Established

Environmental regulators in British Columbia (BC) have approved a request by Pacific Trail Pipelines LP (PTP) for an expansion to the Kitimat to Summit Lake (KSL) Looping Project, a proposed pipeline to transport natural gas from the Horn River Basin in Western Canada to the Pacific coast.

The top geologists in Colorado and Oklahoma, two states with significant shale resources, say researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were hasty in suggesting that injection wells used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling are responsible for an increase in earthquakes in the Midcontinent region.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) say there has been a “remarkable” increase in the number of earthquakes in the Midcontinent region, and believe the seismic activity is more than likely attributable to injection wells that handle wastewater from oil and gas drilling.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said Friday a dozen small earthquakes in northeastern Ohio over the last year may have been triggered by a wastewater disposal well in Youngstown, and it unveiled a series of tough new regulations for injection wells.

With at least two cities having passed ordinances banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) until local rules for it can be established, state legislation has been proposed (SB 88) to reiterate that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has jurisdiction to oversee the practice by oil/gas exploration and production (E&P) companies.

Another link in the national natural gas highway was established recently when Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. opened a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling station in Seville, OH. The public station will support an expanding fleet of LNG trucks by Dillon Transport, a major contract freight carrier serving Owens Corning. The station is on property owned by Pilot Flying J Truck Travel Centers, a partner with Clean Energy in establishing the natural gas network for long-haul truck operators (see Daily GPI, Aug. 25, 2011). The Ohio LNG station received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the federal stimulus program under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The station will support Dillon-operated trucks delivering raw materials to Owens Corning production plants that produce residential and commercial building materials.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was hit with a $16.8 million fine Friday under a program on citations established at the end of last year by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The penalty was assessed for the utility’s admitted failure to conduct natural gas pipeline leak surveys.

A combination of fit-for-purpose technology with solid execution in drilling horizontal wells using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is giving Halliburton Co. confidence that it can deliver on its “frack-of-the-future” strategic initiatives, a company executive said Monday.

It was still cold along the East Coast Wednesday, with some cities in Florida having established date-specific records for low temperatures the day before. But forecasts of widespread warming trends either already getting under way or starting Thursday caused prices to plummet by triple digits at quite a few Northeast trading points. Outside the Northeast, the market was close to evenly divided between small gains and small losses.