Midst

In the midst of calls to “throw the book” at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) after the San Bruno natural gas transmission pipeline explosion (see Daily GPI, June 7), a California regulator on Thursday found reason to praise the often-criticized San Francisco-based combination utility.

In the midst of two lawsuits filed by Colorado officials against locally passed oil and natural gas drilling rules, Longmont, CO, gained some support Thursday when the Sierra Club and Earthworks’ attorneys filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate an ordinance passed last year.

To the chagrin of other local officials and conservationists, the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier, CA, has chosen to use funds originally earmarked to preserve open space in the midst of urban sprawl to instead tap a long-idle oilfield in the middle of densely populated Southern California.

The country is in the midst of an “unconventional revolution in oil and gas” whose implications reach well beyond the energy industry, IHS Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin, tells the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Power in pre-filed testimony to be given Tuesday.

In the midst of continued oil/natural gas production growth, albeit at a slower pace, North Dakota’s drilling activity has slowed significantly and the amount of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) even more so, according to the state’s top oil/gas official. Activity is projected to increase again next year, however, with continuing technology advances.

Coal production will keep falling next year in the midst of reduced demand in an energy landscape that keeps shifting, according to an industry outlook report from Moody’s Investors Service released Monday. Coal-fired power generation could fall to a third of the U.S. mix as natural gas prices stay below historical levels.

Forward curves plotting electricity demand during the next 20-25 years have shifted dramatically in the past four years in the midst of a “great recession” and a surge in domestic natural gas production tied to shale plays, Wood Mackenzie’s North America Power Service Insight said in its latest release.

In the midst of its improbable oil and natural gas boom, North Dakota is coming clean on a dirty little secret — flaring of more than one-third of its gas supplies produced in its rapidly expanding Bakken Shale formation’s record-breaking oil production. While the latest analyses look closely at North Dakota’s experience there is no exact measurement of how much of the nation’s flaring is centered there; a reasonable guess is 25%, sources say.

In the midst of its oil and natural gas boom, North Dakota is coming clean on a dirty little secret — flaring of more than one-third of its gas supplies produced in its rapidly expanding Bakken Shale formation’s record-breaking oil production. While the latest analyses look closely at North Dakota’s experience, there is no exact measurement of how much of the nation’s flaring is centered there; a reasonable guess is 25%, sources say.