Alabama

A bipartisan coalition of senators has expressed concerns that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is attempting to expand its definition of diesel fuels in the draft permitting guidance to gain more federal control over hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

FERC has approved Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC’s (SNG) request to abandon nearly 20 miles of pipeline and associated facilities in Alabama to comply with a correction action order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to address the hazards associated with wrinkle bends, which led to a failure on SNG’s system in late 2009.

FERC has approved Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC’s (SNG) request to abandon nearly 20 miles of pipeline and associated facilities in Alabama to comply with a correction action order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to address the hazards associated with wrinkle bends, which led to a failure on SNG’s system in late 2009.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is holding an open season through Aug. 23 for capacity on the Mobile Bay South III lateral expansion in Alabama, which is set to be online in the fall of 2014 and provide up to 325,000 Dth/d of firm capacity to the southeastern United States. The additional capacity would be available from Station 85 near Butler, AL, to points along the lateral as far south as the interconnection with Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd.’s facilities near Mobile, AL. Williams Partners Ltd. said the final capacity, scope and cost of the project will be determined by the open season. For information contact Toi Anderson at (713) 215-4540.

Inergy Midstream LP, UGI Energy Services Inc. and Capitol Energy Ventures Corp., a unit of WGL Holdings Inc., are conducting a non binding open season for shippers to transport natural gas volumes on the proposed Commonwealth Pipeline, which would carry Marcellus and Utica Shale production to market.

Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC (SNG) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the green light to abandon nearly 20 miles of pipeline and associated facilities in Alabama to comply with a correction action order issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to address the hazards associated with wrinkle bends, which led to a failure on SNG’s system in 2009.

Swift Energy Co. agreed to sell its interests in six fields in South Louisiana, two in Texas and one in Alabama to an undisclosed private oil and gas company for $53.5 million. Swift said it would use the proceeds to fund a portion its 2011 capital expenditures. Production attributable to the fields being sold averaged 10.6 MMcfe/d during 1Q2011 with aggregate proved reserves of 92.2 Bcfe (19% proved developed producing and 65% natural gas) at year-end 2010. The sale is expected to close within the next two months.

W&T Offshore Inc. has closed its $36.7 million acquisition of Shell Offshore Inc.’s 64.3% interest in the Fairway Field and the associated Yellowhammer gas processing plant in Alabama with an effective date of Sept. 1, 2010. Current production net to W&T in the Fairway Field is about 19.5 MMcf/d of natural gas and 1,200 b/d of natural gas liquids; W&T has estimated proved reserves of 39.4 Bcf and 2.5 million bbl, or 54.5 Bcfe. The transaction completes a deal for Gulf of Mexico deepwater producing fields announced last year (see Daily GPI, Nov. 8, 2010).

Southern reported an unscheduled unit outage at Holy Trinity Compressor Station in southeast Alabama, which is the first station on its South Georgia facilities. No impact to FT service was expected, but a 40,000 Dth/d reduction in interruptible transport was likely, as well as a reduction in available peak hour capacity, Southern said.