Underground

Royal Dutch Shell plc, which operates the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP), said late Monday its oilsands operations have achieved a production milestone of 500 million bbl since production began in 2003. Current production capacity has reached 255,000 b/d, Shell said.

D-Lo Gas Storage LLC (DGS), a new entrant in the natural gas storage business, has filed an application to build a facility in the D’Lo Salt Dome underground salt formation in south-central Mississippi.

FERC has issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Sawgrass Storage LLC’s proposal to convert a depleted natural gas reservoir to an underground storage facility just west of Perryville in Lincoln and Union parishes in northeast Louisiana.

Peak working capacity of underground natural gas storage for the Lower 48 was an estimated 4,103 Bcf in April, up 1% compared with 4,049 Bcf in April 2010, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Working design capacity also increased by about 1% to 4,388 Bcf, EIA said.

Sawgrass Storage LLC has filed an application at FERC to convert a depleted natural gas reservoir into an underground storage facility just west of Perryville in Lincoln and Union parishes in northeast Louisiana.

Following two home explosions in a rural area of northwest Pennsylvania within three months of each other, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) Monday called for federal help to protect the public from risks associated with the development of shale gas in the Marcellus and Utica plays.

The largest underground natural gas storage field in California, Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon facility, is drawing protests over a proposed expansion project.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC have announced an acquisition as well as an infrastructure development deal to serve EQT Corp. and other producers in Appalachia.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday unanimously approved a 21 Bcf expansion of the Wild Goose Storage LLC independent underground natural gas storage facility in Northern California. As part of the decision, a major intrastate transmission pipeline connection with a nearby compressor station was also authorized.