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New York appears more likely to lift the de facto natural gas drilling moratorium in parts of the state’s Marcellus Shale, but for a variety of reasons — not the least of which is hesitation by operators to commit capital — determining how much of an impact the prospective acreage may have on U.S. gas markets leads to more questions than answers, according to research by Goldman Sachs & Co.

A citizens group has reversed its call for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in New Brunswick after the provincial government unveiled tougher regulations for the emerging Frederick Brook Shale.

As it works to craft best practices for hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was hosting a rare meeting in Washington Monday night — Washington, PA, not Washington, DC.

The Horn River Basin of British Columbia (BC) holds an “ultimate potential” of marketable unconventional natural gas shale of 78 Tcf, which “ranks among the most prospective shale gas basins in North America,” according to a new government energy market assessment.

Some big names in energy and finance have found a new way to invest in the U.S. natural gas and power industries, putting together $2.1 billion to tap into the infrastructure side of the business through real estate investment trusts (REIT).

Some big names in energy and finance have found a new way to invest in the U.S. natural gas and power industries, putting together $2.1 billion to tap into the infrastructure side of the business through real estate investment trusts (REIT).

In yet another side story to a toxic contamination and natural gas transmission pipeline saga that spans decades and inspired an Academy Award-winning motion picture, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) made local news just before the Thanksgiving holiday by offering to buy up to 100 properties in the town of Hinkley, CA, about 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles. That move comes in the wake of residents and the local board for state water regulators expressing new concerns about PG&E’s handling of ongoing toxic mitigation work corralling a 2.5-by-1-mile plume of groundwater tainted with hexavalent chromium, which was previously used by PG&E in its gas transmission pipeline operations in the Hinkley area (see Daily GPI, Nov. 16). A report in the Los Angeles Times quoted a utility spokesperson confirming that if residents in the plume zone want to sell, PG&E will be willing to buy the properties. Meanwhile, the regional water board is still investigating PG&E’s work in containing the plume and is considering options proposed by the utility. Tests have shown elevated — albeit not necessarily dangerous — levels of hexavalent chromium in domestic and agricultural water supplies. The utility and more than 600 residents reached a $333 million settlement in 1997.

Next-day forecasts still relatively moderate, but traders see heating load increases nearby.

A perpetual thorn in the side of Canadian gas, oil, pipeline and power development and major stumbling block to the Mackenzie mega-pipeline project has been pared down to a manageable issue by a landmark native rights decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.