Sources

Marcellus Shale reserves may spark life into a shuttered, 110-year-old oil refinery complex south of Philadelphia that once supported nearly 500 jobs, according to IHS Inc. researchers.

California Gov. Jerry Brown said last Friday that he plans to take a closer look at the oil/gas industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state, speaking at a renewable energy conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and to news media afterwards.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), community representatives and Indian tribes will collaborate on the retesting of two water wells near hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations near Pavillion, WY, which were the subject of a controversial EPA report last December (see Shale Daily, Dec. 21, 2011).

A forecast migration to the north and west in the sources of Canadian natural gas supplies has taken a stride ahead, thanks to a favorable pipeline regulatory ruling. TransCanada Corp. obtained approval from the National Energy Board (NEB) for a C$324 million (U.S. dollar at par) addition to its Nova gas transportation grid in northern British Columbia and Alberta.

A forecast migration to the north and west in the sources of Canadian natural gas supplies has taken a stride ahead, thanks to a favorable pipeline regulatory ruling (see Daily GPI, March 1). TransCanada Corp. obtained approval from the National Energy Board (NEB) for the C$324 million (U.S. dollar at par) addition to its Nova gas transportation grid in northern British Columbia and Alberta.

BP plc is discussing a $14 billion accord with plaintiffs who sued the company and its partners over the Macondo well explosion, sources told NGI on Monday.

Amid cries for Stronger safeguards regarding the public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Monday put off for a week or more finalizing the state’s proposed new rules on disclosing fracking chemicals used in oil and gas shale fracking operations. COGCC heard more than 11 hours of testimony in Denver.

Both the regulatory and commercial processes are on track for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline linking western Canadian and U.S. Upper Midwest supply sources to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region, TransCanada CEO Russ Girling told financial analysts Tuesday on a conference call. Under questioning, however, he admitted delays could sour current support the line enjoys from major shippers and refiners on both sides of the international border.

A UK-based exploration company whose management team has unconventional exploration experience in the United States claims to have discovered a natural gas shale field near Blackpool, in Lancashire, England, that may rival rock in the United States.