There are roughly 36,000 shale wells in the five major shale basins in the United States that have produced nearly 23 Tcf of natural gas and 682 million barrels of oil and condensate, according to a tally gleaned from state regulatory records by Powell Shale Digest, a weekly newsletter specializing in North American shale news and research.
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FERC Highlights Plethora of Pipeline, Storage, LNG Projects in Works
Despite authorizing $17 billion in pipeline projects with 58 Bcf/d of capacity since 2000, FERC staff said the Commission still has a full plate of gas pipeline, storage and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects either on file, in the prefiling stages or proposed in the marketplace.
FERC Highlights Plethora of Pipeline, Storage, LNG Projects in Works
Despite authorizing $17 billion in pipeline projects with 58 Bcf/d of capacity since 2000, FERC staff said the Commission still has a full plate of gas pipeline, storage and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects either on file, in the prefiling stages or proposed in the marketplace.
PG&E 2Q Earnings Drop; Rate Case, Expanding Strategy Outlined
Among the short- and long-term items PG&E Corp is keeping on its plate are a soon-to-be-announced settlement of its 2007 general rate case, the possibility of pursuing development of a nuclear power plant outside of California and several nonutility electric and natural gas projects, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee said during a conference call with financial analysts last Wednesday in which second-quarter earnings were reported as down, but it was mostly attributable to nonrecurring costs.
PG&E Close to Rate Settlement; Keeps Nuke Plant as Option, CEO Says
Among the short- and long-term items PG&E Corp is keeping on its plate are a soon-to-be-announced settlement of its 2007 general rate case, the possibility of pursuing development of a nuclear power plant outside of California and several nonutility electric and natural gas projects, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee said during a conference call with financial analysts Wednesday. Darbee also said he is not ruling out possible acquisitions in the future.
AK Lawmakers Returning to Production Tax Bill
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski has put a revamp of the state’s oil and gas production taxes back on the plate of lawmakers, currently in special session to consider a fiscal contract with a trio of major producers for the development of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.
Transportation Notes
El Paso has a full plate of various maintenance projects set for February; see the bulletin board for details. The ones with the biggest service impacts are set for the South Mainline, which will see Low Pressure System capacity reductions as high as 750 MMcf/d Feb. 7-8 and 610 MMcf/d Feb. 3-6 and again on Feb. 9. Also, the pipeline said, the Washington Ranch Storage facility must be withdrawing at a rate of approximately 180 MMcf/d to accommodate equipment testing on Feb. 9. El Paso said it will lose a large degree of operational flexibility during the Washington Ranch test, “making it critical that all parties scheduling gas on our pipeline manage their volumes carefully to balance receipts and deliveries daily.”
CA Energy Department Proposal Postponed Until Next Year
As California’s state legislature starts its final week Tuesday with several renewable energy and resource adequacy issues on its plate, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s revitalized proposal to reorganize the state’s energy bureaucracy into a cabinet-level energy department has been put off until next year’s second part of the current two-year session. The governor’s eleventh-hour attempt to push a proposal that was earlier in the year rejected as part of a new bill (AB 1165) was set aside by a legislative committee last week.
Futures Trickle Lower Following 90 Bcf Storage Build
Despite having its plate full with fresh natural gas storage data and the upgrading of Adrian to a Category One Hurricane in the Pacific, June natural gas had a mostly uneventful trading day Thursday.
El Paso Shippers Offer to Relinquish Capacity to Aid Conversion
In a refreshing twist last week, El Paso Natural Gas contract demand (CD) shippers began stepping up to the plate to offer to turn back their unused capacity in an attempt to ease the way for FERC’s planned conversion of full requirements (FR) service to CD service on the pipeline.