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The unconventional oil and gas rig count sagged in the week ending Aug. 17, with numbers flat or declining in 10 of the nation’s 13 unconventional plays compared with the week before, but the liquids-rich Niobrara-Denver Julesburg (DJ) Basin continues to soar, according to NGI’s Shale Daily Unconventional Rig Count.

The two main competitors to natural gas vehicles (NGV) in the transportation fuel sector — biodiesel and propane — received a boost from the California Energy Commission (CEC) earlier this month, with nearly $2 million in grants from the state alternative fuel production and vehicles fund, which has also given several million dollars to NGV programs this year. A Northern California-based firm, Yokayo Biofuels Inc., will get $1.86 million from the CEC to expand and upgrade its facilities. Production capacity is supposed to grow from 1,400 to 2,000 gallons/d, the CEC said. Yokayo uses an enzymatic process that is supposed to be environmentally cleaner and more efficient than current methods for producing biodiesel. The CEC also doled out $114,000 to Big Valley Ford Inc., a Ford dealer in Stockton, CA, for the state’s buy-down program allowing 19 propane gas-powered vehicles to be purchased with the grant helping to pay the difference between alternative fuel vehicles and conventional ones.

TransCanada Corp. received the last of three key permits needed for its 485-mile Gulf Coast Project, an oil pipeline from Cushing, OK, to Nederland, TX, that would help alleviate constraints at Cushing where oil from the burgeoning Bakken Shale has been piling.

Spectra Energy Corp. has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin construction on the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project, a 20-mile expansion of the Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission interstate pipeline systems, which would provide an additional 800 MMcf/d of transportation capacity into the region. The Commission approved the project, which is to begin service in late 2013, in May (see NGI, May 28). Spectra has to implement an archaeological monitoring plan for the Big Inch and Little Big Inch pipelines, among other requirements.

Natural gas industry representatives were granted early access to New York’s preliminary unconventional drilling regulations up to six weeks before the rules were made public, the public health advocate Environmental Working Group (EWG) claimed on Thursday, citing documents obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The concept of a national highway for natural gas-fueled long-haul trucks received some roadside assistance Thursday when Shell Oil Co. and major truck stop operator TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Shell to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the fueling station operator for sale to heavy-duty truck operators.

The concept of a national highway for natural gas-fueled long-haul trucks received some roadside assistance Thursday when Shell Oil Co. and major truck stop operator TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Shell to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the fueling station operator for sale to heavy-duty truck operators.

AGL Resources’ Atlanta Gas Light Co. said it has received qualified proposals from the city of Atlanta and seven commercial operators to build up to nine compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations throughout Georgia under a program authorized by regulators last year. The first station is slated to open in mid-2013.

AGL Resources’ Atlanta Gas Light Co. said Wednesday it has received qualified proposals from the city of Atlanta and seven commercial operators to build up to nine new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations throughout Georgia under a program authorized by state regulators last year (see Daily GPI, Nov. 2, 2011). The first station is slated to open in mid-2013.