Officials

The potential of the New Albany Shale is still unproven, industry officials said.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has developed a Internet-based mapping tool to help community officials plan for road maintenance, dust control and other traffic-related problems that accompany expanded oil and natural gas development in the Bakken Shale and adjacent formations. The enhanced mapping includes information and locations for “permit status before spud” to provide the pre-drilling status for newly permitted well sites. It provides a new layer to the DMR oil/gas division’s GIS mapping system, enabling planners to identify where truck traffic could be most concentrated for a given period. “Users will be able to identify the operator of the rig and or well, as well as possible time frames when permits could be drilled,” said Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The GIS map server is available at the DMR website as part of the North Dakota Industrial Commission (www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas).

A Texas landowner who three weeks ago signed an easement agreement with TransCanada Corp. on a part of its Keystone XL oil pipeline project won a county court-ordered temporary restraining order on part of the Keystone southern portion for which work is ongoing in three segments between Cushing, OK, and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) officials have hit back at the numbers and types of violations of natural gas pipeline survey and classification work that an investigative unit of the California regulatory commission has leveled against the combination utility.

North Dakota continues to set new records for oil and natural gas production, but it also continues to see more flared gas, according to officials.

California energy officials on Thursday petitioned FERC to clear a roadblock to its plans to activate more natural gas-fired electric generation by next summer to help make up for 2,200 MW of idled capacity at a closed Southern California nuclear plant.

The latest word from New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) is that the entire natural gas distribution system on the barrier island has been compromised, officials of hurricane-ravaged Seaside Heights, NJ, told residents of the borough on its website.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has launched a color-coded interactive map tool that allows the public to view water quality data from more than 450 oil and natural gas drilling sites in the state.

The proposed Constitution Pipeline has come under attack at FERC from all directions, as landowners and federal officials call on the agency to consider alternatives and put the Marcellus-to-New York natural gas pipeline through a rigorous analysis.