Stepped

The Alberta government has stepped forward as a customer for the planned conversion of one large pipe of the six parallel pipes that comprise TransCanada Corp.’s natural gas Mainline, which has suffered severely declining natural gas transport volumes, to oil service (see Daily GPI, April 29).

Energy industry efforts to reduce the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) through recycling and other means have to be stepped up if unconventional resources are to grow as projected, according to Ceres, which runs an influential institutional investor coalition.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP stepped deeper into the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas on Tuesday with a $1 billion cash agreement to buy privately held Teak Midstream LLC, a natural gas gathering and processing operator.

Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s co-founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon officially stepped out of the batter’s box Monday, but there’s no permanent replacement and no timetable on when a successor will be named, said acting CEO Steven Dixon. However, operations are running “smoothly,” despite some constraints in the Utica Shale.

Energy productivity could double with significant macro environmental and economic benefits through stepped-up efficiency programs during the next two decades, according to a report by a national nonpartisan commission headed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and National Grid U.S. President Tom King.

Energy productivity could double with significant macro environmental and economic benefits through stepped-up efficiency programs during the next two decades, according to a report by a national nonpartisan commission headed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and National Grid U.S. President Tom King.

In the wake of a string of major natural gas pipeline mishaps and stepped up regulatory oversight, a 30-year gas industry veteran said there is a critical need throughout the industry to produce a new generation of well-trained welders and other skilled personnel.

After serving 11 years as one of three regulators on the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), Patrick Oshie stepped down last Friday. A successor will be appointed by Washington’s Gov.-elect, Jay Inslee. Oshie was a partner in a Yakima, WA law firm when then-Gov. Gary Locke appointed him to the UTC in 2001; he was subsequently appointed to a second six-year term by Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2006. Oshie previously had served as an assistant city attorney in Seattle and an assistant attorney general in Utah, where he also was a law professor.

Integrated oil and natural gas producers have stepped up their game in recent years to deal with “large-scale operational lapses,” but there still are sources of concern, especially oil spills, according to a risk analysis by MSCI ESG Research.