Trucking

A Wyoming-based trucking company is facing potential fines of more than $1 million, and criminal charges against the driver of the truck for allegedly dumping saltwater from oil and gas operations in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale, according to the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

Several players in the transportation sector have joined forces to roll out advances in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) sector, particularly the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) among long-haul trucking vehicles.

Encana Corp. has commissioned the Cavalier liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Alberta, considered one of the keys to bring higher volumes of natural gas to heavy-duty trucking and other fleets in Western Canada and elsewhere.

The first oilsands project with longer term commercial possibilities in Utah has gotten approval to move forward from a citizen appeal board for the state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (DOGM). It’s backers say it is the first commercial-scale oilsands project in the United States.

Producing areas can lead the way in natural gas vehicle (NGV) use in their own backyard, building out from trucking corridors to include natural gas fueling for smaller vehicles.

An estimated 56 million barrels of water are produced as a result of onshore oil and natural gas development everyday, and while the quality is poor, most of the contaminants occur naturally, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Only some of the contaminants are added through drilling, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and pumping oil and gas.

Murphy Oil Corp. has agreed to sell Houston-based Plains AllAmerican Pipeline LP its Canadian crude oil pipeline and truckingoperation for US$155 million, including inventory. The salereflects Murphy’s announcements recently to increase its upstreamcapital budget this year, targeting deepwater Gulf of Mexico andnortheastern British Columbia natural gas wells.