In this week's news update, the natural gas leak at a California well has been sealed, and the Iowa Utilities Board will meet again in March for more deliberation.
The Iowa Utilities Board approved a motion on Feb. 19 to recess its deliberation meeting on the proposed Dakota Access pipeline case. The pipeline has been approved in North and South Dakota and Illinois.
The board will meet again March 9 and 10 for additional pipeline deliberation meetings. The board says when they return they will review the draft order and discuss any changes necessary in order to reach a decision. No additional evidence or witnesses will be called.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.78 billion infrastructure project that is planned to transport approximately 450,000 barrels per day, with a capacity as high as 570,000 bpd, of domestically produced light sweet crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks production areas to Patoka, Illinois.
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Whiting Petroleum Calls Off Bakken Projects
Whiting Petroleum Corp. announced Feb. 19 that it has shelved its project to drill 20 Bakken and Three Forks well sites and has also abandoned its project to develop a gathering pipeline.
Whiting controls around 670,000 net acres in the Williston Basin. The acreage extends to Montana and North Dakota.
In the third quarter of fiscal year 2015, the company reported a $1.87 billion net loss, again the $158 million net profit it earned the same quarter last year.
Related: Editor's Notebook: Promising Future in the Bakken
Natural Gas Leak in California Sealed
A blowout at a natural gas well that spewed large amounts of methane for nearly four months has been permanently sealed, state officials declared Feb. 18.
Testing showed the well was no longer leaking, according to the California Department of Conservation.
The Associated Press says investigations will now begin into how the well had managed to blowout and leak uncontrollably for so long. It was drilled for oil in 1953 and reused for natural gas storage in the 1970s.
Related: Blog: Gas and Oil Fuel North Dakota’s Rise
US Rig Count Drops 27 to 514
The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by 27 last week to 514, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes on Feb. 19.
The Houston-based company says 413 rigs were seeking oil and 101 for natural gas. A year ago, 1,310 rigs were active.
Texas declined by 12 rigs, while Oklahoma and North Dakota each dropped three. Louisiana fell by two, and Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming all dropped one.
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Alaska, Arkansas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia were all unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
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