Jones

A federal judge is considering whether five separate cases against EQT Corp. and Consol Energy Corp. should proceed as class action lawsuits, a decision that could potentially add thousands of plaintiffs in Southwest Virginia to those who allege that the companies cheated them out of millions in royalty payments.

Enterprise Products Partners LP overcame the effect of lower natural gas processing margins in its pipelines and services segment to deliver record gross operating margin during the first quarter, as well as a 16% increase in profits. Oil-related infrastructure put in a strong showing, particularly in the Eagle Ford Shale

A U.S. flagged oil tanker arrived at the Port of Corpus Christi, TX, on Wednesday to load Eagle Ford Shale crude for transport to other U.S. ports. The Jones Act of 1920 requires that any goods moved by water from one U.S. port to another must be carried by a U.S. flagged ship. The M/V Pennsylvania passed by the Harbor Bridge gateway to the inner harbor Wednesday and docked at the port’s Oil Dock No. 1, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported. It is the U.S. built tanker’s first visit to the Corpus Christi port.

Buddy Garcia has been appointed to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) by Gov. Rick Perry. Garcia’s appointment fills a position vacated by Elizabeth Ames Jones in February (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15). Garcia most recently served on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). He was appointed to TCEQ by Perry in 2007 and served as chairman from September 2007 until September 2009. Prior to his appointment to TCEQ, Garcia was Texas’ deputy secretary of state and border commerce coordinator. He also previously served as a senior adviser to Perry and state Sen. Eddie Lucio. A native of Brownsville, TX, Garcia received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner Barry Smitherman was unanimously elected RRC chairman. He replaces former Chair Elizabeth Ames Jones, who left the commission to devote more time to her campaign for Texas Senate (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15). Her seat on the three-member RRC has yet to be filled. Smitherman was appointed to the RRC in July 2011. Previously he sat on the Public Utility Commission of Texas, where in 2007 he became chairman. Smitherman currently serves as Texas’ representative on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, as vice chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ gas committee. He is on the visiting committee of the Bureau of Economic Geology with the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas School of Law Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, and the Eanes Education Foundation advisory board.

Victory Energy Corp. said Thursday a carbonite formation well in southeastern New Mexico it holds an interest in has been successfully re-entered, five years after being plugged, and is now completed, fracked and producing oil and natural gas.

Two monitoring wells specifically installed to test water supplies deep within an aquifer near natural gas drilling locations in Pavillion, WY, found high levels of benzene and other chemicals, including petroleum-related compounds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 office.

Two monitoring wells specifically installed to test water supplies deep within an aquifer near natural gas drilling locations in Pavillion, WY, found high levels of benzene and other chemicals, including petroleum-related compounds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 office.

The pummeling of oil and natural gas producer stocks, which began last week, continued Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 634 points on the first day of trading after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) late Friday downgraded the United States credit rating from “AAA” to “AA+.”