Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp. is spudding a well at its Yellow Jacket shale gas project, part of an emerging two-formation natural gas shale play in the Paradox Basin of Colorado and Utah. Barrett is targeting the Pennsylvanian Hovenweep shale and Gothic shale at depths of 5,500-7,500 feet above and below the Lower Ismay formation. Hovenweep covers 1,300 square miles in the basin; Gothic is about 1,850 square miles wide. Barrett holds operating stakes of 55-100% in 183,000 net undeveloped acres in the Yellow Jacket shale project. Barrett said it drilled three “science wells” in 2007, which confirmed “encouraging gas content and shale composition.” An underlying salt isolated by a hard layer of anhydrite was believed to be an effective frac barrier, but a frac job penetrated the salt, which plugged surface equipment, it said. Barrett has a 3-D seismic shoot under way to high-grade a location for a horizontal Gothic shale well later in 2008. The well is to have a 3,000-foot lateral and would be stimulated with smaller jobs to avoid the salt layer, the producer said.

GE Oil & Gas’ PII Pipeline Solutions on Friday introduced a new technology to help pipeline operators better evaluate potential third-party mechanical damage (dents), the “single-most significant integrity threat” to both petroleum liquid and natural gas networks globally. With operators struggling to evaluate the large population of dents in their networks, GE said it is offering innovating integrity engineering solutions to more accurately measure the severity and potential threat of dents reported by in-line inspection runs. Illustrating the potential problem operators are facing, over an 18-month period, GE’s inspection tools detected more than 66,000 dents within 57,200 miles of pipeline — an average of 1.2 dents per mile. To help operators overcome this integrity management challenge, GE is upgrading its global fleet of internal pipeline deformation inspection tools and combining them with advanced integrity engineering solutions to provide more detailed dent-surface-contour and strain information. “GE is dedicated to helping operators enhance the long-term integrity of their networks by providing them with the most accurate information available so that they can invest their time and money remediating dents that pose a real threat to a pipeline’s future integrity, and not on dents that require no further action,” said John Bucci, General Manager for PII Pipeline Solutions, GE Oil & Gas. Unveiling its new global fleet of internal pipeline deformation inspection tools, GE Oil & Gas’ PII Pipeline Solutions is introducing its new CalScan product line — CalScan-EP (Enhanced Performance), and CalScan-XR (High Resolution) — to help operators more reliably and safely map and monitor the condition of high-pressure pipelines. CalScan-EP replaces GE’s previous geometry vehicle, CaliPPer, offering enhanced operating performance, deformation assessment and mapping capabilities without increasing the tool’s overall length, thus allowing the device to be combined with GE’s MagneScan metal-loss inspection tools to perform up to three surveys in a single run, the company said.

FERC Friday issued Vector Pipeline LP a certificate to build a new compression facility on its existing mainline system in Calhoun County, MI, and to make minor facility adjustments at its existing compressor stations in Michigan and Indiana to accommodate increased long-haul flow capacity on its transportation system (see Daily GPI, April 1). The proposed Athens Compressor Station would have a single 15,000 hp natural gas-powered compressor unit, which would increase Vector’s mainline capacity by approximately 105,000 Dth/d to 1.27 MMDth/d. The proposed facilities, which would cost an estimated $36.6 million, are targeted for service on Nov. 1, 2009, according to Vector. BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp., Nexen Marketing U.S.A. Inc. and Merrill Lynch Commodities have made commitments for 60,000 Dth/d, 25,000 Dth/d and 20,000 Dth/d, respectively.

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