Extensive

The appetite for natural gas has extended into areas without extensive pipeline networks through trucking the fuel in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG). It is becoming a growing business, particularly for large industrial businesses.

A Canadian-based exploration/production (E&P) company founded five years ago put a chill on its bullish joint venture aimed at drilling on some of its extensive Monterey Shale acreage in California just as federal leasing policy in the state has been called into question for slowing development.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. last week agreed to allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct extensive tests at one of its drilling sites as part of the ongoing investigation into the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Range Resources Corp. also may allow EPA to work at one of its drilling sites.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conduct extensive tests at one of its drilling sites as part of the federal agency’s ongoing investigation into the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Range Resources Corp. also may allow EPA to work at one of its drilling sites.

“There are no scenarios that I see where anything is going to stop [the United States] from reaping the benefits of unconventional energy resources,” a Houston-based energy attorney said.

A pair of attorneys with extensive knowledge of New York’s regulatory, business and geological climates said the rules proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) won’t hamper development of the state’s shale plays, and they believe permits will be issued soon.

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. in separate filings has asked FERC for permission to create new pooling points on its system and to enhance gas storage service by decoupling injection and withdrawal rights from storage capacity rights.

Bill Barrett Corp.’s Dry Canyon compressor station in the West Tavaputs gas field in the Uinta Basin in northeast Utah suffered extensive fire damage last week and will require “significant repairs” to return to service, the company said.

BP plc last Thursday said it had confirmed the integrity of the deepwater Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as its associated relief wells. The producer said it conducted “an extensive subsea survey” to identify potential sources of a surface sheen near Mississippi Canyon Block 252, which is near the blowout site.