Enterprise Products Partners LP unit Texas Express Pipeline LLC is holding a binding open commitment period through Nov. 9 for capacity on a proposed natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline. Texas Express would originate in Skellytown, TX, in Carson County and extend 580 miles to NGL fractionation and storage facilities in Mont Belvieu, TX. The project is part of a joint venture that includes Enbridge Energy Partners LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (see Daily GPI, Sept. 7). Initial capacity would be 280,000 b/d; the pipeline is expected to begin service in 2Q2013. For information contact Buford Barr at (713) 381-8354, or bbarr@eprod.com; or Bryan McFarland at (713) 381-2468, or bmcfarland@eprod.com.

Questar Pipeline Co. is holding a nonbinding open season through Oct. 31 for 8 Bcf of additional firm storage capacity at its Clay Basin Storage Reservoir, as well as projects to connect Clay Basin directly to Overthrust Pipeline Co. and other pipelines near Kanda, WY. Clay Basin now has 51.25 Bcf of working capacity; the additional capacity would provide a new firm service with injection, inventory and withdrawal rights similar to Questar Pipeline’s existing FSS storage service but would not include a minimum required deliverability. Questar anticipates that the additional services could be available as early as summer 2013. For information, contact Tom Myrberg at (801) 324-2978, Brent Kitchen at (801) 324-2117, or visit www.questarpipeline.com.

ENSTOR Operating Co. LLC is to begin accepting binding bids for firm natural gas storage capacity at its four U.S. facilities beginning Monday (Oct. 10) through Oct. 20 for terms of one to five years beginning April 1, 2012. Bids will be taken for Caledonia, which interconnects with Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) on its 500 Leg in Zone 1; Freebird, in Lamar County, AL, which is on TGP’s 500 line in Zone 1; Katy Storage Hub, with interconnections to 14 interstate and intrastate pipelines between the Texas intrastate and long-haul interstate pipelines serving the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Midwest markets; and Grama Ridge, a southeast New Mexico facility that interconnects in the Keystone pooling area with Raptor Pipeline. To obtain access to the COMET platform, the system that will be used to take the bids, contact Terry Meyer at (281) 900-4567 or Terry.Meyer@TruMarx.com. For information contact Kay Atchison at (281) 374-3075 or at Kay.Atchison@enstorinc.com.

El Paso Corp.‘s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (TGP) has struck two long-term contracts for service on its MPP project, which is intended to improve takeaway capacity from the Marcellus Shale through expansion of TGP’s 300 Line in Pennsylvania. The 240,000 Dth/d project includes about eight miles of 30-inch diameter pipeline looping and modifications to four compressor stations in Pennsylvania to provide transportation from the Marcellus to existing delivery points on the TGP system. All of the capacity is subscribed through agreements with Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. for 140,000 Dth/d and Southwestern Energy Services Co. for 100,000 Dth/d, TGP said.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Tennessee Gas Pipeline‘s request to place into service another segment (Loop 321) of its 300 Line expansion in Susquehanna and Wayne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania, bringing the pipeline one step closer to the completion of its major 300 Line project. Tennessee undertook the expansion of its 300 Line at the request of Pittsburgh-based Equitable Energy, which wanted incremental pipeline capacity to move Appalachian natural gas, principally supplies from Kentucky and West Virginia, to the Northeast. The $600 million expansion will add about 350,000 Dth/d of capacity to the pipeline’s system, and is expected to be ready for service in November, said El Paso spokesman Richard Wheatley. Tennessee already moves more than 1 Bcf/d of Marcellus gas. The FERC-approved Loop 321 is one of seven looping segments that will make up the 300 Line expansion. Loop 321 is not the last segment to be installed, according to Wheatley. All told, the project will consist of 128 miles of 30-inch diameter looping; and 55,000 hp following the installation of two new compressor stations and upgrades at seven existing compressor stations.

