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Bluegrass Pipeline, which if sanctioned would carry surging mixed natural gas liquids (NGL) from the Marcellus and Utica shales to Northeast markets and Gulf Coast petrochemical complexes, faces some hurdles before it would be sanctioned, the project partners said Tuesday.

Natural gas cash prices overall added just a half-cent Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to take a dive over the next several days. Midwest and Great Lakes points were higher by a couple of pennies, but Northeast and eastern locations eased. At the close of trading, June futures had fallen 0.6 cent to $4.186 and July was off 0.6 cent as well to $4.233. July crude oil tumbled $1.90 to $94.28/bbl.

Industry experts said they were disappointed by the Utica Shale oil production figures for 2012 released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), but they believe a clearer picture is beginning to emerge of where the play’s sweet spots for oil are located.

Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. (CGT), a NiSource Inc. subsidiary, has applied for FERC approval of a pair of projects designed to collectively increase the company’s transportation capacity out of the Marcellus Shale by an additional 444,000 Dth/d.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) wants lawmakers to restore several oil and gas rules that were included in the original version of the state’s biennial budget bill, but were stripped out by the state House of Representatives.

With the legislature looking at adjournment May 8, a bill (HB 1269) that would restrict oil and natural gas representation and participation on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC) passed out of committee on a partisan 3-2 vote late Monday night, worrying industry backers.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Monday signed into law a measure (HB 1134) offering tax breaks to oil and natural gas operators as an incentive to cut flaring of associated gas at the wellhead on oil wells. HB 1134 was passed last week by the North Dakota legislature. It will be effective July 1.

In an article Tuesday, the Post looked to the future with a report, “European industry flocks to U.S. to take advantage of cheaper gas,” while the Times complained Monday that the “Jobs Boom Built on Cheap Energy Has Yet to Appear.”

Midstream and downstream energy giant Phillips 66 is positioning itself to take full advantage of the ongoing North American shale oil boom by inking a number of deals to increase supplies of cost-advantaged North American crude oil to its U.S. refineries.