News

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is urging the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to proceed with a proposal to revise water quality regulations, a move that could ultimately open the basin to expanded Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

President Obama’s much-anticipated climate action plan, which was rolled out last Tuesday, came down hard on coal-fired plants, while promoting renewable fuels along with fuel switching from coal to natural gas, a global market for natural gas, and the adoption of heavy-duty natural gas vehicles.

Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission LP is offering capacity on its Gulf Market Expansion Project, which would give Marcellus and Utica Shale gas access to growing Gulf Coast markets in Louisiana and Texas, including for future export of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Shares of Linn Energy LLC and LinnCo LLC got a beat-down last week after the companies disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was looking into details of LinnCo’s planned merger with Berry Petroleum Co. as well as its hedging strategy and use of financial reporting metrics that aren’t required under SEC’s generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

A federal district judge late last month rejected a bid by SandRidge Energy Inc. to dismiss an investor lawsuit that claims the Oklahoma City operator provided misleading information regarding natural gas drilling programs.

Forced back into action following the Thursday Independence Day Holiday, physical gas traders in quiet trading Friday for weekend and Monday delivery managed to push most price point averages higher by a few cents, except for in the Northeast and California. Coming off dollar-plus losses on Wednesday, a number of Marcellus Shale-related points reversed course Friday to gain 80 cents or more. California was the only area in the red, with multiple points dropping a nickel to 15 cents.

Sales competition is undermining international prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to ExxonMobil Corp.’s export terminal proposal for the northern Pacific Coast of British Columbia (BC). The supermajor and Canadian affiliate Imperial Oil Ltd. noted the competition in a filing with the National Energy Board (NEB) to build terminal that could export as much as 30 million metric tons a year (mmty) to overseas markets.

TransCanada Corp.’s first quarter earnings were positively impacted by the recent decision by Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) on the company’s Mainline restructuring proposal, the company said Friday. TransCanada also pushed back the in-service date of its long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline to late 2015 from the previously planned late 2014/early 2015 due to regulatory delays.

Physical natural gas prices tumbled 8 cents overall in Wednesday’s trading as traders prepared for the Independence Day holiday, and many sections of the country expected to see mild weather. Nearly all points were in the red, and Northeast points bucked the downtrend, but a couple of points in the Marcellus suffered losses of over a dollar or more.