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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Alaska is cautiously moving ahead on a plan that could lead to oil and natural gas leasing in an environmentally sensitive corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) by late next year.

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

FERC Tuesday issued a favorable environmental review of the U.S. portion of Sonora Pipeline LLC’s Burgos Hub Export/Import Project, which is expected to lead to development of Mexico’s first natural gas market hub, gas storage field and offshore Gulf of Mexico liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.

Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode is resigning her post effective May 31 to lead a new natural gas foundation in Washington, DC. Bode, who was appointed to the commission in 1997 by former Gov. Frank Keating, said she is in the process of forming the American Clean Skies Foundation. “Today, there is a national debate on climate change and energy,” she said. “We see policymakers promoting alternative fuels such as wind, solar, biofuels and nuclear. These are all legitimate alternatives — although some much less than others — yet none can offer energy in great abundance at a reasonable price any time soon. On the other hand, burning natural gas instead of the principal alternatives reduces greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 50%. We intend to make natural gas not only part of the debate, but the solution.” Bode said she has talked with gas industry officials about the foundation, including Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. However, she said the foundation “is not going to be a Chesapeake entity.” Chesapeake has admitted funding an anti-coal campaign in Texas (see Power Market Today, Feb. 20) Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, will name Bode’s replacement. Bode’s current term was to expire in 2010. Early in her career Bode worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill and later headed up the Independent Petroleum Association of America lobbying group in Washington.

Halliburton Co. said it will open a corporate headquarters office in the United Arab Emirates and that CEO Dave Lesar will move to Dubai to lead the company’s efforts to grow in the Eastern Hemisphere. A Houston headquarters will be maintained as well. The announcement was made Sunday at a regional energy conference in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Independent producers say they are being shut out of closed-door meetings that could lead to legislation altering the gas drilling plan for Colorado’s Roan Plateau in the Piceance Basin.

A contractor working on a natural gas meter in an Allentown, PA, home on Saturday apparently removed the wrong fitting, which allowed gas to escape and lead to an explosion that leveled three homes and damaged a fourth, according to UGI Utilities. No one was seriously injured, according to authorities.

Following the lead of its larger neighbor in Los Angeles, five smaller city-run utilities in Southern California Monday decided not to extend their long-term contracts for coal-fired electric supplies from the mammoth Intermountain plant in Utah that is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The decision by the five cities reverses actions taken last month by their respective city councils to extend the contracts that currently don’t expire until 2027.