Western

As processing capacity has come online in 2019, natural gas production from the Bakken Shale has been booming, and Western Canada producers stand to lose out as they compete with more molecules seeking markets in the Midwest.

New Mexico, one of the largest U.S. natural gas producers with vast resources in the Permian and San Juan basins, has joined a group of other western states and counties in working with tribal nations to open more export opportunities from the region to growing markets across Asia.

Enough robust natural gas supply exists in the Piceance Basin of Colorado and the Uinta Basin of Utah to serve western markets and provide a surplus to export overseas, the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) said in a new report.

Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Patrick McDonnell plans to hit the road in April for a listening tour about how the agency’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) can be improved. McDonnell will host nine roundtables with residents and leaders across the state to see how they can get more involved in DEP’s decision-making process. The OEJ serves as a point of contact for Pennsylvanians in low income areas and areas with more minorities. It was established more than a decade ago to better protect those communities from industrial development such as oil and gas drilling. OEJ Director Carl Jones said his office wants to go beyond those demographics, however, and start reaching out to include more communities in the public participation process. The agency’s oil and gas permitting has slowed in recent years as DEP has faced staff cuts, technical deficiencies and, at times, more applications. A schedule of the roundtables is available on DEP’s website.

Two Texas companies, San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. and El Paso-based Western Refining Inc., said Thursday that Tesoro is acquiring Western in a stock transaction valued at $6.4 billion. Given timely approvals, the acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

Among seven resolutions passed on Tuesday, the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) adopted strong states-rights stances in two of them, regarding the need for statutory changes in the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and future policies aimed at energy use and development during the conclusion of the association’s three-day annual meeting in Jackson, WY.

Discovery of a western devil in the details of an eastern settlement on TransCanada Corp.’s proposed partial conversion of its natural gas Mainline to oil service has ignited a new protest.

Only five producers participated in the federal Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and gas auction on Wednesday, the lowest number of bidders since area leasing began in 1983, a top official said.

Seven conservation groups have filed suit against the Department of Interior (DOI) and its U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) after regulators declined to add two rare wildflowers that only grow in the Uinta Basin in Colorado and Utah to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).