El Paso warned of possibly needing to declare a Strained Operating Condition, citing high linepack due to actual delivery takes being below scheduled quantities and receipts from supply basins in excess of scheduled volumes. The Washington Ranch storage facility is making maximum injections, El Paso said. It encouraged delivery point operators to take gas according to their scheduled quantities and receipt point operators to reduce and/or maintain deliveries into the system at their scheduled rates. Additionally, imbalance paybacks to the system will not be accepted as long as the high-linepack condition remains.
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Industry Briefs
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has called the state legislature into a special session scheduled to begin Sunday (Dec. 11) to discuss, and possibly pass, a compromise Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill as early as this week. The Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale (JSCMS), a 10-member bipartisan committee, has been working on legislation informally known as the Marcellus Draft Bill (MDB) for weeks. The JSCMS used a failed bill called the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act, also known as SB 424, as the bill’s foundation (see NGI, Aug. 15). The shale gas industry is concerned by an amendment calling for operators to pay a $10,000 permitting fee for the first well drilled on a pad and $5,000 for each additional well well (see NGI, Nov. 28; Sept. 19). The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection also has proposed increasing horizontal drilling fees to $10,000 — up from the current $650 paid by all drillers — to fund additional inspectors (see NGI, Feb. 14).
Pennsylvania Senate Passes Drilling Impact Fee, 29-20
The Pennsylvania Senate approved a 3% impact fee on oil and natural gas drillers on Tuesday night, moving the Keystone State one step closer to possibly generating revenue from Marcellus Shale development. Meanwhile the state House of Representatives, after three days of tacking on amendments, is poised to pass its own competing bill Thursday (Nov. 17).
Alaska Lease Sale Delayed
The state of Alaska pushed back the date of its annual Beaufort Sea, North Slope and North Slope Foothills lease sale to possibly expand the sale’s North Slope acreage offering as well as provide prospective bidders additional time to prepare.
Williams Exec: Marcellus ‘Tough’ Place to Build Infrastructure
Marcellus Shale production is strong and activity is high, but because it’s a “tough environment to construct in,” Williams plans to reduce its capital spending in the play through the rest of this year, an executive said Tuesday.
House GOP Set to Cut CFTC Budget 15% in FY 2012
The Republican-led House was prepared to vote out a measure possibly as early as Thursday that would reduce fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by about 15%.
Obama Targets Oil, Gas Tax Breaks
President Obama last Tuesday jumped at the opportunity to possibly eliminate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, urging congressional leaders “to take immediate action” after comments by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seemed to indicate that he was receptive to the idea.
Obama Targets Oil and Gas Tax Breaks Anew
President Obama on Tuesday jumped at the opportunity to possibly eliminate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, urging congressional leaders “to take immediate action” after comments by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) seemed to indicate that he was receptive to the idea.
Cooling Trends Have Nearly All Points Flat to Up
No snowstorms are expected except for possibly in some mountainous areas of the West, but quite a few folks may be getting a reminder Tuesday that the winter season isn’t all that long departed. The chillier forecasts, aided slightly by the return of industrial load from its weekend decline, resulted in flat to higher prices at a large majority of trading points Monday.
Industry Brief
JayHawk Energy Inc. has begun evaluating for drilling its recently acquired acreage in the Bakken Shale. The Post Falls, ID-based company also said it was looking to add more acreage to its Bakken holdings and plans to accelerate its efforts through purchases and joint ventures through 2011. JayHawk has procured more than 1,066 gross acres — about 135 net acres — in Divide County, ND. Spacing of wells is currently 1,280 acres, so JayHawk said it will pool its acreage with other interest holders in order to drill a well, possibly by 4Q2011.