Rescuers on Friday were attempting to reach a life raft containing a 10-member crew that was forced to abandon ship in the fury of Tropical Storm (TS) Nate in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Geokinetics Inc. said three of its workers and seven contractors had been aboard the Trinity II to support an ocean bottom cable project in the Bay of Campeche. The company said the storm disabled the ship Thursday and the crew was last seen boarding a life raft. Houston-based Geokinetics, which performs seismic testing for the oil and gas industry, said rescuers were attempting to reach the crew but were hampered by the inclement weather. “The safety and welfare of our employees is paramount and we are coordinating with maritime authorities to expedite the rescue effort as we continue to gather the facts,” said Geokinetics CEO Richard Miles. Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), said it had dispatched two ships to search for the workers off the coast of Tabasco state.

An open season for Project Mariner West, a proposed pipeline to deliver ethane from MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC‘s Houston, PA, processing and fractionation complex in the Marcellus Shale to Sarnia, ON, has received binding commitments that enable the project to proceed as designed with an initial capacity to transport approximately 50,000 b/d and the ability to expand to support higher volumes as needed, according to Sunoco Logistics Partners LP. The project, which was announced by Sunoco and MarkWest Liberty in March (see NGI, March 28), is under way and scheduled to begin operation by July 2013, according to Sunoco Logistics. In addition, MarkWest Liberty recently commenced the next phase of the Houston, PA, fractionation facility and the Denver-based company said that it plans to develop up to three large de-ethanizers capable of producing more than 115,000 b/d of ethane at its Houston and Majorsville, WV, processing complexes. The first phase of de-ethanization would have capacity of approximately 75,000 b/d and would commence operation in mid-2013 to coincide with the startup of Mariner West.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a favorable draft environmental review of Spectra Energy‘s proposal to expand the systems of its affiliate Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines through parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The proposed expansion of the two pipeline systems would allow for the delivery of 800,000 Dth/d of natural gas to Consolidated Edison Co. to serve high-growth markets in New Jersey and New York. The project is targeted for in-service in November 2013. The expansion has been widely opposed by top officials in New Jersey but has received solid support in New York (see NGI, Sept. 5). The $850 million project calls for the construction of approximately 19.8 miles of new and replacement pipeline; the abandonment of 8.95 miles of existing pipeline; modification of four existing compressor stations; the addition of six metering and regulating station; and associated facilities [CP11-56].

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Mississippi Hub LLC’s (MS Hub) request to place into service a 22.6-mile interconnect pipeline header and associated meter station that connects its storage terminal in southern Mississippi with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line. The MS Hub storage facility, which is in Simpson County, MS, also is interconnected to the Southern Natural Gas and Southeast Supply Header LLC systems. The facility’s location provides access to traditional gas supplies in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf Coast, as well as shale gas production and liquefied natural gas imports, the company said. The MS Hub facility is permitted for four storage caverns holding up to 30 Bcf of working gas. The first of the four caverns, currently in operation, provides 7.5 Bcf of high-deliverability working capacity [CP09-110]. The second cavern is due to be in service in 2012. MS Hub is an an affiliate of San Diego-based Sempra Energy.

NOVA Chemicals Corp. has signed agreements with three companies for a long-term supply of Marcellus Shale ethane for its thermal cracker facility at Corunna, ON. Under a transportation service agreement, Sunoco Pipeline LP will transport ethane to the cracker, which has a processing capacity of 1.8 billion pounds per year. NOVA also signed definitive agreements for long-term supplies of ethane from a Range Resources Corp. subsidiary and from Caiman Energy LLC. Range said initial deliveries would begin in late 2013, with full deliveries realized in early 2014. Financial and volume details were not disclosed. NOVA is a subsidiary of the International Petroleum Investment Co. of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Wartsila Corp. has signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell plc to promote the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel. Helsinki, Finland-based Wartsila, which manufactures and services power sources in the marine and energy markets, said the agreement with Shell was signed in August and will run for several years. Shell will provide its first deliveries of LNG to Wartsila natural gas-powered vessel operators from the Gulf Coast, with future deliveries coming from other areas. Wartsila said LNG would help ship owners and operators comply with increasingly stringent environmental laws.

Royal Dutch Shell plc announced that it plans to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) for heavy-duty fleet vehicles at some Shell Flying J truck stops in Alberta beginning in 2012. Shell said it is working to acquire the necessary engineering and regulatory permits to produce LNG by 2013 at its Jumping Pound gas processing facility in Alberta. Once the company receives regulatory approval, the investment will become the first of its kind for Shell globally. In the interim, LNG will be supplied to the truck stops through agreements with third-party vendors.

Chicago-based Integrys Energy Group Inc. moved into the natural gas transportation business, acquiring two compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling companies. It is a first for the owner/operator of six utilities in the Upper Midwest. Integrys purchased Texas-based Pinnacle CNG Systems and Utah-based Trillium USA, both previously owned by Wagner & Brown Ltd. The acquisitions will allow Integrys to enter the CNG fueling market. Integrys is the holding company of People Gas Light and Coke Co., Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and four other utilities in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The purchase was an all-cash deal, and Integrys did not divulge the overall price, but it involved acquiring all outstanding common shares and membership interest in both Pinnacle and Trillium. The two CNG companies become subsidiaries of Integrys Transportation Fuels LLC, the operator of the holding company’s CNG activities.

The backers of the limited partnership behind the Jordan Cove LNG project at Coos Bay, OR, have purchased the project’s 200-acre Ingram Yard site from Weyerhaeuser NR Co., which carries with it an option to acquire an additional 120 acres for the eventual development of a gas-fired electric generation plant. Project Manager Bob Braddock, who is vice president of an affiliate of Alberta-based Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP and Energy Projects Development LLC, would not divulge the purchase price or who will be paid for the option on the additional land. In August Braddock confirmed that Jordan Cove was still an active project, and that its backers were exploring the possibility of a “dual-use” facility that would have both LNG import and export capabilities. Braddock said the land purchase closed Aug. 15 and includes enough acreage to allow “access and berthing of LNG carriers.”

Idaho regulators have scheduled a hearing for Tuesday (Sept. 13) in Coeur d’Alene, ID, to take public comments on a settlement that would result in a net rate decrease for Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities‘ natural gas and electric retail utility customers in northern Idaho. In July Avista applied for gas and power rate increases averaging 2.7% and 3.7%, respectively, but the proposed settlement would allow much smaller average increases of 1.6% and 1.1%, effective Oct. 1. With several other rate adjustments for the combination utility, customers face the prospect of overall decreases of about 1% for gas and 2.4% for electricity. In addition, as part of the deal Avista would not seek another increase in base rates from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) before April 1, 2013.

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