Local

Low wholesale natural gas prices haven’t translated into expansions at Sempra Energy’s local distribution companies (LDC) Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), a Sempra spokesman told NGI last week.

Norse Energy Corp. USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, just days after a New York judge ruled the cash-strapped company had to deposit millions into an escrow account for a legal dispute with a drilling company.

NiSource Inc. on Friday said it is proceeding with its East Side Expansion project on its Columbia Gas Transmission system to carry Marcellus Shale gas to the East Coast and mid-Atlantic region.

Oil and natural gas companies looking to drill within regulated interstate river basins need to familiarize themselves with issues facing the local river basin commission and take those issues seriously before ultimately deciding whether to drill, an industry attorney said.

Pipeline corrosion, material failure and aging facilities are the major safety-related problems that pipelines and local distribution companies face.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing to protect six species of aquatic invertebrates native to West Texas as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Such an ESA listing could have implications for the West Texas oil patch, analysts warned.

Erie, CO, officials voted 6-1 Monday night to end a six-month moratorium on new oil and natural gas drilling after securing agreements with producers that place stricter regulations on their operations.

Former Colorado Assistant Attorney General Matthew Lepore on Monday took the reins as director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

A closed-door meeting held in Utah’s Uintah County earlier this year by officials from three states and industry representatives violated the state’s open meeting law because during the meeting officials mapped out strategies to challenge a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ruling to restrict oil shale development, according to a lawsuit filed this week.