Energy news in brief

** In Austin, Texas joint venture partners WhiteWater Midstream  alongside Agua Blanca lead investor First Infrastructure Capital announced final investment decision to proceed with the expansion of the Delaware Basin Agua Blanca System. The expansion includes a 42” diameter trunkline that more than doubles system capacity to over 3 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas across Culberson, Loving, Pecos, Reeves, Winkler and Ward counties.

** Yellowstone Forever, the official nonprofit partner of Yellowstone National Park, announced today it raised $1 million in private funds over three days at the end of September. Those funds have been matched dollar for dollar using federal funds appropriated for the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, delivering $2 million directly to Yellowstone National Park for the North Entrance Project. The current North Entrance Station in Gardiner, Montana, is not equipped to meet the challenges of increasing visitation and traffic.

** The North Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a lawsuit brought by the National Parks Conservation Association against a proposed oil refinery near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. A permit was issued last year by the state.

** In California where Pacific Gas and Electric has filed for bankruptcy amidst forest fires, more than two dozen mayors and county leaders want state regulators to turn PGE into a customer-owned power company.

** In Houston, the chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, Scott Sheffield has called on producers in the Permian Basin to limit natural gas flaring and monitor for methane leaks. Producers should get flaring and venting rates to 2% or less and not drill wells before pipelines are complete, Sheffield said during a call with analysts a day after releasing quarterly results.