Grant

The California Energy Commission (CEC) on Wednesday approved a $1 million grant to develop a large size (12-liter) version of a natural gas vehicle (NGV) engine that produces near-zero (NZ) nitrogen oxide tailpipe emissions.

Apache Corp. on Thursday agreed to sell half a million net acres of natural gas- and oil-rich properties in Western Alberta to a privately held Canada producer for $214 million.

Wyoming has hired a new oil/natural gas supervisor, Grant Black, a 30-year geology veteran who will assume his new position May 1. The state has been without a permanent supervisor at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) since long-time incumbent Tom Doll resigned last year after a run-in with Gov. Matt Mead (see Shale Daily, June 18, 2012). Department veteran Bob King has filled in on an interim basis. Once the oil/gas supervisor in Arkansas (1999-2004), Black holds geology degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s share price had fallen more than 4% in afternoon trading Tuesday following news a day earlier to revamp corporate governance and rein in spending and compensation. Among other things, CEO Aubrey McClendon won’t receive a bonus for 2012 and some of his perquisites have been cut.

Several environmental groups and citizens are suing the Village of Painted Post in Steuben County, NY, over a contract to sell some of its water supplies to a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc for its Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in Tioga County, PA.

The city of Corpus Christi, TX, is appealing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to grant it the right to decide whether to sell water to oil and gas producers for hydraulic fracturing and other purposes in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas. One company has approached the city to buy water for industrial purposes, according to Corpus Christi Water Director Gus Gonzalez, as reported by the city’s Caller-Times newspaper. If the TCEQ agrees, the city would be allowed to divert surface water from the Choke Canyon reservoir for mining activities. “If [city] council approves any contract water sales, then all revenues generated will be deposited to the water fund and used to either reduce rates or fund future water supplies,” according to a city document related to the matter.

Tracking potential impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling activity on water quality will be the focus of a $750,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation, according to Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), which is to lead the collaboration.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last Thursday said the agency plans to grant the derivative market “exemptive relief” — for the second time this year — from the sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act.

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Thursday said the agency plans to grant the derivative market “exemptive relief” — for the second time this year — from the sweeping Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act.