Inadequate

Canada’s First Nations on Wednesday protested across the country — blocking railways, border crossings, and in some places hindered access to oil and natural gas facilities — to protest the federal government’s passage last month of an omnibus budget bill that altered the rules for leasing tribal lands.

A bill to legalize and begin regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed the North Carolina House of Representatives on Thursday. It will return briefly to the state Senate before being sent to Gov. Bev Perdue for her signature.

The North Carolina Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and begin the process of creating a regulatory framework for the practice.

A bill that would legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in North Carolina and lay the groundwork for its regulation tentatively was scheduled for a second reading Wednesday in the state Senate, one day after clearing a key legislative committee.

California’s natural gas outlook contains growing uncertainty fueled by an inadequate pipeline/storage system, declining viability for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, and added U.S.domestic supplies from shale carrying too much carbon-emitting baggage, according to three draft reports developed by the California Energy Commission (CEC) staff that were released last Wednesday.

California’s natural gas outlook contains growing uncertainty fueled by an inadequate pipeline/storage system, declining viability for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, and added U.S.domestic supplies from shale carrying too much carbon-emitting baggage, according to three draft reports developed by the California Energy Commission (CEC) staff that were released Wednesday. They will be part of a CEC workshop next Thursday in Sacramento.

Producers in the Rocky Mountain region could be facing that age-old problem of inadequate pipeline takeaway capacity and widening basis later this year as production continues to grow at a rapid pace, according to Golden, CO-based consulting firm Bentek Energy.

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) announced an interim plan Tuesday to address inadequate winter gas supply preparations by state utility Corning Natural Gas, which serves 14,500 gas customers in a 400-square-mile gas distribution territory in the Finger Lakes area of New York. The PSC reported that KeySpan Corp. has submitted a letter of commitment to ensure that Corning has sufficient flowing gas and gas in storage to serve its customers for the month of December.

Stakeholders are telling the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) that if adequate transmission were in place in the heartland, new developments of both coal-fired and wind-powered generation would occur, but for now there is insufficient transmission to keep up with new generating plants coming online in the region, a top official with MISO said last Wednesday.