Site

Days after a Royal Dutch Shell plc subsidiary announced that it intends to purchase a site in Pennsylvania — presumably for its “world-scale” ethane cracker in the Marcellus Shale — media reports are fueling speculation that two companies are interested in building their own crackers in West Virginia, with one possibly making their announcement today, Wednesday.

As a compromise bill to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas plodded through the Pennsylvania legislature Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett assumed a favorable outcome, commending lawmakers for their cooperation, saying he was “looking forward to signing the legislation into law.”

The Obama administration on Wednesday denied the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal on the recommendation of the U.S. State Department, saying at this time it is not in the U.S. national interest to build the 1,700-mile link from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

People living near Barnett Shale gas production facilities could be at risk for immune system damage from toxic air emissions, and the risk is likely understated by an air quality study completed for the city of Fort Worth earlier this year, a state lawmaker warned Mayor Betsy Price in a letter.

As Pennsylvania lawmakers move to increase the bonding requirements for shale operators, a new Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) study questions whether bonding adequately ensures reclamation.

Proposed rule changes for handling drilling waste products and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were approved Tuesday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission. They drew an immediate negative reaction from the North Dakota Petroleum Council, which claimed the changes would add up to $300,000 of added costs/well.

Emergency responders were wrapping up their work Thursday afternoon at the site of a reported explosion at a drilling rig in the Eagle Ford Shale in Falls City in Karnes County, TX. According to press reports, two people had been hospitalized. The explosion reportedly occurred just before noon. The Karnes County sheriff was not available for comment, but a deputy said at 2:30 CDT that crews were preparing to leave the scene. The rig was reported to be targeting oil; the name of its owner/operator was not available at press time. Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Jason Reyes told the San Antonio Express-News that a truck driver who was transferring oil was injured when a truck was set on fire and ignited the explosion. The driver received second- and third-degree burns, he said. In a separate incident Monday night an explosion and fire occurred at a Continental Resources natural gas well in Oklahoma; there were no injuries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 21).

South Africa-based Sasol has chosen southwestern Louisiana as the site for a gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility. The project is slated to be the first plant in the United States to produce GTL transportation fuels and other products.

In response to new state legislation (SB 412), California regulators on Thursday revised the state’s incentive program for on-site power generation, allowing up to 25% of the awards to go to nonrenewable combined heat and power (CHP) self generation that includes natural gas-fired cogeneration.