Utah

President Obama on Wednesday designated two national monuments in Utah and Nevada, with the one in Utah coming at odds with the sentiment of state political leaders and the oil/gas industry.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management office in Utah on Thursday posted a proposed list of four parcels totaling 4,175 acres that will be offered in an online oil/natural gas lease sale in the first quarter.

A federal judge in Utah has rejected the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) approval of a natural gas drilling program in the Uintah Basin, saying the environmental review was insufficient given that thousands of wells were potentially going to be drilled under the plan.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Utah opened the door to the possibility of substantially more oil and natural gas development in parts of the Uintah Basin, issuing on Friday a record of decision (ROD) for up to 5,800 infill wells on federal, state and private lands south of Myton, UT.

A developer is offering capacity in a new western region natural gas storage project at the same time projects in the Gulf Coast region — the traditional gas supply area — have struggled and storage capacity there has beenunderutilized.

The proposed merger between Richmond, VA-based Dominion Resources Inc. and Salt Lake City, UT-based Questar Corp. came one step closer to completion Tuesday when Utah’s Public Service Commission signed off on the deal, the companies announced.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on Thursday for what could be one of the nation’s first commercial-level oil shale operations, Enefit American Oil’s proposed mining operation in the Uinta Basin in Utah.

Utah officials have reviewed proposed changes to Magnum Gas Storage LLC’s plans to construct, own and operate a natural gas storage facility and a major pipeline header system in western Utah, and the state supports the project, according to documents filed at FERC.

Power company Dominion Resources Inc. plans to acquire natural gas distributor and pipeline company Questar Corp. for $4.4 billion cash plus debt in a deal that continues the recent trend of electricity players acquiring natural gas local distribution companies (LDC).