Mitigate

Investors expecting dour third quarter earnings from Dow Chemical Co. one day after the company reported plans to cut approximately 2,400 jobs were given a bit of a surprise Wednesday as the chemical giant reported better-than expected earnings, thanks in part to abundant and low-priced natural gas.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner David Porter said Wednesday the state must work to mitigate the impact of numerous gas flares across the state as Texas develops its oil and gas reserves from shale plays.

NGPL advised shippers of a potential OFO “for oversupply or undertake activities across its entire system due to the lack of significant market load.” Shippers can mitigate the need for an OFO by ensuring that imbalances are not in a long position and that point operators are flowing as nominated the pipeline added. It said that if it is determined that the OFO is required, “any gas left on the pipeline is at risk of OFO penalties.” See the bulletin board for details.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has agreed to spend millions for repairs to roads in four counties in the West Virginia Panhandle, in order to mitigate damage done to the roads by trucks hauling equipment and water to its wells sites in the region.

Colorado’s Division of Wildlife said Thursday it had reached agreement with BP America Production Co. on wildlife conservation steps to mitigate the impact of natural gas drilling in the southwestern portion of the state.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have been awarded a $412,000, three-year grant by the Heinz Endowments to identify and mitigate the effects of Marcellus Shale natural gas exploration and development on the state’s forest ecosystem. The interdisciplinary research team, led by two faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences, will evaluate landscape change as a result of gas exploration disturbances, assess local and landscape-scale changes to the forest ecosystem and develop an electronic field guide for onsite remediation and wildlife habitat enhancement at Marcellus drilling sites. The team also plans to pilot a long-term citizen-science based monitoring program to track changes to the physical landscape and biotic communities.

In this “age of unconventionals,” shale gas and oil producers have to be as open as possible about their drilling operations, an ExxonMobil Corp. executive said last week.

The United States has the opportunity to lead the world in a new industrial revolution that would ensure domestic competitiveness, decrease dependency on foreign oil and mitigate climate change — but it has to begin today, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

The United States has the opportunity to lead the world in a new industrial revolution that would ensure domestic competitiveness, decrease dependency on foreign oil and mitigate climate change — but it has to begin today, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.