Government

Pavillion, WY — where the federal government’s testing of water led to early concerns about the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in nearby natural gas wells — has begun a state-sponsored mitigation program installing cisterns for residents who have been, or potentially could be, impacted by contaminated water. To date, there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other.

For the first time since the federal government has been keeping such statistics, natural gas in April had the same size slice of the national power generation pie as did coal, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last Wednesday.

Canadian junior producer MGM Energy Corp. on Thursday clinched a farm-out agreement in the Mackenzie Valley’s Canol Shale with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Financial terms were not disclosed.

For the first time since the federal government has been keeping such statistics, natural gas had the same share of the national power generation pie as coal in April, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

ATP Oil & Gas Corp. has filed a lawsuit claiming that it lost more than $68 million when the federal government “improperly and illegally” suspended offshore drilling in the wake of the April 2010 Macondo well blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and “unlawfully delayed” permits to the company even after the moratorium was lifted.

The physical gas market overall rose about a penny Thursday as traders scrambled to get deals done before the release of a key government report. Maintenance on a Northeast pipeline prompted double-digit gains at several points in New England. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory build of 67 Bcf, which was significantly less than market expectations, and prices surged. At the close of futures trading July had soared 31.0 cents to $2.495 and August had advanced 30.5 cents to $2.541. July crude oil added $1.29 to $83.91/bbl.

The federal government is kicking in $4.5 million in grant money to support development of technology to crack ethane more cheaply and efficiently. The grant to LyondellBasell is one of 13 announced by the U.S. Department of Energy totaling $54 million that are intended to increase energy efficiency and cut manufacturing costs.

Focusing on the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on Wednesday made a pitch for more rules to cover the handling of wastewater produced in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with the release of a new NRDC report.

Early indications point to natural gas development having a positive impact on state tax collections in counties in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region, according to an analysis by Pennsylvania State University researchers.