Years

With production out of the nation’s shale plays holding down natural gas prices and electricity generation becoming ever more dependent on inexpensive gas, coordination between the two markets will continue to be a top priority and a series of other issues need to be resolved, according to panelists at the Energy Bar Association (EBA) Mid-Year conference in Washington, DC, Friday.

Under increasing scrutiny since the San Bruno natural gas transmission rupture and explosion two years ago, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) on Thursday announced its use of advanced pipeline leak-detection equipment.

Integrated oil and natural gas producers have stepped up their game in recent years to deal with “large-scale operational lapses,” but there still are sources of concern, especially oil spills, according to a risk analysis by MSCI ESG Research.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday the number of drilling rigs active in the Utica Shale during the last week of October had more than doubled compared with the same week in 2011, with an increase in rigs targeting oil more than offsetting the loss of natural gas rigs.

North Dakota continues to set new records for oil and natural gas production, but it also continues to see more flared gas, according to officials.

In the wake of key natural gas pipeline ruptures and explosions in the past two years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has placed pipeline safety on the list of the 10 top transportation challenges that will face the nation in 2013.

In the wake of key natural gas pipeline ruptures and explosions in the past two years, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has placed pipeline safety on the list of the 10 top transportation challenges that it will face in 2013.

Tapping all of the potential in U.S. shale natural gas isn’t a given; it requires changes to, and investment in, basic energy infrastructure, including an expansion of the U.S. pipeline and storage network, according to KKR & Co. LP.

Washington state regulators fined Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) $250,000 for failing to correct violations found two years ago in the combination utility’s management of customer accounts. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) originally fined PSE $104,300 in October 2010 for allegedly improperly handling customer accounts, including low-income customers that were disconnected for nonpayment. In addition to the penalty, PSE was ordered to correct 265 accounts. UTC approved a multi-party settlement of a complaint that originally alleged 515 violations of the regulators’ 2010 order. Besides the UTC staff and PSE, the settlement included the Public Counsel Section of the Washington Attorney General’s Office, and the nonprofit The Energy Project, representing low-income customers. UTC said PSE now has provided refunds and credits to the customers with the mishandled accounts, and it has changed its billing practices to ensure that customer payments are applied correctly to avoid improper shutoffs. The utility also has agreed to make a $75,000 contribution to its low-income assistance program.