Flared

Opposition to hydraulic fracturing flared up in Ohio this week as about 100 protestors stormed an office and a water handling facility in one Ohio town, while an oil and gas service company threatened to take its business elsewhere if another town set itself up in opposition to drilling.

A proposal to cut down on flared associated natural gas supplies in the Bakken was rejected by the North Dakota Senate Wednesday on a 34-13 vote. The measure (SB 2315) by Sen. Tim Mathern would have eliminated any hardship exemptions to the state’s ban after a year. Viewed as one of the toughest proposals to combat flaring yet, SB 2315 was strongly opposed by the industry, led by the North Dakota Petroleum Council (see Shale Daily, Feb. 12). State officials increasingly have worried about flaring, which has stayed above 30%, but below a September 2011 record of 36%. Senators opposing the measure urged patience in letting the industry address the problem. Even with the ability to flare gas for a year without paying taxes or royalties, and beyond that to seek hardship status for extending the practice, some operators are trying to find uses for the gas, including using it to produce electricity to run hydraulic fracturing equipment, and to produce fertilizer (see Shale Daily, Dec. 26, 2012).

The North Dakota Industrial Commission on Monday delayed for further study a decision on a $1.1 million state grant for a pilot project to turn flared natural gas in the Bakken Shale into fertilizer for the state’s farming industry. The three-member commission of elected officials, including the governor, wants more study of the project’s feasibility.

Tempers flared last Tuesday at a meeting in the rural Louisiana town of Pierre Part as the slurry churned in an Assumption Parish swamp, but state regulators assured citizens that there’s no danger of a natural gas or any other kind of explosion.

Tempers flared Tuesday evening at a meeting in the rural Louisiana town of Pierre Part as the slurry churned in an Assumption Parish swamp, but everyone in attendance was told there was no danger of a natural gas or any other kind of explosion.

Williams said Tuesday it had reduced the pressure in its leaking storage cavern in Eminence, MS, to allow gas to be flared rather than vented into the atmosphere. The facility serves Williams’ Transco pipeline.

Coalbed methane used to be a deadly threat to coal miners. In the 1950s and 1960s natural gas was routinely flared as an unwanted by-product of oil production. Gas from shales and tight sands, once spurned as too difficult to produce, is now the future for many domestic producers. And methane hydrates lie beneath the world’s oceans waiting for technology to free them while liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers ply the waves above.

Coalbed methane used to be a deadly threat to coal miners. In the 1950s and 1960s natural gas was routinely flared as an unwanted by-product of oil production. Gas from shales and tight sands, once spurned as too difficult to produce, is now the future for many domestic producers. And natural gas hydrates lie beneath the world’s oceans waiting for technology to free them while liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers ply the waves above.

A battle for a grip on the growing gas market in the Florida Panhandle has flared up, involving a trio of gas pipeline companies, two of which are planning new offshore routes to the state from producing platforms near Mobile Bay, AL.