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Well, that was fast! The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday night released the October testing schedule of its revamped Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, which expands its original three-region East, West and Producing classification to a five-region East, Midwest, Mountain, Pacific and South Central classification in order to better pinpoint where gas injections are taking place.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Port Arthur Liquefaction Project and Port Arthur Pipeline Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Port Arthur LNG LLC (PALNG) and Port Arthur Pipeline LLC (PAPL), respectively, in Jefferson and Orange counties, TX and Cameron Parish, LA. The terminal is a project of Sempra affiliates (see Daily GPI,March 23). Comments should focus on the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives and measures to avoid or reduce environmental impacts. Comments are due by July 24 in dockets PF15-18-000 and PF15-19-000.

Natural gas forwards markets appeared to be taking a breather this week, with most market hubs shifting less than nickel from Monday to Wednesday, amid some see-sawing in Nymex futures and uncertainty in long-range weather forecasts.

Pennsylvania has negotiated a settlement with an environmental group that will temporarily bar the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) from issuing any new subsurface leases in state forests and parks until a Commonwealth Court can rule on a broader lawsuit this fall.

A London-based oil/gas analyst on Thursday predicted a longer-term price drop for Asian-Pacific liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, resulting from a combination of factors including anticipated U.S. LNG exports. For proposed West Coast export projects in the United States and Canada this could be problematic.

Jeff Shellebarger, 56, will take over as president of Chevron Corp. subsidiary Chevron North America Exploration and Production Co. on Aug. 1. Gary Luquette has helmed the unit since 2006, but he is retiring after 35 years. To help with the transition, Luquette plans to remain at Chevron until Sept. 1. Shellebarger joined Chevron in 1980 and now manages the IndoAsia business unit. As president of North America operations, Shellebarger would oversee exploration and production activity across all of the producer’s assets in the United States and Canada.

Amid forecasts that see no end to low gas prices across North America, overseas exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are being rated as a must for development of the Canadian version of shale supplies in northern British Columbia (BC).

The Sierra Club said last Thursday a legacy agreement between it and a previous owner of the Cove Point LNG terminal site in Maryland will stop current owner Dominion from adding liquefaction and export facilities. However, during an earnings conference call Dominion CEO Thomas Farrell said the project is on track despite what the environmental group claims.

A recent one-day retest of an Upper Montney Shale well in northeast British Columbia flowed at a rate of 8.9 MMcf/d, which further confirms a “large in-gas resource” at the Peach River Arch area, junior explorer Canada Energy Partners Inc. (CEP) said Monday.