George

An affiliate of The Blackstone Group and Alta Resources LLC, whose partners include industry icon George P. Mitchell, said last week their newly formed Alta Energy Partners will invest up to $1 billion in North America’s unconventional natural gas and oil properties.

An affiliate of The Blackstone Group and Alta Resources LLC, whose partners include industry icon George P. Mitchell, said Tuesday their newly formed Alta Energy Partners will invest up to $1 billion in unconventional natural gas and oil properties in North America.

The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday approved Rep. George Miller’s (D-CA) amendment to bar new offshore oil and gas drilling permits to BP plc or any other company with a “significant” history of violating worker safety or environmental law.

George P. Mitchell, founder of Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. and one of the pioneers of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) and drilling technologies in natural gas shale, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute. A petroleum engineer with geology training from Texas A&M University, Mitchell was one of the first to believe natural gas could be extracted from shale. Not wanting his oil wells to go to waste in the event of flow shortages, Mitchell employees drilled into the little-explored Barnett Shale in North Texas beginning in the 1990s and tested hydrofracing techniques on more than 30 wells, with some wells’ production barely even covering the cost of operation. Devon Energy Corp. acquired the company in 2002 and subsequently revolutionized the unconventional shale gas play (see Daily GPI, Jan. 25, 2002; Aug. 15, 2001). “I’m truly honored to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gas Technology Institute,” said Mitchell. “I believe that the United States should examine all forms of natural gas in order to ease our dependence on coal and foreign oil. It is my hope that my efforts will aid the search for new and unconventional energy sources that can be used by my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production from the prolific Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming hit a new record in 2009, fueled by the output from the Big George coal seam, the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) reported.

Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production from the prolific Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming hit a new record in 2009, fueled by the output from the Big George coal seam, the Wyoming State Geological Survey (WSGS) reported.

As offshore interests continued resuming normal operations in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Wednesday following the passage of Tropical Storm Edouard, the cash market reflected the neutral guidance of a flat screen the day before. Mixed price movement was mostly close to flat, with gains outnumbering losses.

Using photo-ops in the Big Apple as a backdrop, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his New York counterpart, Gov. George Pataki announced Monday their states will work to link California’s future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credit market to a similar upcoming market in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states. Earlier in the day, Schwarzenegger rolled out an executive order in his state to implement new global warming laws. He’ll sign the order Tuesday upon his return.

A bipartisan coalition led by Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA), Reps. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Greg Walden (R-OR) and George Radanovich (R-CA) announced the introduction of legislation to reform the 32-year old endangered species law which critics claim has failed to actually protect endangered species while imposing burdensome regulations on land use.