The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, in a Dec. 12 decision, found that the state’s local distribution companies took a prudent approach to managing their gas supply portfolio during the 2013 to 2016 winter seasons and properly met their “supplier-of-last-resort” or SOLR obligations. The agency analyzed data for the peak demand days from the three…
The Bureau of Land Management’s quarterly oil and gas lease sale in Utah generated net proceeds of $3.04 million drawing bids for 96 of 105 parcels offered, according to a Dec. 12 press release. The sale excluded 116 parcels following a court ruling in September by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho…
Under current and planned policies, global energy demand is expected to grow by over 25 percent to 2040, requiring an annual investment of more than $2 trillion in new energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook published on Nov. 13. The agency said that over 70 percent of global energy investments…
Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, issued an executive order on Oct. 24 directing state agencies to safeguard Oregon’s coastal economy by preventing the construction of infrastructure associated with oil and gas drilling. The measure comes in response to the Trump administration’s proposal to encourage offshore drilling in federal waters off the Oregon coast. Brown sought…
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved three environmental protection plans for the Atlantic Coast pipeline, allowing construction to begin on the 300-mile track across the state, according to an Oct. 19 press release. Following the approval of the erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, and karst protection plans, final construction approval now lies with…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 17 authorized National Grid LNG LLC to add natural gas liquefaction facilities at the company’s existing Fields Point facility in Providence, Rhode Island. National Grid proposed the project, which seeks to add a 20 million standard cubic feet per day capacity, at the request of its customers Narragansett…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff issued a draft environmental assessment for NextDecade Corporation’s Rio Grande LNG Project finding that the project would result in some adverse environmental impacts, which would be reduced to less than significant levels, according to the agency’s Oct. 12 announcement. The staff said it has developed other site-specific mitigation measures…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set a Dec. 18 deadline to issue an environmental assessment for the Cheyenne Connector Pipeline and Cheyenne Hub Enhancement projects in Colorado, according to the agency’s Oct. 11 notice. The pipeline, proposed by Cheyenne Connector LLC, comprises a 70-mile interstate line to move about 600 million cubic feet per day…
President Donald Trump nominated Bernard L. McNamee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term ending June 30, 2020, to fill the vacancy resulting from Commissioner Robert Powelson’s resignation in August, according to an Oct. 9 release from the agency. McNamee currently serves as the Executive Director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Oct. 2 ordered another halt to construction activity on all portions of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline. The court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers had instituted inadequate requirements for how the pipeline should cross streams in West Virginia, just a few weeks…
U.S. net natural gas exports averaged 0.87 billion cubic feet per day during the first six months of this year, more than double the amount during all of 2017, which marked the first time the U.S. became a net exporter in almost 60 years, according to an Oct. 1 report from the U.S. Energy Information…
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Sept. 28 updated the 2016 well control rule, one of the spate of safety regulations implemented in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill that spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over nearly three months. The agency said…
