Outrigger Energy LLC has started to develop a midstream system in the Delaware Basin of West Texas. The company’s plans include gathering pipelines for natural gas, crude oil and produced water, three compressor stations and a cryogenic processing plant with a capacity of 60 MMcf/d. The facilities will be located in Loving and Winkler counties, and the crude oil system will connect to multiple takeaway pipelines, as well as a possible rail outlet in Wink, TX. Outrigger has secured an independent producer to anchor the system and is in discussions with several others that could expand it.

The Environmental Resources and Energy Committeeof the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a bill by a vote of 15-10 that would ensure landowners receive a minimum royalty payment of 12.5%, sending it to the House floor for a full vote. The legislation clarifies language included in the state’s Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act of 1979 and would prohibit companies from making unfair deductions. It comes as Chesapeake Energy Corp. faces a possible investigation from the state Attorney General’s Office (see Shale Daily, March 14) for allegedly deducting oil and gas marketing and transportation costs from royalty checks. The state’s Senate Energy Committee has already passed a package of bills known as the Oil and Gas Lease Protection Package that would give landowners greater rights to pursue underpayment and make inquiries about the royalties they receive.