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The latest applicant seeking authorization to export liquefied U.S. natural gas to world markets is also the one seeking to export the most: 2.8 Bcf/d. The application from Gulf Coast LNG Export LLC is under completeness review at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which said it wouldn’t disclose more details until the review is finished.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission on Tuesday approved a 30,000-acre single oil production unit in an area bounded by a state park and river in the west-central part of the state. The vote was unanimous to allow the atypically large production unit, which is intended to better protect the environment, a commission spokesperson told NGI’s Shale Daily.

Calling them a model for other states, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Tuesday unanimously approved new rules for the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), including trade secret protections sought by the oil and gas industry. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) said the state “now has the strongest hydraulic fracturing rule in the country,” and environmental groups praised the action.

In the latest move to build demand for North America’s burgeoning natural gas supplies, industry and government officials met in Ottawa, Canada last Friday to launch what they are calling a roadmap for market development of natural gas as a transportation fuel throughout the nation.

Gross withdrawals of natural gas increased 1.1% (0.72 Bcf/d) in the Lower 48 states during September, according to the latest government figures. All areas except for the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) produced more to make for the seventh monthly gain in a row, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

December natural gas inched higher Monday as traders focused less on trading and more on the latest failure of a prominent energy trading firm. Trading volume was light. At the close December had gained 1.1 cents to $3.934 and January had risen 1.4 cents to $4.056. December crude oil fell 13 cents to $93.19/bbl.

Based on the latest action of a regional unit of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) needs to come up with a permanent solution to the Southern California high desert town of Hinkley’s contaminated local water supplies resulting from PG&E’s misuse of highly toxic hexavalent chromium dating back to the 1950s (see Daily GPI, Nov. 16, 2010).

Two counties in western Pennsylvania, which is in a red hot region of the Marcellus Shale, were among the top 10 in the nation for employment gains in large counties between March 2010 and March 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) latest proposals mandating compliance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which the agency voted out earlier this month, lack the detailed direction and guidance that traders need to make the transition to a regulated derivatives market, said CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia last Tuesday.