San Antonio, TX-based RiverRock Energy LLC has received $125 million in equity commitments from EnCap Flatrock Midstream and RiverRock management. RiverRock said it will develop midstream infrastructure for producers and others needing crude oil logistics services to gather, store and transport crude oil by pipeline and rail. It also will provide infrastructure to handle condensate, fresh and produced water, natural gas liquids and natural gas. “The company is pursuing greenfield and acquisition opportunities in emerging resource plays and other producing basins experiencing rapid growth,” it said.

Reasoning that development of the Monterey Shale can wait, the Los Angeles Times on Sunday editorialized in favor of a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) while a comprehensive study of the drilling practice’s impacts is completed. The Times endorsed a bill (SB 1132) that recently moved out of its first California Senate committee as a means of imposing a halt to the practice (see Shale Daily, April 9). The editorial focused on possible seismic ties to fracking, which is a concern in earthquake-prone California. It said the state “should have better answers” before it allows large-scale fracking in the Monterey. “The oil locked within the Monterey Shale isn’t going away; it will still be valuable after the state has completed its study,” the editorial said.