Repsol and Qatargas have signed a multiyear agreement for Qatargas to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Repsol Energy Canada Ltd. at the Canaport LNG facility in Saint John, NB. Qatargas will deliver LNG to Canaport LNG using both Q-Flex and Q-Max ships, which are the largest LNG tankers in the world with capacity to carry the equivalent of approximately 5.6 and 4.6 Bcf, respectively.

Samson Oil & Gas Ltd. is selling most of its domestic gas projects to focus on oil-weighted holdings. The producer, which is headquartered in Australia with offices in Denver, holds oil and gas leases across the Uinta Basin of Wyoming, in the Bakken Shale, in the Permian Basin of New Mexico and on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The board of directors approved the gas asset sale, expected to take place toward the end of this year.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners LP is buying gas gathering systems and related facilities primarily in Wheeler and Hemphill counties in the Texas Panhandle from CenterPoint Energy Field Services Inc. for $27.5 million. Assets to be acquired include more than 200 miles of gathering pipeline and related compression and dehydration facilities, together with gas gathering contracts, rights-of-way and other intangible assets. Eagle Rock is adding about 18,600 MMBtu/d of existing gathered volumes generating mostly fixed-fee revenues and the ability to provide processing to existing and future producers on the acquired system through interconnects with its East Panhandle system, including the newly installed Phoenix Plant in Hemphill County. Separately Eagle Rock said it has acquired additional interests in the Big Escambia Creek Field in southern Alabama (and the nearby Flomaton and Fanny Church fields) from Indigo Minerals LLC for $4.2 million. Currently, the daily production rate associated with the interests is 130 boe/d.

Gill Ranch Storage LLC (GRS), a subsidiary of NW Natural, has begun service from a new underground storage facility at Gill Ranch near Fresno, CA. The depleted sandstone gas reservoir facility will ultimately provide 20 Bcf of working capacity to the California market. GRS will be the operator and will own 75% of the facility. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a subsidiary of PG&E Corp., will own the remaining 25%.

Spectra Energy is holding an open season for additional transportation service on its Transportation North (T-North) facilities in Northern British Columbia (BC). Available are up to 600 MMcf/d of additional capacity on the Fort Nelson Mainline and up to 200 MMcf/d of additional capacity on the Fort St. John Mainline to provide firm transportation service between any T-North receipt point and any T-North delivery point. The new facilities are expected to be put into service in stages over the latter half of 2012 and the first half of 2013. The open season ends at 3 p.m. MDT Oct. 29. For information contact Mel Thorp, director of marketing and business development, at (403) 699-1578 or at melthorp@spectraenergy.com.

PAA Natural Gas Storage LP (PNG) has filed with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) an application to expand its Pine Prairie Natural Gas Storage salt cavern facility in Evangeline Parish, LA. The proposal calls for the construction of an additional 32 Bcf of working gas storage capacity, including two 12 Bcf caverns and the expansion of permitted capacity for caverns two through five to 12 Bcf from 10 Bcf each. Pine Prairie currently has three operating caverns with 24 Bcf of working gas capacity. An additional 18 Bcf of working gas capacity is currently under construction with approximately 7-8 Bcf scheduled to be placed into service in the second quarter 2011 and about 10 Bcf in the second quarter 2012. Receipt of approval from FERC for the expansions will boost Pine Prairie’s permitted capacity to 80 Bcf from 48 Bcf, the company said.

Ryckman Creek Resources LLC, a unit of Peregrine Midstream Partners LLC, is holding a nonbinding open season for up to 15 Bcf of firm, high-deliverability multi-cycle (HDMC) gas storage capacity in Uinta County, WY, near the Opal Hub, through Nov. 1. The company is converting an existing partially depleted oil and gas field, known as the Ryckman Creek Nugget Unit, into a 35 Bcf working capacity facility with a maximum daily withdrawal rate of 360 MMcf. The initial in-service date is April 1, 2012. For information visit www.peregrinempllc.com or contact Foutch at jhfoutch@peregrinempllc.com, or (713) 974-5606; or Don Wash at dwash@peregrinempllc.com, or (713) 750-9939.

