Florida

Driven by a sharp increase in natural gas prices, gas for electric generation dropped all over the nation, except in Florida, on a month-over-month basis in February compared to February 2012, according to the latest Electricity Monthly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was released Monday.

Two Democratic senators — Dianne Feinstein of California and Bill Nelson of Florida — introduced legislation Monday that would end federal incentives for oil and natural gas producers to drill in the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said it estimates that five Mesozoic shale basins along the East Coast collectively hold a mean of nearly 3.9 Tcf in undiscovered natural gas and 135 million bbl of undiscovered natural gas liquids (NGLs), according to an abstract released Wednesday.

The Blackfeet Nation in Montana and Florida-based Ecosphere Technologies said Tuesday they have agreed for Ecosphere to provide water treatment services to oil/gas operators using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on portions of the Native American tribe’s 3,000-square-mile reservation.

Florida Gas Transmission ended Friday an Overage Alert Day that had been in effect for the previous three days.

After warning during the weekend that one might become necessary, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day for Tuesday with a 25% tolerance for negative daily imbalances.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given Florida Gas Transmission the go-ahead to begin service on its Mobile Bay Lateral Extension, allowing it to transport regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a new LNG import terminal in Mississippi. The nine-mile extension would connect the Gulf LNG Clean Energy terminal facilities in south Pascagoula, AL, with the existing Mobile Bay Lateral in Mobile County, AL. The extension facilities would clear the way for the delivery of 342,610 MMBtu/d of regasified LNG from the LNG plant to the gas-hungry market in the Sunshine State. The 1.3 Bcf/d LNG terminal began the decommissioning process in June and is expected to be officially up and running in October. The terminal is owned by partners El Paso Corp. (50%), Crest Group (30%) and Angolan national oil company Sonangol (20%).

A Range Resources Corp. unit has signed on as an anchor customer for a new private pipeline system that would supply fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the Marcellus Shale in north-central Pennsylvania.

Florida Gas Transmission ended its latest Overage Alert Day Tuesday after it had been in effect Saturday through Monday.