E&P

With carbon emissions and well stimulation now regulated by the state, and with new water rules and energy taxes possible next year, oil and natural gas industry representatives expressed mixed feelings Tuesday about the future of their business at Oil and Gas Awards’ West Coast Energy Summit in Bakersfield, CA.

The elected Board of Supervisors in Kern County, CA, in the middle of the state’s oil patch in the lower San Joaquin Valley, was sued in California Superior Court last Thursday for allegedly ignoring environmental risks in approving a $100 million crude-by-rail project in Bakersfield. The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and the Association of Irritated Residents, among others, filed the legal action.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Monday that the agency plans to roll out a series of key peer-reviewed papers related to its long-awaited draft report on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on drinking water resources, setting the stage for its release early next year.

Prospective customers have stepped up for a sufficient amount of firm capacity on a proposed 30-mile extension of the Central New York Oil & Gas Co. LLC (CNYOG) pipeline system during a nonbinding open season, CNYOG parent Crestwood Midstream Partners LP said Monday.

Lawmakers in both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have unanimously passed a bill requiring operators of unconventional oil and gas wells to report their production on a monthly basis, a similar practice in other major producing states. The bill is awaiting Gov. Tom Corbett’s signature.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals said they have found an economical solution for removing salt from water produced when hydraulically fracturing (frack) oil and natural gas wells, according to a paper published this week in the journal Applied Energy.

Seeking to improve its financial and competitive positions, Denver-based QEP Resources unit QEP Field Services is selling its natural gas-rich midstream assets to Tesoro Logistic LP (TLLP) in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.5 billion.

Sparked by Mexico’s recent energy reform, Alfa, a Mexican diversified industrial company with dealings from energy to chemicals to branded foods, said Monday it is looking to raise significant capital to expand its energy production footprint in Mexico, with a focus on shale natural gas.

While construction projects and jobs in non-shale gas related industries declined sharply from 2008 to 2014, tradesman in five states within or near to the Marcellus Shale worked more hours and benefited heavily from investments in the formation’s development, according to a new study.