nymex settlement

Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced Friday that bipartisan legislation they authored to help streamline oil and gas permitting on federal lands in western North Dakota has passed the U.S. Senate and is headed to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

David F. Smith, executive chairman of National Fuel Gas Co., is retiring effective April 1. He would continue to serve as chairman of the board. Smith joined National Fuel in 1978 and was CEO from February 2008 until March. Elected to the board in 2007 and named chairman in 2010, Smith during his tenure served as president of National Fuel Gas Supply Corp., National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp., Empire Pipeline Inc. and National Fuel Resources Inc. “During his five years as CEO, Dave established the current course of the company, focusing attention and significant resources on development in the Marcellus Shale as Seneca Resources Corp.’s total production nearly tripled and the company’s pipeline business commenced a historic, transformational realignment,” said CEO Ron Tanski. Seneca is the exploration and production (E&P) arm of the company. The integrated Williamsville, NY-based operator has $6.2 billion in assets in E&P, gathering, utility, energy marketing, and pipeline and storage.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) has denied an application filed by Fairbanks Natural Gas LLC (FNG) and approved an application filed by Interior Alaska Natural Gas Utility (IANGU) for the right to distribute natural gas in the Fairbanks North Star Borough area. In denying the application by FNG, commissioners said the privately owned utility relied too heavily on presumed gas demand from Golden Valley Electric Association. The commission found that the FNG application overstated expected demand from Golden Valley by 0.5 to 1.5 Bcf per year. Three local area governments formed IANGU about a year ago to serve an area beyond the existing FNG service territory following dissatisfaction with the rates charged by FNG. FNG, which is owned by Minnesota investors, had also applied to the RCA to serve the same territory.

Physical natural gas trading Thursday for Friday delivery was muted for much of the country, with gains or losses of a few pennies, except for in the Northeast, which saw another day of steep price drops. The real news Thursday was made over in the natural gas futures arena, where a record-setting storage withdrawal report opened the gates for the bulls.

Dozens of requests will be heard Wednesday and Thursday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) hearing panel, reviewing operator requests for increased well densities and spacing unit changes in the Bakken/Three Forks formation.

Noble Energy’s U.S. onshore activities are in the “early days of a tremendous story,” management said at the company’s analyst day Tuesday. That story is mainly being written in two books: the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin and the Marcellus Shale, and they both look to be best sellers.

Comstock Resources Inc. plans to spend $450 million on drilling and completions next year in its core South Texas Eagle Ford play, as well as it’s emerging East Texas Eagle Ford and in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS). All drill bits will be pointed at oil with no gas wells planned, the company said.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has seized upon recent comments by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to urge the Obama administration to not allow export of U.S. crude oil.

Billing its plan to drill 45 Marcellus wells at the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) a “flagship endeavor,” Consol Energy Inc. outlined plans on Tuesday to use electric engines to power both its vertical and horizontal drilling rigs in order to comply with federal environmental guidelines.