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British shale company Cuadrilla plans new campaign

British shale gas explorer Cuadrilla Resources announced its intention to submit a plan for exploration work to the county council in Lancashire. "This application could be a really important milestone for Lancashire and the U.K. as we seek to unlock Lancashire’s shale gas potential," Cuadrilla Chief Executive Officer Francis Egan said in a statement Sunday. The company said it would submit its planning application for a hydraulic fracturing campaign for four exploration wells to the Lancashire County Council before the end of May. In March, the company said it believes there are 200 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas in the Bowland basin in Lancashire . Cuadrilla was the target of major demonstrations last summer when exploratory operations in the southern village of Balcombe were viewed as a prelude to fracking. In January, the company sent a letter to village residents, saying it was […]

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US market better equipped to handle low gas inventories: Goldman Sachs

Less coal-to-gas switching, pipeline debottlenecking in key regions and strong production will allow the US natural gas market to cope with historically low inventory levels, Goldman Sachs analysts said. While the market will likely fall 400 Bcf short of the traditional end-October inventory level of 3.8 Tcf, the better supplied environment due to shale plays mean "fewer inventories than normal will be needed to serve the market as production can take up the slack," Goldman said Thursday in a note to clients. As of May 9, working gas in storage was 1.60 Tcf, 790 Bcf less than last year and 959 Bcf below the five-year average of 2.119 Tcf, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The severe winter took inventories to a 10-year low. Article continues below… Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major […]

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Pa. Dems fight to prove they can milk fracking for all it’s worth

Lycoming County looks like a lot of the rest of Pennsylvania: Pothole-marked roads snake through mountains and farmland, leading to little one-street towns that often contain little more than a coffee shop, a bank, a gas station and a bar. But ever since companies like Anadarko, EXCO Resources, XTO Energy and Range Resources came to town, everyday life has had a little more buzz around here. Eighteen-wheelers zip by day and night, cafes and restaurants in small cities like Williamsport are busy, and the parking lots of the Holiday Inns, Marriotts and many independent motels are packed with pickups from out of state. This is fracking country, and to supporters of the practice, Lycoming represents all the good that can come from it — jobs, economic growth and energy independence. To fracking’s detractors, Lycoming represents everything wrong with Pennsylvania, namely the state’s apparent willingness to embrace […]

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Chesapeake Energy to Spin Off Oilfield Services Business

Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Friday that it will proceed with a spinoff of its oil-field services operations to shareholders as it also plans other asset sales. The oil and natural-gas company filed earlier this year for a possible spinoff of Chesapeake Oilfield Operating LLC, a move the company had been considering. Chesapeake plans to change the name of the division to Seventy Seven Energy Inc. upon the spinoff. The division—which offers drilling, hydraulic fracturing and rig relocation, among other services—pulled in about $2.2 billion in revenue last year. This and other planned asset sales will bring the total value of sales and divestitures in 2014 to more than $4 billion, the company said. Chesapeake has already received more than $925 million of asset sale proceeds so far this year. Upon completion of the spinoff—which the company intends to be tax-free to its shareholders—and an expected recapitalization, about $1.1 billion […]

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Cove Point LNG draws mixed reviews

Environmental advocacy groups said U.S. regulators need to restart their review process for an export license for liquefied natural gas from Cove Point, Md. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its environmental assessment for the LNG terminal in Maryland. Dominion Energy wants to ship 770,000 cubic feet of LNG per day to countries that don’t have a free-trade agreement with the United States. FERC, in a 241-page filing , said there would be "no significant impact" on the environment provided the company follows the estimated 80 mitigation measures. Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy, said the review was " thorough and independent ." FERC’s assessment drew fire from environmental groups concerned about the impacts of the facility. "FERC has failed the public once again with the release of this flimsy and deeply flawed environmental review," Jorge Aguilar, the southern region director for Food & Water […]

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Norway supplies more than 20% of Europe’s natural gas needs

Norway is the world’s third-largest natural gas exporter, after Russia and Qatar. In 2013, Norway supplied 21% of total European natural gas needs. Norway’s natural gas reaches the Continent mainly via its extensive export pipeline infrastructure (see map below), while a small fraction is exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG) by tanker. The largest recipients of Norway’s natural gas exports in 2013 were the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, with permission from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate EIA estimates that Norway produced 3.97 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of dry natural gas in 2013, a decline of 0.18 Tcf from 2012. EIA also estimates that Norway’s net exports for 2013 were 3.8 Tcf of natural gas, which, because of its modest domestic demand, was 96% of its production. Norway’s single largest natural gas field is […]

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NY Policymakers Seek Ban on Fracking Waste

New York has a pending bill establishing a moratorium on the disposal of fluids used in hydraulic fracturing that occurs outside of the state, according to legislation introduced Tuesday by Democrats in the state Senate. The minority conference released four bills proposing to ban shipping hydraulic fracturing waste product into the state for treatment or disposal as well as ban the waste from being used to melt ice off roads and bar treatment facilities, and landfills from accepting the byproduct. New York, currently holding a moratorium on fracking permits until it completes an environmental impact review that launched in 2008, is reviewing whether fracking should be allowed between its borders. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) launched its review of large-scale fracturing about 6 years ago. “There is no end in sight for the ongoing 5-year review of fracking in New York,” commented Gov. Cuomo and Dr. Shah […]

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FERC issues EA for Cove Point LNG export project

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued its environmental assessment (EA) for the Cove Point LNG liquefaction and export project ( OGJ Online, Mar. 14, 2014 ). The project is proposed by Dominion Cove Point LNG LP (DCP). FERC concluded that “approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.” It also reported that potential impacts would be reduced with the implementation of DCP’s proposed minimization and mitigation measures and the 82 additional measures recommended in the EA. The project would enable DCP to export 5.75 million tonnes/year of LNG via LNG marine carriers that would dock at the existing offshore pier, FERC said. FERC also has prepared a draft general conformity determination (GCD) to assess the potential air quality impacts associated with construction and operation of the proposed project; the GCD is […]

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Natural Gas Weekly Update

New LNG plant in North Dakota will supply oil and gas producers A new natural gas liquefaction plant is slated to come online this summer in North Dakota to reduce the flaring of gas in the Bakken Formation and provide fuel for Bakken oil and gas operations. The developer, Prairie Companies LLC subsidiary North Dakota LNG, announced earlier this month that the plant would provide an initial 10,000 gallons per day (gal/d) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and could expand to 66,000 gal/d. Assuming a 10% processing loss, the plant would take in a maximum of 6 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) once expanded. In 2012, North Dakota vented and flared 218 MMcf/d of natural gas because of record-high oil production and insufficient pipeline takeaway capacity for natural gas produced as a byproduct. Hess Corporation will supply the natural gas for liquefaction at Prairie’s Tioga natural gas processing […]

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Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

Historical Comparisons Stocks billion cubic feet (Bcf) Year ago (05/09/13) 5-Year average (2009-2013) Region 05/09/14 05/02/14 net change implied flow (Bcf) % change (Bcf) % change East -43.1 -50.3 West -38.3 -34.2 Producing -38.9 866 -44.1     Salt 126 113 226 -44.2 179 -29.6     Nonsalt 358 342 567 -36.9 687 -47.9 Reclassifications from base gas to working gas resulted in increased working gas stocks of approximately 8 Bcf in the East region for the week ending May 9, 2014. The implied flow for the week is an increase of 97 Bcf to working gas stocks. (See Notes and Definitions for more information on "implied flow.") Working gas in storage was 1,160 Bcf as of Friday, May 9, 2014, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net increase of 105 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 790 Bcf less than last year at this time and 959 Bcf […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple