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A cooler-than-normal July for much of the United States led to decreased levels of demand for natural gas and coal to fuel power plants in a trend that is expected to continue for the rest of the summer, according to data collected by Genscape Inc.

A call to action was sounded last Tuesday at the Rocky Mountain Energy Summit for U.S. oil and natural gas operators to take what industry pioneers created and continue reinventing for the future — with the public’s backing.

Natural gas traders haven’t been able to figure out where prices consistently are headed, but some things are becoming clearer: output has remained flat for close to a year. And coal generators have a lot of power in determining where gas prices will be, according to an analysis by Stephen Smith Energy Associates.

Colorado’s chief oil and natural gas regulator told executives in Denver last week that adopting a culture in the onshore that goes above and beyond what’s legally required will do more than anything to achieve community acceptance.

The first two months of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season have been relatively quiet, but the peak mid-August through October portion of the season remains on track for above-normal tropical storm activity, according to forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

TheU.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has updated oil and gas storage tank emission standards issued in April 2012 to allow the phase-in of emission control deadlines and to alleviate confusion over implementation. Higher-emitting tanks will be affected by the new requirements first. The rule changes also provide time for operators to acquire and install necessary emissions controls. The changes are in response to stakeholder comments that revealed that more storage tanks will be coming online than EPA had originally thought. Storage tanks that emit six or more tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC) per year must reduce emissions by 95%. Two control deadlines were established by the latest changes. Tanks that come online after April 12, 2013 are likely to have higher emissions and must control VOC emissions within 60 days or by April 15, 2014, whichever is later. Tanks that came online before April 12, 2013 are likely to have lower emissions and must control VOC emissions by April 15, 2015. The updatedstandardsalso establish an alternative emissions limit that would allow owners/operators to remove controls from tanks if they can demonstrate that the tanks emit less than four tons per year of VOC emissions without controls.

In a skirmish between a power generator looking to cover its intermittent service needs and a natural gas pipeline company attempting to switch some underutilized pipe to liquids service, American Electric Power Service Corp. (AEP) has told FERC it has “serious concerns” about a Texas Gas Transmission proposal to abandon portions of its Eunice, LA-to-Hardinsburg, KY, pipeline.

J. Christopher Giancarlo, executive vice president of the brokerage firmGFI Group Inc., has been nominated byPresident Obamato fill an opening on theCommodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC). If confirmed by the Senate, Giancarlo would replaceJill Sommers, who resigned in July (seeNGI,July 8). The term begun by Sommers ends in April 2014. Giancarlo has been with GFI since 2001. Previously, he was the executive vice president atFenics Ltd., a partner withBrown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steinerand from 1992-1997, a founding partner withGiancarlo & Gleiberman. A former chairman of theWholesale Market Brokers’ Association Americas, Giancarlo received an undergraduate degree from Skidmore College and a juris doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Giancarlo, like Sommers, would serve as a Republican at CFTC. No more than three members of the five-member commission may be from the same political party. The CFTC currently consists of DemocratsBart Chilton,Mark Wetjenand ChairmanGary Gensler, RepublicanScott O’Malia, and the seat vacated by Sommers.

The Rocky Mountain area provided years of solid natural gas growth until an upstart called shale oil came along. Now the massive region is providing both, with operators showing that from a lot, they can produce a lot. Here’s a review of area developments surfacing over the past week in 2Q earnings reports from several operators.