November

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has issued a permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) for its Northeast Upgrade Project after determining that it is in the public interest and would not adversely affect the environment.

Springfield, MA, officials plan to ask Columbia Gas Co. of Massachusetts for $1 million to cover damages tied to the explosion on its natural gas system in late November. The explosion on the Columbia Gas system rocked Springfield in a three to four block radius, damaging 42 homes and businesses and sending 18 people, mostly first responders, to area hospitals (see NGI, Dec. 3, 2012). Human error by a utility employee was cited as the cause of the blast. According to the initial findings of the fire marshal and the state’s Department of Public Utilities, an unidentified employee of Columbia Gas “accidentally punctured” a pipe in the vicinity of a business on Worthington St., which was the epicenter of the explosion. The proposed settlement would be carved into three components, each carrying a $300,000 to $400,000 price tag. The first component would include fixed costs, such as damages to emergency vehicles, over-time costs and costs for clean-up activities, while the second component addresses personal injury costs and lost time for city workers. The third component would go toward a redevelopment effort of the area.

The top officials of Springfield, MA, plan to ask Columbia Gas Co. of Massachusetts for $1 million to cover damages tied to the explosion on its natural gas system in late November.

Another proposal has emerged in the North Dakota state legislature seeking to eliminate exemptions from the state’s current one-year limit for oil production wells flaring associated natural gas.

Seneca Resources Corp., the exploration and production subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Co., said Tuesday that six recently completed wells targeting the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania are among the most productive ever drilled in the play, according to initial test results.

FERC Friday issued favorable environmental assessments (EA) for two Marcellus Shale-related projects in Pennsylvania and New York: the Tioga Area Expansion Project and the Sabinsville-to-Morrisville Project.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy CEO Debra Reed, 56, has been elected chairman of the energy holding company to replace Donald Felsinger, 65, who retires at the end November after 40 years. Reed was named CEO last year and has worked for Sempra companies for the past 34 years (see Daily GPI, June 29, 2011). She previously worked for Sempra’s Southern California Gas Co. utility.

Gulfport Energy Corp. reportedly has the best producing well to date in the Utica Shale, according to initial production (IP) data released by the Oklahoma City-based operator.

The Democrats’ national energy platform is heavy on clean energy, but it leaves the door open for the safe and responsible development of the nation’s “cheap, abundant natural gas” reserves.