Unitholders and shareholders of LINN Energy LLC, LinnCo LLC and Berry Petroleum Co. have approved the companies’ merger and related transactions, setting the deal on course for closure as it passed its final hurdle at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month (see Daily GPI, Feb. 22). The deal is said to be the first-ever acquisition of a C-corporation by an upstream limited liability company or master limited partnership. Linn Energy last month raised its offer for Berry by $600 million, reinvigorating the mega-deal (see Daily GPI, Nov. 4).

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) completed a binding open season for incremental, north-to-south gas transportation capacity on the TGP system totaling 500,000 Dth/d. During the open season (see Shale Daily, Nov. 21), 400,000 Dth/d of long-term capacity and 100,000 Dth/d of short-term capacity was awarded to six different shippers. The capacity will provide firm service for Marcellus and Utica production from receipt points as far north as Mercer, PA, for delivery to multiple points on the Gulf Coast. Capital of the project is expected to be about $150 million. “Capacity bids were for volumes well in excess of the capacity offered and TGP will be evaluating further capacity expansions,” the pipeline said. “…[T]he results of the open season…indicate that demand for clean, efficient natural gas is continuing to drive production growth in the Utica, Marcellus and other shale resource plays…” said Kinder Morgan’s Kimberly Watson, east region natural gas pipeline president. “The capacity subscribed in this open season also supports continued growth in Gulf Coast consumption markets and provides more supply for Gulf Coast end-uses, including processing, fractionation and liquefaction.”

NGL Supply Terminal Co. LLC, a subsidiary of NGL Energy Partners LP, has completed the acquisition of natural gas liquid (NGL) assets from Keyera Energy Inc. The assets include four rail-to-truck propane terminal facilities and related equipment located in New Mexico, Montana and Washington. The terminals have a combined propane storage capacity of 640,000 gallons with the ability to move up to 100 million gallons annually. The acquisition boosts NGL Supply’s portfolio to 22 propane and butane terminal facilities across the U.S.

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. has secured contracts for all the available transport capacity on its Northern Access 2015 and Westside expansion and modernization pipeline projects. Northern Access is being upgraded for $67 million in conjunction with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s (TGP) Niagara expansion. With an in-service date of Nov. 2015, together the lines will deliver Marcellus Shale gas to an interconnect at the Canadian border. National has leased 140 MMcf/d of Northern Access transport capacity to TGP for 15 years. National also has two agreements for the entire 175 MMcf/d of transport capacity on its $74 million West Side project in southwest Pennsylvania with Range Resources Corp. and affiliated E&P Seneca Resources Corp. West Side will provide the operators with access to TGP and Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline systems in southwest Pennsylvania in 2015.

FERC approved Gulf Crossing Pipeline Co. LLC‘s request to place Phase I of its Panda Power Lateral Project facilities into service. The authorized facilities include 1.76 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline. The entire length of the lateral that Gulf Crossing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, has proposed to complete by mid-2014 is 16.5 miles from its Sherman Compressor Station in Texas to an interconnection with the 758-MW Panda Sherman Power Plant I, which is expected to be completed by year-end 2014 (CP13-64). The $26.3 million project would extend Gulf Crossing’s existing facilities to an interconnection with the new gas-fired power plant being developed by Panda Sherman Power LLC, which would provide added power to the north central and northeast regions of Texas (see Daily GPI, Sept. 13). The gas-fueled, combined cycle power plant is located about 60 miles north of Dallas and near the Barnett Shale.

California-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. reported Thursday that customers increased natural gas vehicle (NGV) orders by 70% this year compared with 2012, and the public transit sector helped lead the way. Clean Energy said that public transit and taxi systems in Long Beach, CA, and Las Vegas, NV, greatly expanded their compressed natural gas (CNG) fleets this year, drawing on support from the Newport Beach-based transportation fuel and infrastructure provider. Long Beach Public Transportation Co. (LBT) signed a multi-year operations/maintenance agreement with Clean Energy for its natural gas fueling needs as it deployed 64 CNG buses in its fleet this year. It has a private fueling station provided by Clean Energy that can fuel up to a fleet of 110 CNG buses.