Portland, OR-based NW Natural retail residential and commercial/industrial customers will share in a $35 million one-time credit on their utility bills in June, resulting from the continuing drop in wholesale natural gas prices. The Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved credits that will average $36.58 for residential customers and will range from $714 to $20,000 for industrial customers. The utility asked the PUC to approve the credit as a way of passing along lower gas price savings accumulated from Nov. 1, 2011 through March 31. State regulators also indicated that there may be another credit stemming from lower gas costs in the second quarter. In addition, the PUC approved a separate $3.1 million credit for storage and transportation activities that will further reduce the average residential customer’s June bill by nearly $10.
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Articles from Time
Shale Gas Innovations Highlight Diversity of Industry
Technology spawned from shale gas got special notice this month in Pennsylvania, with two innovations taking top honors in a competition geared to maximize the economic return from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
Ohio Fracking Rules Bill Headed for House Vote
A bill that would create rules governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed a key committee in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday and is scheduled to be submitted to the full House for a floor vote on Thursday.
Concho Puts Another Billion Dollars in Permian Assets, Acreage
Adding to its already significant holdings in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southern New Mexico, Concho Resources Inc. on Monday agreed to acquire all the oil and natural gas assets of Three Rivers Operating Co. and affiliated entities for $1 billion in cash.
Ex-BLM Director Calls Federal Fracking Rules ‘Senseless’
A former director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the last President Bush called the agency’s efforts to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and natural gas production on public lands “senseless.”
‘Tidal Wave Shift’ to Permian, Says Baker Hughes CEO
Baker Hughes Inc. CEO Martin Craighead said Tuesday the company sees a big expansion of oilfield services ahead in the Permian Basin, of late the mecca for operators looking for liquids-rich reserves in the old guard oil and gas formations.
Schlumberger CEO: North America Onshore Operators Face Uncertainties
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) services that have been under pressure in North America’s natural gas basins now are seeing some of the same impacts in the liquids-rich basins, Schlumberger Ltd.’s CEO said Friday.
EPA Frack Emission Deadline Extended to 2015
In its final rule to eliminate harmful air pollution from oil and natural gas production, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted the energy industry a “reasonable” time to meet its requirements, extending the deadline for full compliance from two months to two-and-a-half years. The extension was in keeping with the Obama administration’s recent embrace of unconventional resources, particularly shale gas.
LNG Exports Opposed on Fracking Fears
The Sierra Club mounted another protest of exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), this time against a facility proposed for Freeport, TX. The opposition is not against exports themselves but against the expectation that they will cause drillers to expand the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation.
Record Domestic Onshore Gas Output in January, Says EIA
It may take some time before fewer drilling rigs and curtailed output make a dent in domestic onshore natural gas production. Dry gas production skyrocketed 11.6% in January from a year earlier to 2,047 Bcf gross, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
