To make that happen in the fast-emerging Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, Porter would like to see a task force focused on the play.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s shift to balance its natural gas-weighted portfolio required a lot of spending last year — an estimated $4.7 billion — to acquire liquids-rich property, but the risky outlay already is proving its worth, CEO Aubrey McClendon said this week.

Texas Senate lawmakers Monday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would abolish the three-member Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and replace it with the one-member Texas Oil and Gas Commission. The bill is headed for the House Energy Resources Committee, where a three-member commission is favored by Chairman Jim Keffer (R-Eastland).