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The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) has retained a contractor and begun a long-delayed effort to plug abandoned oil and natural gas wells.

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas received 43 bids from companies and investors interested in obtaining state leases during its latest Cook Inlet and Alaska Peninsula oil and gas lease sales. Winning bidders have 10 years to explore and potentially develop the leased acreage. The division received 40 bids from eight bidders on 35 tracts encompassing 114,203 acres in the Cook Inlet sale area. It received three bids from two bidders on three tracts encompassing 10,280 acres in the Alaska Peninsula sale area. Winning bonus bids totaled $5.35 million for the Cook Inlet sale and $51,400 for the Alaska Peninsula sale. “This year’s lease sale results show continued optimism among investors about the hydrocarbon resource potential of these two regions, and that state-owned acreage is considered highly prospective for oil and gas development,” said Division of Oil and Gas Director Bill Barron. “The sale results also demonstrate continued growth in the market potential for Cook Inlet oil and gas.”

The Ohio House of Representatives late Wednesday afternoon voted 55-35 in favor of a bill that would levy a 2.5% severance tax on oil and natural gas produced from horizontal wells.

There should be enough power to go around this summer across the various regions of the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC). But Texas could be squeezed if peak demand hits sooner than anticipated new generating capacity comes online. Also, as natural gas accounts for a larger portion of generating capacity across power grids, systems are having to adjust, NERC said Wednesday.

The seemingly intractable knot in natural gas-power coordination will only get tighter as the country increasingly relies on gas to produce its electricity. Despite government efforts to build consensus between the two giant industries, it appears they are not even close to a solution.

A major drought, loss of a major nuclear power plant, and increased reliance on intermittent renewable power shouldn’t phase California’s grid this summer, according to a new report. Gas-fired power can step in, but with some caveats.

With support from the governor’s office, Wyoming oil/natural gas stakeholders on Monday introduced a strategy for using liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the state to replace diesel fuel in many applications within the oil/gas industry.

Mark Watson, interim head of theWyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), has been named the new commission chief. Gov. Matt Mead and the other four members voted unanimously for Watson, who has been heading the agency since Grant Black resigned (see Daily GPI,April 1). Watson is a petroleum engineer who graduated from the University of Wyoming. The OGCC also established a deputy supervisor position.

Amelia Resources LLC is hosting a data room through Monday (May 19) to market 138,000 net acres in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS). “Recent results have created a lot of interest in the TMS play [see Shale Daily,May 12;May 8;April 29;April 14],” said Amelia President Kirk Barrell. “Drill times have greatly improved along with a decrease in associated costs.” The parcel being sold is “the only remaining large aggregate block of acreage in the play. We believe that the repeatability and economics of this play will be extremely competitive with other U.S. oil plays.” Barrell said, “The initial potentials, production volumes, and decline curves indicate large recoverable reserves in the range of 400-900 million boe. The play economics, consistency of the reservoir, and resulting reserves will make this a very competitive play for years to come.”