Halted

Bowing to local Native American concerns, Denver-based Anschutz Exploration Corp. halted its environmental assessment of possible oil/gas drilling in the Red Blanket Butte area northwest of Browning, MT, in the face of possibly disturbing cultural resources associated with the Blackfeet Tribe.

Signs in the natural gas patch that drilling will be slowed or halted in some basins, and reports of decreased pipeline volumes flowing east are being watched out West, but California energy officials for are not concerned about shortages and price spikes on the horizon. Analysts at the California Energy Commission (CEC) said they are not ready to alter any of their forecasts for 2012.

While most of the agency’s activities have focused on resuming pre-existing oil and gas drilling activities that were halted by the Deepwater Horizon rig tragedy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) on Monday approved the first new deepwater exploration plan — for Shell Offshore Inc. — since the rig explosion and resulting oil spill.

Coalbed methane (CBM) drilling operations in the Fortification Creek area of the Powder River Basin west of Gillette, WY, have been halted to allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) time to review how natural gas development may impact a prized elk herd inhabiting the region. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Williams both are working on CBM projects in the area.

Coalbed methane (CBM) drilling operations in the Fortification Creek area of the Powder River Basin west of Gillette, WY, have been halted to allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) time to review how natural gas development may impact a prized elk herd inhabiting the region. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Williams both are working on CBM projects in the area.

After recording consecutive new lows on Wednesday and Thursday, the December natural gas futures contract on Friday halted the streak and pushed higher. The prompt-month contract — which terminates on Tuesday — recorded a high of $4.442 before closing Friday’s regular session at $4.424, up 8.2 cents from Thursday’s finish and 3.2 cents north of the previous week’s close.

Gulf South Pipeline Co. LP, a subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, has launched a binding open season to solicit interest in expanding its East Texas-to-Mississippi 42-inch diameter pipeline. The expansion would provide for increased natural gas production from East Texas and the emerging Haynesville Shale of northwestern Louisiana. If it obtains enough commitments in the open season, Gulf South would expand its existing system by 500,000 MMBtu/d with compression subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval. Gulf South said that based on commitments, it also may pursue “further expansions of its capacity beyond the initial expansion” of 500,000 MMBtu/d. The East Texas-to-Mississippi expansion project was placed in service early this year (see NGI, Jan. 21). Bids for capacity will be accepted until 3 p.m. CDT on Oct. 6. For more information contact Rick Whitworth at (713) 479-8644 or Steve Noe at (713) 479-8126, or visit www.gulfsouthpl.com.

AGL Resources’ Golden Triangle Storage Inc. (GTS) subsidiary has notified FERC that it has halted construction at its storage site due to noncompliance with the agency’s conditions in its certificate order. The company said it has taken corrective actions and has asked FERC’s Office of Energy Projects (OEP) for permission to resume construction in limited areas — the brine line and disposal sites areas.

FERC staff has given AGL Resources’ Golden Triangle Storage Inc. (GTS) the green light to resume construction at its East Texas storage project, which was halted earlier this month when the company discovered and self-reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) incidents of potential noncompliance with the conditions in its certificate order (see Daily GPI, July 9). GTS reported it quickly implemented several corrective measures to prevent the recurrence of future noncompliance incidents.