Southern

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill that calls for a ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Wednesday, a largely symbolic gesture but one that makes the Green Mountain State the first in the nation to outlaw the practice.

Dry natural gas drilling in North America’s onshore, once a big calling for Houston-based Apache Corp., is off the to-do list until pricing improves, but with 60 rigs running in the U.S. onshore today — 58 targeting liquids targets — “we’ve got a very active drilling program going on right now, the most active we’ve been in some time in North America,” said CEO G. Steven Farris.

The cash market on average was flat in Wednesday’s trading with gains registered at northeastern points and declines noted in Southern California. Futures made new highs for the recent advance before falling prey to a double-digit drubbing as longer-term weather forecasts called for moderate temperatures in key Midwest and eastern markets and news circulated that a veteran gas trader was closing his hedge fund. At the close of futures trading June had given up 11.8 cents to $2.253 and July had fallen 11.4 cents to $2.354. June crude oil skidded 94 cents to $105.22/bbl.

California regulators provided an option to smart meters — both gas and electric — for San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) customers last Thursday, mirroring action take earlier in the year by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) (see Daily GPI, Feb. 2). SCE customers who don’t want an advanced digital meter can keep their current meter or one that was at their location prior to the installation of a wireless smart meter. Similarly, SDG&E customers who do not want a smart gas or electric meter can choose to have the analog meters. SCE said it supported the decision by state regulators and will “respond quickly to customers choosing to opt out.” Separately, one of the state’s two large public sector utilities, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, said it has nearly completed the installation of 600,000 smart meters and an automated electric metering infrastructure.

A nonprofit economic and public policy research firm is warning policymakers in Western Canada that shale gas development in British Columbia (BC) and oilsands development in northern Alberta are “stress points” that could negatively impact water quality and supplies if not properly regulated.

Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) brought Southern Union Co. (SUG) under the ETE banner on Monday, completing a mega merger that creates a midstream powerhouse with more than 44,000 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines and an estimated 30.7 Bcf/d of transportation capacity.

Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) gained state regulatory approval Thursday to sell its lone remaining interest in out-of-state coal-fired generation. This is consistent with the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) mandate that it do so by 2016.

For the third time, California regulators Thursday gave the green light to Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) to embark on a proposed $1 billion, multi-year transition to an advanced metering system consistent with what all of the state’s other private-sector utilities have been doing the past five years.

Chevron Corp.’s Angola LNG (liquefied natural gas) liquefaction project in southern Africa is speeding toward first cargo some time during the second quarter. While capacity contracting has long been under way on the company’s Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia, not so with Angola LNG, which was conceived years ago as an LNG supplier to the United States.