NewsWatch: Energy

Electric customers get some new protections

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:26:18 -0600

The CAPP blog (Cities Aggregation Power Project) reports today on the Public Utility Commission approving new electricity consumer protection rules today. Among the issues addressed: printing contract expiration dates on bills so customers know when they might lose a particular...

U.S. rig count up for fifth week

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:22:07 -0600

U.S. drilling activity was up for the fifth consecutive week, adding 12 rigs to 1,113 but still well below the 1,941 rigs reported during the same week a year ago, according to Baker Hughes. Onshore added 13 rigs to 1,064....

Valero refinery shut-down another sign of woe

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:29:48 -0600

San Antonio-based Valero will permanently shut down its Delaware refinery this weekend, another sign of the U.S. refining industry's woes. Valero already closed a major refinery over the summer and cut two units in Delaware earlier. Refineries in the Northeast...

Northern's CEO resignation a "mutual decision'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:44:34 -0600

Yesterday I wrote about the resignation of Northern Offshore CEO Marion Woolie for reasons not immediately clear. A replay of the company's earnings webcast provides a bit of illumination. Jim LaChance, Northern's chairman who stepped in as interim president and...

Pipelines too profitable?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:58:47 -0600

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it is investigating whether three interstate natural gas pipelines are overcharging their customers -- including Kinder Morgan's Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America . The probe is over whether the companies "are over-recovering costs,...

Drilling for oil in Beverly Hills

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:09:56 -0600

California goes to great lengths of avoid using oil, but few in the Golden State probobly realize it's the third most prolific state in the country behind Texas and Alaska. As this video shows, wells within Los Angeles itself (even...

Chron Energy Newslinks | 11.20.09 | Shell didn't do it. Saudis build big iron.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:45:01 -0600

• Offshore drilling should expand here, Shell, MMS tells Senate panel. Shell says it did not ask MMS to delay decision on offshore Alaska drilling decisin. • Marathon to chop spending as it shifts focus to E&P. • FERC challenges...

What's in frack water? A whole lot of salt water, says report

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:31 -0600

A report done for the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound on water from a natural gas drilling site says it's mainly brine, according to a Dallas Morning News community blog: A report on the water produced from gas drilling operations...

Northern Offshore CEO resigns

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:37:10 -0600

The CEO of E&P firm Northern Offshore resigned from the company this week for as-yet unknown reasons. Marion Woolie, the former head of international drilling at GlobalSantaFe, resigned "effective immediately" the company said in a statement. "The Board of Directors...

One dead in Haynesville well blowout * 2nd update

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:19:19 -0600

Workers on a gas drilling rig at El Paso's Holly Field drilling site in Grand Cane, La., in October 2009. One worker died at a Chesapeake well in the same area this week. (James Nielsen/Chronicle) One worker died and...

The world of bribery, at your fingertips

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:07:57 -0600

The oil and gas industry is hardly alone in having a history of violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, but it's well represented in a new online database of bribery investigations and actions. Compiled by TRACE International (Transparent Agents...

Oil companies trim here, expand there

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:39:07 -0600

The drum beat grows louder of oil and gas firms cutting back on their spending, but there are a few caveats. A ConocoPhillips worker walks down the Green Mile at the Alpine oil field on the North Slope of Alaska,...

Want stimulus cash with a new fridge? Wait 'til next year

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:20:36 -0600

Texans will soon be able to tap into $23.3 million in new appliance rebates, but access to those federal stimulus funds probably won't be opened until the New Year. Embrace me! (After Christmas, that is). The Federal "cash for clunker...

Copenhagen not necessarily for naught

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:08:50 -0600

President Barack Obama stated the obvious this week, that there'd be no binding climate deal in Copenhagen next month, but that doesn't mean the meeting will be a bust, says Victor Flatt over at Flatt Out Environmental. "First of all,...

Chron Energy Newslinks | 11.19.09 | Valero makes money with ethanol. Save the trees, save the world.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:45:12 -0600

• Ethanol is producing a profit for Valero • Corn ethanol maker Poet says it could compete with gasoline in two years. • More warnings to the Senate about too much OTC trading restrictions. • Companies cutting back North Slope...