Potential

Alliance Pipeline launched a test Monday of market demand for a potential 30% increase of delivery capacity along its 3,848-kilometer (2,291-mile) delivery route for liquids-rich natural gas to Chicago from northern British Columbia and Alberta.

While low commodity prices continued to offset significant well productivity improvements, senior executives at EOG Resources Inc. touted extraordinary production and efficiency gains in 3Q2016 and talked bullishly about the rest of the year and their company’s prospects in the 2017-2020 period, with a new focus on premium well locations centered in the Delaware Basin in the Permian.

Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada Corp. said Thursday it was in discussions with a third party on a “potential transaction” but no agreement has been reached, reacting to reports in financial news media that it is eyeing a deal with Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. Some reports on Thursday speculated that talks had hit a standstill.

A conservation-minded citizens group in northeastern Nevada last Friday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department and its Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the U.S. District Court for Nevada, challenging the legality of BLM allowing an oil/natural gas lease sale to proceed earlier this year.

The Bakken has the potential to fill all of the current added demand for sweet crude, but the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin will have something to say about that, a North Dakota official said.

Japan and Canada will engage in talks over the potential for future exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

North America should find plenty of outlets for its copious natural gas reserves, but some questions need to be clarified soon, such as whether to allow manufacturers to dictate how much supply remains onshore, or whether the free market fuels an export revolution, according to Statoil ASA’s chief economist.

North America has a remarkable amount of potential tight oil resources, but they may pale in comparison to those estimated worldwide, according to a study by IHS Inc.

Global natural gas demand is forecast to grow faster than total energy demand, on average by 1.6% a year until 2040, resulting in a “moderate” increase in market share, according to Statoil ASA’s chief economist.