Maximize

In its efforts to maximize the opportunities provided by the domestic shale oil and gas boom, Houston-based Phillips 66 said it plans to develop a 100,000 b/d natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator in Old Ocean, TX, which would provide an alternative for suppliers wary of congestion at facilities located in and around Mont Belvieu, TX.

Technology spawned from shale gas got special notice this month in Pennsylvania, with two innovations taking top honors in a competition geared to maximize the economic return from the Marcellus and Utica shales.

A nonprofit organization that conducts voluntary reviews of state oil and natural gas regulations has made a few minor recommendations for Colorado’s hydraulic fracturing (fracking) regulations, but concluded that the program is well managed and contains some strengths the shale gas industry would find noteworthy.

The clean energy push and general “green economy” are creating jobs, but California should modify its related education and training efforts to maximize these benefits, according to a report released Thursday by University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) researchers.

Natural gas consumers in Alaska’s south-central region, where supplies have been short, got good news about future supply prospects Monday when the state announced a partnership of the state with the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority (ANGDA) and ENSTAR Natural Gas Co. to build the first phase of a bullet pipeline to serve the region.

To maximize its stake in the Barnett Shale, DTE Energy said last Tuesday it will develop its western Barnett Shale properties itself while offering for sale its more developed acreage and production in the eastern part of the play as part of its restructuring of its nonutility assets.

To maximize its stake in the Barnett Shale, DTE Energy said Tuesday it will develop its western Barnett Shale properties itself while offering for sale its more developed acreage and production in the eastern part of the play as part of its restructuring of its nonutility assets.

CenterPoint implemented an Operational Alert Wednesday, saying that based on the weather forecast for its service area and in order for it to maximize storage deliverability for Rate Schedules FT and NNTS customers, CenterPoint will not schedule interruptible receipts from the West 1 and West 2 Pooling Areas, and will only schedule secondary receipts from those pooling areas to the extent that they alleviate capacity constraints or are consistent with firm entitlements. See the bulletin board for other details of the alert.

Canadians are cheering on the tight “continental” natural gas market in growing numbers, as gains owed to high sales volumes and prices — driven by expanding exports to the United States — spread and multiply. The seller’s market for gas is behind Alberta government projections of a stunning budget surplus in the range of C$10-$12 billion (US$6.8-$8.2 billion) for the fiscal year that ended March 31 — or about C$4,000 (US$2,750) each for every man, woman and child living in the province. Virtually all the surplus is owed to oil and gas royalties, and the gas share of them is about 70%.