Marathon Oil Corp., which recently completed the spinoff of its refining arm to concentrate on exploration and production, is evaluating whether to sell some of its interests in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), a spokesperson has confirmed. “We have said that as a normal course of business Marathon Oil will periodically optimize select assets to strengthen our portfolio and increase returns,” Marathon’s Lee Warren told NGI. “Consistent with this plan, and given the significant prospect inventory we’ve built in the Gulf and our focus on capital discipline, we are evaluating the opportunity to farm down a minority working interest in our Gulf of Mexico portfolio.” There was nothing definite; “this is simply an evaluation.”

A Pennsylvania judge has denied a request from a Pittsburgh suburb, apparently clearing the way for a controversial referendum that would ban hydraulic fracturing to be placed on the Nov. 8 ballot. Judge Paul Pozonsky found that the Washington County Court of Common Pleas lacked jurisdiction to rule on pre-election challenges to the ballot measure unless its presence on the ballot would cause immediate harm. The referendum, which was drafted by the environmental group Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness, asks voters if the township’s home rule charter should be amended to include a “Peters Township Bill of Rights,” which would enact an outright ban on fracking in the township. Peters Township argued that the referendum is illegal on several grounds, including the state Oil & Gas Act, the Home Rule and Optional Plans Law and the township’s planning code (see NGI, Sept. 19).

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) regulatory staff reached agreement with Avista Utilities on the utility’s proposed increase in retail natural gas and power rates. State regulatory officials will hold three public hearings on the proposed settlement Nov. 8-9. In addition to the UTC staff’s agreement, four other stakeholders signed the deal: the Northwest Industrial Gas Users, Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities, The Energy Project, and the public counsel section of the Washington state attorney general’s office. Separately, the Northwest Energy Coalition did not sign the rate agreement, but it does not plan to oppose the settlement. Under the settlement, Avista would increase its annual retail gas utility revenues by $3.75 million, or 2.4%; electric revenues should increase by $20 million, or 4.6%.

Australia’s Linc Energy is a new player in Wyoming’s humming oil and gas patch, bringing a focus on underground “cooking” of coal seams to create synthetic gas (syngas) and natural gas liquids. Brisbane-based Linc has not specified where or how it would enter the Wyoming energy rush, and a state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) spokesperson said no application for a permit has been filed by the company. Linc holds extensive coal leases in Wyoming’s Power River Basin, totaling 92,050 acres or 372.5 square kilometers, with the same magnitude of presence in the Williston Basin in Montana/North Dakota, according to its website. It operates a research and development project in the Australian state of Queensland, and is planning a commercial facility in South Australia. Wyoming has some other production companies looking at variations of Linc’s concept, but so far there is only one permitted project, a coal-to-liquids project in Carbon County by Medicine Bow Fuel & Power LLC.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously to tap up to $125 million of unused public purpose funds held by the state’s three major utilities to make up for a move by state lawmakers to transfer the gas funds of the private-sector utilities and put them to use in California’s deficit-plagued general fund. While the reserves will help continue gas-related “public goods” programs — energy-saving and job-creating efforts statewide — Commissioner Mark Ferron, the assigned regulator on the case at the CPUC, vowed to conduct an audit to probe questions of why utilities have amassed so many unspent dollars under a program considered vital to the state. Ferron said he was dissatisfied with several aspects of the ratepayer-supported programs, centered on a large pool of unspent funds he found in utility accounts to make up for the state lawmakers taking $155 million from the Gas Consumption Surcharge Fund by passing a state bill (SB 87).

Shares of Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. took a nosedive last Tuesday (Oct. 4), allegedly over concerns that the Denver-based independent energy company may be facing liquidity concerns. Kodiak opened at $4.35/share on the New York Stock Exchange, but the stock lost more than 17% of its value and fell to $3.60/share at one point before rebounding and closing at $4.29/share. The stock closed at $4.78/share Friday. The low mark was the company’s lowest since October 2010, when the stock fell to $3.37/share. Kodiak’s stock hit a high of $7.77/share during trading last March. Kodiak has agreed to purchase 13,500 net acres in the Bakken Shale from an undisclosed private oil and gas company for about $235 million in cash (see NGI, Oct. 3).

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