States

The only thing holding back the country’s tremendous opportunity in shale gas is permitting — for petrochemical facilities, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects and drilling in some states — according to ExxonMobil Chemical’s President Stephen D. Pryor.

The only thing holding back the country’s tremendous opportunity in shale gas is permitting — for petrochemical facilities, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects and drilling in some states — according to ExxonMobil Chemical’s President Stephen D. Pryor.

Rejecting urgings from environmental groups to veto the bill, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed into law new regulations (SB 4) for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but with the caveat that he intends to work on amendments next year to fine tune the requirements.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said China is projected to pass the United States and become the world’s largest net importer of oil on a monthly basis by October, and on an annual basis by 2014.

After gaining access earlier this year to a big bundle of onshore and offshore opportunities in the United States, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. now is reworking its strategy to relieve the cost burden and increase production, top executives said last week.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) was to start up service over the weekend on the first pipeline loop of its major Northeast Supply Link expansion, one of the key links in sending new gas out of the Marcellus Shale.

Dry natural gas production in the United States, boosted by stronger pipeline flows from the Marcellus Shale, led Goldman Sachs analysts last week to revise their forecasts down for prices and lift expectations for end-of-summer storage levels.

Advanced Power North America, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Advanced Power AG, said it plans to build a 700 MW power plant fueled by natural gas in Carroll County, OH, an $800 million project in the heart of the Utica Shale.

Dry natural gas production in the United States, boosted by stronger pipeline flows from the Marcellus Shale, led Goldman Sachs analysts on Monday to revise their forecasts down for prices and lift expectations for end-of-summer storage levels.