Presence

As production from the booming Marcellus Shale has grown and the emerging Utica Shale has made its presence felt, the Northeast, formerly a gas “have-not,” is pushing its own production outward to markets as pipelines race to catch up.

As production from the booming Marcellus Shale has grown and the emerging Utica Shale has made its presence felt, the Northeast, formerly a gas “have-not,” is pushing its own production outward to markets as pipelines race to catch up.

Two monitoring wells specifically installed to test water supplies deep within an aquifer near natural gas drilling locations in Pavillion, WY, found high levels of benzene and other chemicals, including petroleum-related compounds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 office.

Two monitoring wells specifically installed to test water supplies deep within an aquifer near natural gas drilling locations in Pavillion, WY, found high levels of benzene and other chemicals, including petroleum-related compounds, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 office.

As sources had expected, the nearly stationary presence of a production-disrupting tropical depression off the Louisiana coast was outweighed by the impending significant reduction of air conditioning load in much of the market and the extra decline of industrial demand associated with a holiday weekend. The result was falling prices at nearly all points Friday.

SM Energy Co. raised its guidance for 2011 and introduced plans for 2012 that surpass what analysts were expecting as company executives emphasized a sharpened focus on the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

The smell of natural gas wafted across a portion of California’s Silicon Valley Tuesday, and it was a welcome presence for a change for the utility and local officials, signifying that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was moving forward to pressure test more of its gas transmission pipeline system that has been placed under close scrutiny since the pipeline rupture in San Bruno that killed eight people Sept. 9.

To provide an early warning system for potential natural gas drilling incidents, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) on Tuesday said it would expand its network of electronic water quality monitors on streams that flow through the Marcellus Shale region of New York and Pennsylvania.

Chevron Corp., one of the few major oil companies without a visible presence in the North American shale plays, last week made up for lost time in a deal to buy Atlas Energy Inc. for an estimated $4.3 billion. The transaction, CEO John Watson told energy analysts, may be only the first.