Page 7 - Intelligence Press News Today

FERC has given a favorable environmental assessment (EA) to two related expansions proposed by Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) to carry Rocky Mountain natural gas to Northeast markets.

With non-strategic assets sales behind it, The Woodlands, TX-based Newfield Exploration Co. is focusing on multiple oil and liquids-rich projects and is placing particular emphasis on drilling longer laterals.

The Cana-Woodford, Eagle Ford and Bakken/Sanish/Three Forks plays continued to lead the activity growth in unconventional fields over the last year as oil and gas producers put more weight on liquids-rich shales to take advantage of higher commodity prices found in oil and natural gas liquids. Conversely, some of the nation's dry gas shales have seen the largest drilling activity declines as natural gas prices remain below $4/MMBtu for much of the country.

Natural gas prices should rebound to "reasonable" levels of $6-7/MMBtu long term, which makes the abundant fossil fuel more attractive to develop than renewable resources, ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva said last week.

Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) Monday got the green light from FERC to place in service an expansion of its system to serve growing natural gas demand along the Colorado Front Range, particularly in the Denver metropolitan area.

California environmental officials have asked Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to step up its efforts to keep toxin-laced groundwater from its natural gas transmission pipeline operations near the California-Arizona border from seeping into the nearby Colorado River, which is a major source of drinking water for 18 million people in Southern California. Tainted groundwater from a nearby compressor station reportedly has gotten within 60 feet of the river, according to a Los Angeles Times news report...

GDF SUEZ Mexico and GE Energy Financial Services (GEFS) are partnering to extend the Mayakan pipeline in the Yucatan Peninsula, where Mexico's state-owned electric utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), has agreed to use 300 MMcf/d of natural gas in power plants currently using diesel and fuel oil.

In a major victory for market speculators, a federal court in Washington, DC, Friday tossed out the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's controversial final rule aimed at limiting speculative trading in the swaps market.

With more questions than answers surrounding Greenwich, CT-based Amaranth Advisors LLC's significant losses due to a slumping natural gas market, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal reiterated Tuesday his long-standing call for more oversight of hedge funds in general.

Two Asia-focused investors -- Temasek and RRJ Capital -- have agreed to put $468 million into Cheniere Energy Inc., the liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer said Monday, adding that it would use the proceeds to support development of liquefaction and export capability at the Sabine Pass LNG facility in Louisiana (see Daily GPI, April 18).