Norway’s Norse Energy Corp. ASA has begun construction of an interconnection near Morrisville, NY, to accommodate natural gas deliveries into two Dominion Transmission parallel pipelines. Dominion Transmission, a subsidiary of Dominion, provides gathering, processing, transportation and storage services in the Marcellus Shale production area. The Madison County, NY, site of the interconnection will also accommodate future interconnection to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline network, Norse said. The tap would provide Norse with additional capacity to support an expected ramp up in production from the Herkimer sandstone in central New York. Norse has 30 Herkimer wells in Madison and Chenango counties and previously set a target production of 4,275 boe/d from the Herkimer by the end of the year. An internal evaluation of the field indicated 0.5 Tcf of recoverable gas, according to Norse. Additional pipeline investments would increase delivery capacity into the Dominion system to approximately 25,000 Mcf/d, Norse said. With future meter upgrades, the tap is expected to support full field development of gas from the Herkimer, Marcellus and Utica formations.

The Ontario government, besieged by opposition community groups, has pulled the plug on four-year-old plans for a 900 MW natural gas-fired generating station in the Toronto area. Energy Minister Brad Duguid’s office issued a statement saying “changes in demand and supply — including more than 8,000 MW of new, cleaner power and successful conservation efforts — have made it clear that this proposed natural gas plant is no longer required.” In its initial plans for the power plant, the Ontario government had said it was necessary because of the province’s drive to dispense with coal-fired power generation by 2014. TransCanada Corp., which had been awarded the contract to build, own and operate the plant, said, “we acknowledge the government’s decision that, in its words, a gas plant in Oakville is no longer needed and, as a result, the plant will not proceed….TransCanada has been informed that the Ontario Power Authority wishes to begin discussions where both sides mutually agree to terminate the contract and discuss reasonable payments TransCanada is entitled to.” It had been estimated the combined-cycle gas plant would have cost C$1.2 billion.

The number of overall transportation fatalities fell by 9.2% in 2009 from the prior year, but pipeline-related deaths climbed by 75% during the period, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Fatalities in all modes of transportation totaled 35,928 in 2009 compared to 39,569 in 2008, according to NTSB. Highway, rail and aviation-related deaths declined, while pipeline and marine fatalities rose during 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available. The number of pipeline fatalities rose to 14 in 2009 from eight in 2008, and most of the deaths were associated with natural gas pipelines. The NTSB reported that 10 of the fatalities in 2009 involved natural gas pipelines, up from six fatalities in 2008, and four of the fatalities involved liquids pipelines, up from two in 2008. Still, of all the modes of transportation, pipelines had the lowest number of fatalities in 2009.

NV Energy Inc.‘s northern Nevada utility lowered retail natural gas and electric rates effective Oct. 1. Electric rates overall dropped by 6.73% and gas retail charges dropped 8.39% for customers in the Reno-Sparks area. With the latest decreases, power rates have gone down by a total of 19% and gas charges by 20% since January 2009, NV Energy said. NV Energy estimates that a typical electricity customer is currently saving about $20/month, compared with rates effective in January 2009. Similarly, for the typical gas customer charges are down by about $14/month, compared with the early 2009 rates. Typical electric bills will go down from $93.31 to $87.43/month, and for natural gas the reduction is from about $63.67 to $58.58/month.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) lowered further the retail rates of Boise-based Intermountain Power Co. The utility revenue requirement was dropped by $2.2 million and retail rates were cut slightly, effective Oct. 1. The PUC’s action was in response to a filing from Intermountain in September based on its purchased gas cost adjustment (PGA) mechanism that is adjusted up or down annually. Average savings are estimated at 90 cents/month for residential customers and about 18 cents each month for business customers.

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