Lisa

MarkWest Pioneer LLC is holding a nonbinding open season/reverse open season through 5 p.m. MDT July 20 to determine whether to expand the Arkoma Connector, a 50-mile interstate natural gas pipeline initially designed to deliver 625,000 Dth/d from the Woodford Shale to pipelines destined for eastern markets. MarkWest Pioneer said it received inquiries about adding firm transportation service to the Arkoma Connector. The reverse open season would determine whether existing shippers want to return “all or a portion of their current firm transportation entitlements,” MarkWest said. Precedent agreements are in place with two anchor shippers: Newfield Exploration Mid-Continent Inc. for 500,000 Dth/d of firm transportation for nine years, and Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. for 76,000 Dth/d of firm transportation for 10 years. The 24-inch diameter Arkoma Connector, which is nearing completion, would extend from the outlet of a MarkWest affiliate’s existing treating plant in northeast Oklahoma to near Bennington, OK, where it would interconnect with the Midcontinent Express Pipeline and Gulf Crossing Pipeline systems. The project includes 19,500 hp of added compression at two compressor stations and associated facilities in Oklahoma’s Coal, Atoka and Bryan counties.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is vying for the vice chairmanship of the Senate Republican Conference, which will become vacant as a result of the shakeup in GOP leadership following an admission by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) of an extramarital affair. Senate Minority Lead Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “talked to her about the position and encouraged her to run for it,” said Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Murkowski. Murkowski is seeking to replace Sen. John Thune (R-SD), who has set his sights on the chairmanship formerly held by Ensign, The Hill newspaper reported. Ensign resigned as chairman earlier this month after he publicly admitted the affair. The Senate GOP is expected to vote Thursday. The vice chairmanship is considered the No. 5 leadership position among Senate Republicans. “I have been participating and giving my input and thinking down the road about the prospect of coming on in an elected capacity,” Murkowski told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner last week. “I did not anticipate there would be an opening until the next Congress…I do feel I have something to offer, a moderating voice in our conference, which is good.” Murkowski has gained prominence in the Republican party over the last couple of years. She plans to remain on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she is the ranking Republican.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Thursday protested the Obama administration’s decision to “unilaterally overturn” a Bush-era regulation that allowed federal agencies to forgo “broad interagency consultations” with the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife (FWS) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) before taking any action that may affect threatened or endangered species.

Mindful of in-state natural gas needs, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) last Thursday introduced legislation designed to streamline development of an in-state natural gas pipeline in Alaska by allowing its passage through a national park.

Mindful of in-state natural gas needs, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Thursday introduced legislation designed to streamline development of an in-state natural gas pipeline in Alaska by allowing its passage through a national park.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Monday expressed concern that the panel’s work on a broad energy bill could be “hijacked” by the Senate leadership.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) signaled she would oppose any attempt by the Democratic leadership to possibly merge energy legislation and a cap-and-trade bill on the Senate floor this year. Lumping two very controversial pieces of legislation into a single-bill strategy will make final passage very difficult, said the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The energy bill is expected to address a number of contentious issues, including federal siting of electric transmission facilities, drilling in the previously banned areas of the Outer Continental Shelf and a renewable energy standard (see NGI, March 9). Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has indicated that energy and cap-and-trade legislation should be dealt with separately. Cap-and-trade “[is] not as ready for prime time in my opinion,” he said. Murkowski said she and her staff are working in a bipartisan fashion with Bingaman and his staff on a comprehensive energy bill that they hope to mark up by the end of March.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Friday signaled that she would oppose any attempt by the Democratic leadership to possibly merge energy legislation and a cap-and-trade bill on the Senate floor this year.

A coalition of 35 Republican senators led by Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Kit Bond of Missouri and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has called on the White House to tap new domestic oil and natural gas resources and to expeditiously complete the administration’s five-year plan for developing resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).