Pending

Encore Energy Partners LP (ENP) and its general partner, Vanguard Natural Resources LLC, each are acquiring a 50% stake in producing oil and gas assets in the Permian Basin from a private seller for a total price of $85 million.

It’s going to be more costly to conduct hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale gas wells in the future due to increased regulation, said a former official with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

All California operators of intrastate natural gas transmission pipelines must prepare implementation plans to pressure test or replace all pipeline segments that have not been tested or lack sufficient records verifying such tests, according to a proposed decision released last Tuesday by Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Maribeth Bushey.

Action is pending following hearing of the Washington state legislature’s House Environment Committee, which is considering a Senate-passed measure (SB 5769) calling for the phased closure of the state’s only coal-fired electric generation plant and the construction of a natural gas-fired plant on adjacent property at the Centralia coal facility (see Daily GPI, March 9). A committee staff member told NGI Friday that there is no established date for when the committee will vote on the measure, which is the outgrowth of an agreement earlier this year among Centralia plant operator/owner TransAlta, environmental groups and the state. The legislation is conditioned upon certain state and federal regulatory actions, including getting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to exempt the coal-fired plant from looming greenhouse gas emissions restrictions, that would save TransAlta some $600 million on emission-control equipment while it still sold power to utilities in the region.

Democrats on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee said pending draft legislation would “gut” the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA), but EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson did not go that far.

The legislature of Tompkins County — which is in west-central New York in the midst of the state’s Marcellus Shale area — has approved a resolution prohibiting the leasing of county-owned land for natural gas drilling that involves hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. recently reached an “unprecedented uncontested” settlement in its $1.1 billion pending general rate case, and a previous settlement on its natural gas transmission pipeline and storage system that was reached in August before the deadly San Bruno pipeline rupture is not expected to be delayed, according to utility President Chris Johns.

After looking for better deals and getting no offers, Houston-based Dynegy Inc. urged its shareholders Tuesday to approve the pending merger with an affiliate of private equity firm The Blackstone Group LP and its $4.50/share offer at an upcoming special shareholders meeting Nov. 17.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Thursday immediately suspended its review of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s pending drilling applications statewide and barred the producer from drilling new natural gas wells “for at least one year” in the Dimock Township area of Susquehanna County because of contaminated groundwater.