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Following key pipeline infrastructure upgrades over the past two years, MDU Resources Inc.’s Boise, ID-based Intermountain Gas Co. has told Idaho state regulators it should be able to serve the natural gas needs of the southern part of the state without any significant new capital projects during the next five years.

ExxonMobil Corp. has filed for permission to export 30 million metric tons a year (mmty) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the west coast of British Columbia (BC) (see related story). The Irving, TX-based operator said in an export license application with the National Energy Board that it is assessing potential construction sites in the Kitimat and Prince Rupert, BC areas for an LNG facility that would include six processing units. The project would be a partnership with its majority-owned Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil Ltd. If all goes as scheduled, gas exports could begin in the 2021 to 2023 time frame, the filing indicated. The BC venture, to be known as WCC LNG Ltd., would be supplied with gas from Western Canada fields. During the life of the project, gas also could be sourced from other North American basins. In May ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum International, which are sponsoring the proposed Golden Pass Products LNG terminal in Sabine Pass, TX, launched pre-filing for their proposed 15 mmty project (see NGI, May 20).

The state of Wyoming will take the lead in the continuing investigation of the potential impact of natural gas production activities on drinking water in the Pavillion, WY, area, with the cooperation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is suspending its own investigation.

Low natural gas prices have driven down Fayetteville Shale drilling activity and production, but the Arkansas dry gas play has plenty more to give, and the rigs will be coming back to get it when natural gas has a $5 handle, the Arkansas Geological Survey’s Ed Ratchford told NGI.

The state of Wyoming will take the lead in the continuing investigation of the potential impact of natural gas production activities on drinking water in the Pavillion, WY, area, with the cooperation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is suspending its own investigation.

Natural gas last year expanded its share of the global energy mix even though demand growth was hindered by a weak economy in Europe, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said the United States was a standout among gas-producing countries.

Yankee Gas, Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG) and Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG) have filed a joint expansion plan with state regulators that would add nearly 300,000 gas customers and increase system throughputs substantially. In the shale gas era, consumers are seeking gas connections, and utilities are working to provide them (see NGI, Feb. 11).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said it found naturally occurring dissolved methane at several household wells used for drinking water in Sullivan County, PA, during pre-drill baseline testing at sites not near existing oil and gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

SandRidge Energy Inc. founder Tom Ward, the company’s only chairman and CEO since it was formed in 2006, was ousted last week by the board of directors, which said its decision was “in the best interests of the company and its shareholders at this time.”