Started

Another energy road trip was started Thursday in Long Beach, CA, at the end of the three-day Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo 2012 conference, which included dozens of new natural gas vehicles (NGV), many of which are heavy duty trucks and tractors that can be designed for compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Friday ended the week as it started — with questions about corporate governance hounding the company.

Hollywood is preparing to bring Marcellus Shale oil and natural gas drilling to the big screen next winter and has started filming in Western Pennsylvania.

Enterprise Products Partners LP has started the first train at its new cryogenic gas processing plant at Yoakum, TX. This facility has a design capacity of 300 MMcf/d and can extract 37,000 b/d of natural gas liquids. During the start-up period, the plant will process existing Eagle Ford Shale production in a reduced recovery mode to enable testing of the plant and supporting facilities and make adjustments to plant operations. Incoming gas volumes and recovery percentages at the facility will continue to increase throughout May, with full production from the plant expected by June 1. Prior to the start-up of the Yoakum plant, Enterprise had been utilizing capacity at processing plants owned by third parties. Most of these volumes will now be diverted and processed at the Yoakum facility. “The long-term outlook in the Eagle Ford Shale continues to show growth in rich gas production and Enterprise is well-positioned to help meet the need for midstream infrastructure through the cost-effective expansion of our integrated network,” said Jim Teague, COO of Enterprise’s general partner.

Executives at United States Steel Corp. said the company has started to lock in natural gas prices for the year and predicted that demand for the company’s steel tubes, which are used for oil and natural gas drilling, will remain strong in the first quarter.

A contentious House committee hearing over an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on possible natural gas contamination of well water started off with the ejection from the hearing room of director Josh Fox of the controversial film, Gasland.

A contentious House committee hearing over an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on possible natural gas contamination of well water started off with the ejection from the hearing room of Josh Fox, director of the controversial film Gasland.

California’s recently streamlined oil/gas drilling permits process has been achieved after warnings about the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) were stifled and two top state officials were fired by Gov. Jerry Brown, according to a front-page report in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. says it is “disappointed” and “concerned” over a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct water sampling in Dimock Township, PA, saying the action duplicates a state investigation, causes regulatory uncertainty and conflicts with Obama administration policy.