2015

A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has signed a second, six-month extension that gives it more time to decide whether to purchase property in western Pennsylvania that could ultimately be used for a “world scale” ethane cracker in the heart of the Marcellus Shale region.

Up to 40 Bcf/d of firm capacity contracts on pipelines is expected to expire by 2015, which would affect the “vast majority” of pipelines that transport natural gas to the Northeast, said an executive with Massachusetts-based Skipping Stone.

In an effort to revive his plan to levy new severance taxes on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas liquids (NGL), Ohio Gov. John Kasich has proposed giving 25% of the tax proceeds to 33 counties in the state’s Appalachian region, home to Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling.

When natural gas prices are $3, Southwestern Energy Co. has 1,200-1,500 well locations to drill in the Fayetteville Shale, but “in today’s price environment, that changes substantially,” CFO Robert Craig Owen said Wednesday in Austin, TX.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has received enough binding commitments to enable its Mariner South Pipeline project to proceed. Mariner South will transport export-grade propane and butane from Lone Star NGL LLC’s storage and fractionation complex in Mont Belvieu, TX, to Sunoco Logistics’ terminal in Nederland, TX. A binding open season continues to solicit additional business (see Shale Daily, March 22). In addition to propane and butane, the pipeline will be available for other natural gas liquids and petroleum products depending on shipper interest, Sunoco Logistics said. It is expected to have initial capacity of 200,000 b/d with the potential for expansion. Operation is expected during the first quarter of 2015.

Newfield Exploration Co. is “right where we want to be toward execution of our 2013-2015 plan,” CEO Lee Boothby said last week during an earnings conference call in which management talked of a “surge” in Eagle Ford Shale production and the rising prominence of the Cana-Woodford Shale in the company’s liquids-focused portfolio.

Newfield Exploration Co. is “right where we want to be toward execution of our 2013-2015 plan,” CEO Lee Boothby said Wednesday during an earnings conference call in which management talked of a “surge” in Eagle Ford Shale production and the rising prominence of the Cana-Woodford Shale in the company’s liquids-focused portfolio.

Canada Minister of International Trade Ed Fast said his country is an “energy superpower” that “must” export more oil and natural gas to Asian markets in announcing plans for a trade mission to China and Japan in hopes of increasing exports.

Federal officials have given a green light for a project in eastern Utah to drill an exploratory well in the Harley Dome natural gas field to capture helium, which, if the operation proves successful, could result in a helping to build supplies of the scarce gas.