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While other proposals regarding hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stayed immobile, the California Senate Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday moved on a strictly partisan vote of 5-3 a proposed bill (SB 1054) that would require exploration and production (E&P) companies to notify surrounding property owners of their plans to employ fracking ahead of starting work. The industry is opposed to pre-notification on proprietary grounds.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Monday announced that it will open a comment period and hold a series of public scoping meetings to collect information to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for two proposed oil and natural gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico’s (GOM) Eastern Planning Area.

An environmental group is suing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, claiming that his administration is misusing revenue from Marcellus Shale development on state lands. Although Corbett is being sued, most of the actions cited in the litigation first were undertaken by his predecessor Ed Rendell.

Baker Hughes Inc. is planning to open a regional headquarters in Massillon, OH, in 2013 to take advantage of the business opportunities generated by the growing shale gas resources in the Utica and Marcellus formations.

El Paso Corp. is considering adding pipeline infrastructure to carry gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to an interconnection near Albany, NY, following a nonbinding open season that was held last year.

The Interior Department’s decision to not open up new offshore areas in its proposed 2012-2017 leasing plan, particularly offshore Virginia, is a “missed opportunity with little to no justifiable policy rationale,” the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said in comments filed with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

The Interior Department’s decision to not open up new offshore areas in its proposed 2012-2017 leasing plan, particularly offshore Virginia, is a “missed opportunity with little to no justifiable policy rationale,” the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) said in comments filed with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Williams Partners LP is holding an open season through April 2 for the remaining capacity on its 260-mile Atlantic Access Project, a pipeline that would carry more than 1 Bcf/d of Appalachian gas supply to eastern markets along the Atlantic Seaboard by late 2014. The partnership already has a binding precedent agreement from a shipper for half of the project’s anticipated initial capacity of 1.8 million Dth/d. The pipeline would connect Marcellus and Utica shale supply in western West Virginia and Pennsylvania to markets via Williams’ existing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco). The project would enable Transco to move natural gas through about 350 miles of new pipe from receipt points in Marshall County, WV and Butler County, PA to connect to Transco’s Station 195 in York County, PA (see NGI, Jan. 2). Interconnections are planned with several processing plants and other pipelines along the route, including Columbia Gas Transmission, Dominion Transmission, EQT and National Fuel, as well as Williams Midstream’s proposed Confluence pipeline. For information contact Gary Duvall at (713) 215-2589.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said Tuesday an open season has shown that enough shippers are interested in taking capacity on its proposed Appalachia to Texas (Atex Express) ethane pipeline to support the 1,230-mile project. The pipeline would deliver ethane from the Marcellus/Utica Shale areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to the U.S. Gulf Coast.