Announcing

As Royal Dutch Shell plc gets closer to announcing a “world class” ethane cracker for the Appalachian Basin, the leading processor of ethane in the region is standing behind its three projects for Marcellus and Utica shales.

Tulsa-based midstream company Caballo Energy LLC is targeting the Mississippi Lime of Oklahoma and Kansas, and the Cana Woodford Shale with its acquisition of Eagle Chief Midstream LLC, which owns a gas gathering and processing system in northwestern Oklahoma.

Encana Corp. has unloaded another big piece of its natural gas-weighted portfolio, as promised, announcing last week that it is selling for $975 million its North Texas natural gas producing properties, which total around 82,000 net acres, to some partnerships managed by EnerVest Ltd.

Water services company Heckmann Corp. reiterated its emphasis on serving shale gas and oil developers in the United States in announcing the divestment of China Water & Drinks Inc. through the sale of nine of its 25 Chinese legal entities to Pacific Water & Drinks (HK) Group Ltd. (PWD). The deal closed Sept. 30, and Heckmann will no longer have business exposure in China except through its equity holding in PWD. “With our positive view of our current core water business and the growth opportunities in the United States, we are pleased to put the China experience behind us,” said CEO Richard J. Heckmann. “We now have almost 1,100 employees in the U.S., up from fewer than 30 a year ago. We believe that the water business as it relates to shale gas and shale oil production will continue to drive our growth. In addition, the customer reaction to our conversion to LNG [liquefied natural gas] powered vehicles [see Shale Daily, Aug. 23], which we are now putting in service, has been very positive.”

El Paso Corp. was one of the leading gainers on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday after announcing it would spin off its exploration and production (E&P) business as a publicly traded company by the end of the year.

Results of core and petrophysical analyses from a well on Quebec’s Anticosti Island are “encouraging,” according to Corridor Resources Inc. and Petrolia Inc., which hold leases covering more than 1.5 million acres on the island.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., which has been on the prowl for unconventional gas and oil resources for several months, on Wednesday agreed to pay $325 million to acquire Bakken Shale producer NuLoch Resources Inc.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey K. McClendon said last Thursday it is time for the company to reap what it has sown in announcing the Oklahoma City-based producer’s plans for this year and next.

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey K. McClendon said Thursday it is time for the company to reap what it has sown in announcing the Oklahoma City-based producer’s plans for this year and next.