West

December natural gas is expected to open 10 cents higher Friday morning as a shift to cooler temperatures was noted for both East and West Coast population centers. Overnight oil markets skidded.

The West Virginia Department of Commerce is evaluating bids from several exploration and production (E&P) companies interested in valuable mineral rights below the Ohio River in the northern part of the state.

An ethane cracker and associated petrochemical facilities could bring billions to the economy of West Virginia for the next 40 years, but state officials must enact several strategies in order to take maximum advantage of that opportunity, according to a report.

The growth of domestic U.S. oil production from places like the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Uinta Basin in Utah will continue to boost growth of West Coast refining and crude rail operations, according to San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. CEO Greg Goff.

Horizontal drilling continues at a steady pace in West Virginia, where operators are concentrating on a wet gas zone in the Marcellus formation, located in the north-central part of the state and reaching into its panhandle.

As drilling increases in the Marcellus and Utica shales, researchers from the Battelle Memorial Institute are studying the geology and operations of wastewater injection wells in four states, with the hope that the data collected will ensure that future wells are drilled in safe locations.

A consent decree was approved Wednesday for XTO Energy Inc. to pay a $100,000 fine for discharging 50,000 gallons of toxic wastewater illegally in 2010 at a Marcellus Shale well site in Pennsylvania.

Elected officials in West Virginia are considering establishing an oil and gas trust fund similar to one enacted in other states, in hopes of providing future generations in the state with a source of revenue.

With up to 18 Bcf/d of natural gas supplies expected by 2018 from the Marcellus and Utica shales, the logical place to carry excess gas is west, according to Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) CEO Bill Moler.