Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus reintroduced the North Fork Watershed Protection Act last week to protect part of the state’s remote northwest from new oil and gas development and mining. The bill would help fulfill a 2010 trans-border agreement between former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.
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Curtiss-Wright Opens Door to U.S. Shale Markets
Engineering company Curtiss-Wright Corp. said Monday it would pay $135.1 million in cash to acquire Cimarron Energy Inc. to gain entry into the U.S. shale oil and natural gas market.
Ohio Energy Regime Overhaul Begins
When it goes into effect next month, Ohio’s SB 315 will bring regulatory change to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and four other state agencies, but that’s just the beginning of the changes the oil and gas industry can expect from the legislation, according to Craig Kasper, CEO of project development and engineering company Hull & Associates Inc.
Western Colorado Fire Woes Continue
As the Pine Ridge fire along the Western Slope in Colorado was put out Thursday and the more than 100 natural gas wells in the Piceance Basin brought back online, a new fire northwest of De Beque, CO, called the Third Water Spring fire, caused Encana Corp. to shut in some of its other gas wells in the area.
Pine Ridge Colorado Fire Keeps Gas Wells Shut In
Even though the Pine Ridge fire in western Colorado near the Piceance Basin was deemed less aggressive and more than 25% contained over the weekend, natural gas operators indicated that they will keep their well operations shut for the foreseeable future and are working closely with local authorities and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which are overseeing the fire-fighting efforts.
Tiny Arctic Gas Project Provides Industry ‘Learnings’
In one remote corner of North America natural gas still fetches a price that covers its costs, including drilling and pipeline construction. On the Mackenzie Delta an environmental assessment is beginning on a supply project called Ikhil for Inuvik, the biggest town in the Canadian land of the midnight sun.
Tiny Arctic Gas Project Provides Industry ‘Learnings’
In one remote corner of North America natural gas still fetches a price that covers its costs, including drilling and pipeline construction. On the Mackenzie Delta an environmental assessment is beginning on a supply project called Ikhil for Inuvik, the biggest town in the Canadian land of the midnight sun.
Industry Briefs
Enterprise Products Partners LP said it plans to build an 80-mile extension of its 350,000 b/d Eagle Ford Shale crude oil pipeline, which would allow the partnership to serve production in the southwestern portion of the play. The Phase II project would originate in Wilson County, TX, at the terminus of the previously announced 140-mile Phase I segment, and extend to near Gardendale, TX, in La Salle County, where a new central delivery point is planned that would feature 500,000 bbl of storage. Phase I is on schedule to begin service by the second quarter of 2012 with Phase II set to commence operations in the first quarter of 2013. When completed, the approximately 220-mile crude oil pipeline system would provide Eagle Ford producers with access to the Texas Gulf Coast refining complex through Enterprise’s network. The Phase II extension, which is being designed with a capacity of 200,000 b/d, is anchored by a 10-year agreement with Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc., which has committed to 100,000 b/d of firm capacity.
Pennsylvania Won’t Regulate Small Gathering Lines, for Now
An effort to give Pennsylvania regulators more oversight over intrastate pipelines likely won’t extend to gathering lines in remote corners of the state, but would instead create a registry of those rural pipelines.
Gas Exec: Shale Impact in NW Cools LNG Imports
Shale gas so far has not impacted prices and supplies in the Pacific Northwest other than to make more remote the possibility of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and to increase the chances of exporting supplies from British Columbia (BC), Northwest Natural Gas Co. gas supply director Randy Friedman told the audience at “LDC Forum: Rockies and the West” conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.