Plans

A pair of approvals by FERC last week, as well as plans announced by GDF SUEZ Mexico, could help extend the reach of natural gas pipelines — and the market for gas produced in the United States — in Mexico.

What has seemed inevitable for most of this year happened Friday with the announcement by Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) that it plans to retire its trouble-riddled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Southern California coast. Utility and state energy officials increasingly have been planning for the loss of the region’s major baseload power source for some time (see NGI, June 3).

After dancing around the issue for a few minutes, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday said the department plans to “move expeditiously” on applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries with which the United States does not have free trade agreements (FTA).

What has seemed inevitable for most of this year happened Friday with the announcement by Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) that it plans to retire its trouble-riddled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Southern California coast. Utility and state energy officials increasingly have been planning for the loss of the region’s major baseload power source for some time (see Daily GPI, May 29).

Following an unsuccessful open season, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) has shelved plans for the Freedom Pipeline, which would have carried Permian Basin crude oil from Texas to California refineries.

In the article “Consol-Noble JV to Build Marcellus Dry Gas Pipeline” (see Shale Daily, May 29), it was incorrectly reported that a 24-inch diameter dry natural gas pipeline in West Virginia would be completed in six to nine months. The joint venture plans to begin construction of the pipeline in six to nine months, and the time to build and complete the pipeline would be an additional six to nine months. NGI’s Shale Daily regrets the error.

The continued uptrend in North America’s unconventional natural gas and oil supplies and global demand dynamics suggest that the outlook for pipeline and storage infrastructure development may not only be bullish but also long-term, according to analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc.

A coalition of conservation groups on Thursday filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over its amending of 10 resource management plans (RMP) earlier this year to open more than 800,000 acres for future oil shale and tar sands leasing.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., whose central operations are in the Marcellus Shale, said Monday it plans to use natural gas to power hydraulic fracturing (fracking) equipment in northeastern Pennsylvania.