Approvals

Late Friday the government of Canada gave its nod to the deal, which has shareholder approvals but needs OKs from the U.S. and British governments.

Cheniere Energy Inc.’ Corpus Christi Liquefaction LLC (CCL) on Friday filed with the FERC for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Corpus Christi, TX, and Freeport LNG filed for its project in Brazoria County, TX.

A drop in northern Pennsylvania stream flow levels once again has forced the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) to suspend water withdrawal permits for more than 22 companies holding 37 separate permits in Pennsylvania and New York. More than half of the companies affected are energy operators working in the Marcellus Shale.

Kinder Morgan Inc. and El Paso Corp. have received all regulatory approvals required to close their merger, which is scheduled for May 24. The deadline for El Paso shareholders and equity award holders to elect the form of consideration they wish to receive in the merger is 5 p.m. EDT May 23. The deal was announced last fall (see Daily GPI, Oct. 18, 2011) and received antitrust clearance with a condition that some assets be divested (see Daily GPI, April 20; March 19).

Williams Partners LP on Monday agreed to pay $2.5 billion to buy Caiman Energy’s midstream business, giving it a much bigger footprint in the natural gas liquids (NGL) portion of the Marcellus Shale in northern West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The two companies also are teaming up to build a midstream business in the Utica Shale.

Shippers have stepped up for long-term contracts for capacity on the proposed Texas Express Pipeline (TEP) and the natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline project will move forward, a trio of project sponsors said Tuesday.

A unit of China’s Sinopec Group on Tuesday agreed to invest $2.2 billion to acquire a one-third interest in five of Devon Energy Corp.’s frontier unconventional oil and gas fields.

Williams Partners LP has agreed to acquire the Laser Northeast Gathering System and other midstream businesses from Delphi Midstream Partners LLC for about $750 million. Laser is composed of 33 miles of 16-inch diameter gas pipeline and associated gathering facilities in Susquehanna County, PA, as well as 10 miles of gathering pipeline in southern New York. The acquisition is supported by existing long-term gathering agreements that provide acreage dedications and volume commitments. As production in the Marcellus Shale increases, the Laser system is expected to reach a capacity of 1.3 Bcf/d, said Williams Partners, which plans to fund the purchase with $300 million in cash and 7.5 million common units. The deal, which the partnership said it earlier was pursuing (see Shale Daily, Dec. 5), is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Tulsa-based Williams Partner LP is negotiating to buy Delphi Midstream Partners LLC, which among other things would give the natural gas operator ownership of the Laser Gathering System and other facilities that serve the Marcellus Shale.