Greater

As the federal government and industry players pay more attention to the issue, cyber security problems lurk for the oil and natural gas industry, and greater levels of risk assessment and a “new way of thinking” about information security are needed, according to a global survey released Monday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Enbridge Inc. has committed up to $600 million to expand Enbridge Gas Distribution’s (EGD) system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) during 2014 and 2015, pending approval of the Ontario Energy Board. “Over the last 20 years, Enbridge Gas Distribution has almost doubled its total number of customers across Ontario from 1.1 million in 1992 to 2 million in 2012,” said President Guy Jarvis. “We’re well positioned to benefit from continued strong population growth in the GTA…” The proposed project would consist of two segments of pipeline and related facilities to upgrade the distribution system that delivers gas to Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has reduced its natural gas-operated rig count in the Marcellus Shale and in the Greater Natural Buttes of Utah to put more mechanical muscle into the oily Wattenberg field of Colorado, which is delivering the highest rates of return (ROR) in the U.S. onshore portfolio, said CEO Al Walker.

Plans by McMoRan Exploration to drill a 30,000-foot well in South Louisiana could herald a new era of drilling at depths greater than 22,000 feet in the state, said Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle.

The natural gas industry, from production fields to distribution utilities, is beginning to ramp up efforts to smooth the road to greater use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, according to Encana Corp. Vice President David Hill. He talked to NGI Tuesday at the opening of the Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Long Beach, CA.

Oil and natural gas operators appear to be on the wrong end of a turf war with the coal industry along the length of eastern Ohio, losing “significant” amounts of acreage in coal-bearing townships that also intersect with the state’s portions of the Marcellus and Utica shales.

At a summit in Washington, DC, Monday, President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico pledged to promote greater energy cooperation among the countries.

The natural gas and oil industry created 9% of the new jobs in the United States last year, and the indirect impact of the energy sector on economic recovery “is far greater than its direct effects suggest,” according to a report issued last week by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at IHS CERAWeek 2012 in Houston.

The natural gas and oil industry created 9% of the new jobs in the United States last year, and the indirect impact of the energy sector on economic recovery “is far greater than its direct effects suggest,” according to a report issued Wednesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) at IHS CERAWeek 2012 in Houston.