Requirements

California’s recently streamlined oil/gas drilling permits process has been achieved after warnings about the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were stifled and two top state officials were fired by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to a front-page report in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

Increased demand from Eagle Ford Shale producers and new gathering and processing agreements support the construction of an additional 300 MMcf/d of processing capacity at Enterprise Products Partners LP’s cryogenic gas processing facility in Lavaca County, TX, the partnership said. It is planning to construct 62 miles of 24-inch diameter and 30-inch diameter pipeline loops and increasing compression horsepower. The expansion is expected to begin service in the first quarter of 2013. Enterprise is currently constructing its Eagle Ford rich natural gas mainline system and associated laterals consisting of about 300 miles of pipeline and representing gathering and transportation capacity of more than 600 MMcf/d (see Shale Daily, Aug. 10). The Yoakum facility currently has 600 MMcf/d of capacity under construction, which is expected to begin service during the second quarter of 2012. With the additional 300 MMcf/d train, the plant will have total capacity of 900 MMcf/d when service begins, which is expected in the first quarter of 2013.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) has launched a campaign to prevent Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania’s state parks. The campaign was unveiled by John H. Quigley, a special adviser to PennFuture and former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

Columbia Gas Transmission LLC said gas days Sept. 17-19 were to be deemed to be a “critical days” for storage. “Based on storage injection capacity and on forecasted firm storage injection requirements, transporter projects that all available storage injection capacity will be required to meet firm service obligations,” the company said. “Transporter projects no availability of interruptible storage injection services. Storage withdrawal services are not impacted by this notice.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on Thursday warned that using water from the Colorado River Basin to produce oil shale could impact agricultural and municipal water uses affecting 15% of the nation’s crops and up to 30 million people from Wyoming to Southern California.

Shale gas prices are likely to remain “reasonable” for years to come, despite possible upward pressure from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) issues, according to more than 700 executives and managers from utilities and other industry organizations who participated in a recent survey conducted by Black & Veatch.

With the prospect for widespread shuttering of the oldest, most inefficient coal-fired power plants in the face of stiffer federal clean air requirements, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said Friday it will close 18 coal-fired boilers, or 16% of its coal-based capacity, during the next five years. Shutdowns are to start next year.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline received regulatory approval Monday to use its facilities to export Marcellus Shale gas through its facilities at the U.S.-Canada border.

After satisfying final technical requirements, San Diego-based Sempra Energy March 1 obtained final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to begin re-exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from its Cameron import terminal in Hackberry, LA. However, a Sempra LNG spokesperson would not say whether any cargoes were ready to be reshipped. Sempra won the federal approval for re-export Jan. 20, but there were some conditions it still had to meet. “Based on staff’s review of your filing [Feb. 28] Cameron LNG LLC has satisfactorily addressed all of the hazard and operability study recommendations needed to commence service,” said FERC’s Lauren O’Donnell, who is director of gas: environment and engineering.