System

Houston-based Chimera Energy Corp. has licensed a shale oil extraction technology that is designed to replace hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with a process that was originally developed for use in areas that were too cold for the use of water. Chimera is keeping details of the process under wraps “until the company has their patent in hand, some details about exothermic extraction of shale oil will be closely held,” according to Chimera’s website. The company only said that it does not use “acids or explosives.” Non-hydraulic extraction is “a cheaper and more effective extraction method that does not affect groundwater at all,” according to Chimera, which said it has put in place a procedure for engineering its new method for mass production, patenting, licensing and sales. Testing and third-party certification of the process has begun, Chimera said.

The cash-strapped state park system in Colorado is considering using its nonprofit foundation to bring in more private-sector funds, which include allowing more oil and natural gas drilling in some of the state parks, such as the drilling currently taking place at one state park, St. Vrain, near Longmont, CO. A series of public meetings around the state has been set to kick off Thursday in Grand Junction and continue in Colorado Springs (July 24), Fort Collins (July 31) and Denver (Aug. 8). Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are considering corporate sponsorships and/or more oil and gas drilling in state parks to cope with budget cuts, according to reports this month in various news media around the state. Assistant Director Ken Brink told local news media that park visitors do not want state parks named after corporations, or more oil/gas drilling in the parks, but the officials say they may have no choice. There are 42 state parks in Colorado that now are forced to develop all of their revenues through user fees.

Shale plays globally are a very good long-term asset and the continuing hype about the under-explored Monterey Shale in California is worthy of most of the superlatives, according to two analysts at Wood Mackenzie’s Houston office.

Even though the Pine Ridge fire in western Colorado near the Piceance Basin was deemed less aggressive and more than 25% contained over the weekend, natural gas operators indicated that they will keep their well operations shut for the foreseeable future and are working closely with local authorities and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which are overseeing the fire-fighting efforts.

FERC Friday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) to Dominion Transmission Inc.’s proposal to expand its storage system in Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) jointly released a positive outlook for summer energy supplies even with the continued outage of the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs). Earlier in the spring there were concerns about strained natural gas supplies and other energy infrastructure due to the absence of Songs’ baseload power in Southern California (see Daily GPI, May 7). Besides bringing back in service two mothballed natural gas-fired generation units along the Southern California coast at Huntington Beach, SDG&E’s high-voltage Sunrise Powerlink transmission line is expected to be in service soon, as well as a 230kV transmission loop in southern Orange County, Barre-Del Amo and Barre-Ellis No. 2 lines. SDG&E and CAISO still characterized this summer as “challenging” from a power supply perspective, noting that if the region experiences a prolonged heat wave, calls for conservation will be inevitable. More than 283 MW of new generation capacity came online the second half of 2011, and CAISO expects another 923 MW to be added this year by July 1, but most of its if renewable-based wind and solar projects that are intermittent and require backup from gas-fired and hydroelectric sources.

Creole Trail Pipeline Co. LP has asked FERC for the go-ahead to modify its system to accommodate the delivery of raw gas to a liquefaction project that Cheniere Energy affiliates Sabine Pass LNG and Sabine Pass Liquefaction are planning to build in Cameron Parish, LA.

Oneok Partners LP said it will invest $340-360 million by the first quarter of 2014 to construct a gas gathering and processing plant and related infrastructure in the Cana-Woodford Shale in Oklahoma.

Snack king Frito-Lay North America said last week it will add 67 compressed natural gas (CNG) tractor-trailers to its fleet vehicle system, which operates in seven U.S. cities, by the middle of July, while recycling/waste hauler Waste Pro USA made a $100 million commitment to natural gas-fueled vehicles and fueling infrastructure.