Heavy

Pennsylvania researchers have corrected a recent study that suggested increased bromide levels in private water wells after drilling or hydraulic fracturing occurred nearby.

The race to break through the Midcontinent bottleneck and flow expanding supplies of crude oil, bolstered by shale production to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and world markets moved up by about 300,000 b/d with separate announcements Wednesday of plans to reverse the flow of the Seaway crude oil pipeline, and a possible go-ahead for the Cushing to the GOM southern section of the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline.

November natural gas rose on heavy volume Thursday in spite of an inventory report that indicated increases not only greater than historical norms but also higher than what analysts expected.

A stretch of heavy rainfall across Pennsylvania helped ease water levels in the Susquehanna River Basin, but the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) on Monday morning was still restricting withdrawals on 28 state waterways.

Prices continued to drop by generally small amounts at nearly all points Thursday despite cooling load remaining heavy in some areas. A few cooling trends and the previous day’s downturn of 6.5 cents by prompt-month futures were primary components of the cash market softness.

It wasn’t the overload of Marcellus Shale supplies, but poor planning by Columbia Gas Transmission LLC that “may have created or contributed” to the storage constraints on its system in northern Ohio, Indicated Shippers said in a protest to the pipeline request for a tariff increase.

California’s 2007-2009 drought, one of the severest in its history, carried a heavy impact on the state’s energy markets both from an economic and environmental perspective, according to a report released by the Pacific Institute. Natural gas played a central role, the Oakland, CA-based nonprofit said.

Heavy rainfall in the West is producing potential record hydroelectric supplies that are impacting natural gas-fired power plant operations in California, according to senior officials at Houston-based Calpine Corp.

El Paso Corp. has decided to go it alone in developing its profitable Eagle Ford Shale acreage and has scuttled plans to take on a joint venture (JV) partner.