Further

An estimated 4,700 gallons of hydrochloric acid (HCL) that were spilled on Wednesday at a Chief Oil & Gas LLC drilling operation in Leroy Township in Bradford County, PA, had been remediated almost entirely by Thursday, officials said.

A recent legal settlement may have cast further uncertainty on a long-standing proposal for the Palomar natural gas pipeline to bring Rockies gas west of the Cascade Mountains into Pacific Northwest population centers.

A recent legal settlement may have cast further uncertainty on a long-standing proposal for the Palomar natural gas pipeline to bring Rockies gas west of the Cascade Mountains into Pacific Northwest population centers. Backers of the scaled-down 220-mile, 36-inch diameter line, say it is still alive but “on hold.” However, without new commercial commitments for the pipeline, at least one of the backers said the project won’t go forward.

A proposal to place a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in California (AB 972) passed out of a state senate committee Tuesday and is headed for further consideration, but the bill faces stiff opposition by industry.

Dealing with an Eagle Ford gas flow that has turned out to be much more liquids-rich than expected, Regency Energy Partners LP announced Monday that it will expand its Edwards Lime gathering joint venture in the South Texas shale play to increase the system’s capacity by 90 MMcf/d to 160 MMcf/d, and provide for additional crude transportation and stabilization capacity of 17,000 b/d.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s largest investor on Monday delivered a stinging letter criticizing the board of directors and management team, and urged an outright sale of the company.

Halcon Resources Corp., run by the former chief of shale powerhouse Petrohawk Energy Corp., and GeoResources Inc. have agreed to merge in a cash-and-stock transaction worth an estimated $1 billion. The combined company would have an onshore portfolio of opportunities across the Midcontinent, with a core area in the Bakken Shale.

A committee appointed by Quebec’s environment minister to study hydraulic fracturing (fracking) said the practice requires further study and recommended against authorizing any test wells that would conduct fracking for research purposes.

Perth, Western Australia-based Golden State Resources has received further verification it could be holding a significant shale gas play in the Golden Eagle field in Grand County in southeast Utah. The economics look good, according to a recent petroleum engineering consultant’s study.