-Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has sided with business leaders to fight a fall ballot initiative that would essentially ban fracking in the state. Via Bloomberg, the proposals, which are being pushed by environmental groups, would require wells to be located at least 2,000 feet from structures. Current state law prohibits wells from being located within 500 feet of occupied buildings. Hickenlooper said the ballot measure imposes an “arbitrary limit” on fracking throughout the state.
-The energy sector accounted for seven of the 10 largest M&As in Texas in the first half of 2014, according to data from Mergermarket. Via the Houston Business Journal, nearly half of the 27 deals valued at $1 billion or more involved energy companies. The largest deal in Texas was Encana Oil & Gas’s $3 billion purchase of Freeport-McMoRan’s assets in the Eagle Ford shale.
-Cheniere Energy secured another agreement to sell natural gas from its proposed Corpus Christi Liquefaction project. Cheniere will supply Électricité de France with 0.38 million tons of gas per year from Train 2 of the facility and an additional 0.77 million tons per year from Train 3. The agreement will extend for 20 years from the first commercial delivery of Train 3, which Cheniere Energy hopes will occur in 2019. Cheniere recently signed similar agreements with PT Pertamina,of Indonesia, Singapore’s Woodside Energy Trading and Gas Natural Fenosa of Spain.
-The EPA on Thursday said Duke Energy has completed clearing the Dan River of coal ash five months after a giant spill at the company’s power plant in Eden, N.C. Via the Associated Press, the 39,000-ton spill was the result of a drainage pipe collapse at a waste dump in Eden.
-E&E News explores the predicament of major LNG firms who are caught in the middle of the raging debate over the Export-Import Bank’s future. A Sept. 30 deadline for the bank's reauthorization has become a rallying point for opponents on both sides of the political spectrum.
