Targeted

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Michigan plan to begin collecting signatures for a petition that could ask voters in 2014 whether to allow the drilling stimulation practice to be used in the state.

A long list of legislation that targeted the natural gas industry in West Virginia failed to receive enough support from lawmakers before they adjourned last Saturday. However, the House of Delegates enacted a series of resolutions, perhaps offering a glimpse of things to come.

Marathon Oil Corp. production targets are being raised sharply for its growing plays in the Eagle Ford and Bakken Shales, while the targeted sale of assets continues, as evidenced by a $170 million sale of a gas processing interest in Louisiana, CEO Clarence Cazalot said during a 4Q2012 conference call with financial analysts.

A “cyber incident” at Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters in Washington, DC, in mid-January targeted the agency’s network “and resulted in the unauthorized disclosure of employee and contractor” information.

California’s preliminary state agency-drafted rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have been targeted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has criticized state regulators as being in “denial” of potential harmful environmental impacts of fracking.

Marathon Oil Corp.’s $5.2 billion capital, investment and exploration budget for 2013 is about 65% targeted toward liquids-rich areas, particularly the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas.

Questar Pipeline Co. is holding a binding open season through Sept. 10 for capacity that will be created by new replacement compressor facilities at its existing Simon Station in Sweetwater County, WY.

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.

Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission LP is holding a nonbinding open season through July 31 for firm capacity on its Uniontown to Gas City (U2GC) Expansion Project, which offers shippers a new firm path from the Marcellus Shale in west Uniontown, PA, to the pipeline’s existing interconnect with Panhandle Eastern Pipeline near Gas City, IN.