Union

Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Wednesday blasted South Carolina’s two Republican senators for blocking and objecting to the Senate confirmation of Ernest J. Moniz as secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) to protect a nuclear fuel facility in their home state.

Regulators with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) passed a milestone in the Utica Shale last week, after having cumulatively issued more than 600 permits for horizontal wells targeting oil and natural gas.

Dover, OH-based Dennison Disposal LLC has applied for a permit to drill a Class II wastewater injection well in Union Township in Tuscarawas County, OH, to support oil and natural gas drilling in the Utica Shale. The well would be drilled to a depth of 7,900-9,000 feet, according to the permit application with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) The well, classified as a saltwater injection well, would have an average disposal capacity of 5,000 barrels a day of wastewater, and a maximum disposal capacity of 8,000 barrels a day. An ODNR spokesman said a public comment period on the proposed well is to end April 24. Last July, Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order temporarily giving the ODNR power to regulate injection wells (see Shale Daily, July 13, 2012). Specifically, the chief of the Division of Oil Gas Resources Management, currently Rick Simmers, has the authority to enact rules for injection wells, including requiring additional testing before drilling and possibly setting a maximum allowable injection pressure. The ODNR currently has an inventory of 151,000 Class II injection wells, including saltwater injection, enhanced oil recovery and annular disposal wells.

Carroll County and operators for Chesapeake Energy Corp. continue to hold the lion’s share of permits issued and producing wells in the Utica Shale, according to Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) figures.

President Obama was playing “fast and loose” when he claimed in his State of the Union (SOTU) address that his administration has been working to speed applications for permits to drill (APD) for energy production on federal lands, said Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson has announced her intention to resign after President Obama’s State of the Union speech, bringing to an end a sometimes tumultuous four-year tenure.

Long-haul trucking fleets are increasingly turning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a fuel, and with the upcoming availability of larger (12- to 13-liter engines) next year, the U.S. market could eventually reach more than 2 Tcf annually, according to Clean Energy Fuels Corp.’s CEO.

Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) said ETE plans to drop down its interest in Southern Union Co. (SUG) into an ETP-controlled entity that will also include assets to be acquired in the merger of Sunoco Inc. (SUN) and ETP (see Daily GPI, May 11). Concurrent with the closing of the Sunoco merger, ETE will contribute its interest in SUG into an ETP-controlled entity in exchange for a 60% equity interest in the new entity, to be called ETP Holdco Corp. (Holdco). ETP will contribute its interest in Sunoco to Holdco and will retain a 40% equity interest in Holdco. Prior to the contribution of Sunoco to Holdco, Sunoco’s interests in Sunoco Logistics Partners LP will be transferred to ETP. “Through this transaction, we resolve the timing of ETE’s drop down of the SUG assets, without the need for external equity or debt financing, and will enhance distribution growth prospects at both ETE and ETP,” said ETE Chairman Kelcy Warren. ETE said it has reviewed its plans with all three credit rating agencies and believes that the new structure enhances the overall credit profile of ETE, ETP and SUG, and furthers ETP’s commitment to maintaining investment grade credit ratings.

There is a need for a single “rulebook” to analyze alleged market manipulations in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets of the United States and European Union (EU), according to a pair of economists with The Brattle Group, who propose an economic framework that they say would assist compliance efforts by distinguishing behavior that is patently manipulative and identifying safe harbors for legitimate trading.