Tests

Colorado oil and natural gas regulators said 428 natural gas well flowlines tested by operators in the state — a miniscule number overall — failed integrity tests conducted in the wake of a fatal home explosion in Weld County earlier this year.

Owner/operator Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has indicated its shuttered 86 Bcf Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field may reopen this year, but most of the 114 storage wells still await final testing, officials said.

California regulators on Friday ordered Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) to apply six separate tests to each of the 114 storage wells at its now shuttered 86 Bcf-capacity Aliso Canyon underground natural gas storage field on the far northern fringe of Los Angeles. All the tests need to be completed before injections can resume at the state’s largest gas storage facility.

Sharply lower natural gas prices in 2012 from 2011, used under required 12-month average price tests, resulted in significant negative revisions for many domestic gas- and liquids-weighted producers, rendering some current projects uneconomic and pushing a boat load of proved undeveloped reserves (PUD) out of the five-year development window, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings.

Sharply lower natural gas prices year/year in 2012, used under required 12-month average price tests, resulted in significant negative revisions for many domestic gas- and liquids-weighted producers, which rendered some current projects uneconomic and pushed a boat load of proved undeveloped reserves (PUD) out of the five-year development window, according to an analysis by Fitch Ratings.

Following a series of tests indicating that water from private wells in Dimock Township, PA, is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Wednesday said it has determined “that there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the agency” and it has no plans to further test water samples in the township.

Following a series of tests indicating that water from private wells in Dimock Township, PA, is safe to drink, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday said it has determined “that there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the agency” and it has no plans to further test water samples in the township.

Lifted by prices and successful well tests from an extension of the emerging Mississippian Lime play, oil production in Kansas rose last year, according to new estimates by the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas. Natural gas production in 2011, however, declined by more than 6%.

Tennessee said due to limited operational flexibility, mild weather and tests of affiliate Southern’s Bear Creek storage field starting Tuesday (see below), it will implement a systemwide OFO Action Alert effective Wednesday until further notice for all Balancing Parties. See the bulletin board for OFO Action Alert conditions.