Atlas

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) announced leadership of its committees and subcommittees for 2013 as elected by the MSC board of directors. Committee chairs announced by MSC are Range Resources’ Bill Burket (health and safety); Seneca Resources’ Mike Donovan (land affairs); Pennsylvania General Energy’s Craig Mayer (legal committee); MarkWest Energy Partners’ Dave Callahan (legislative committee); EOG Resources’ Gary Smith (membership committee); MarkWest’s Rob McHale (midstream/pipeline committee); Chesapeake Energy’s Will Freeman (natural gas use); XTO Energy’s Karen Matusic (public relations); Chief Oil & Gas’s Terry Bossert (regulatory); Chevron’s Alan Abel (research collaborative); Consol Energy’s Ryan Litwinovich (supply chain); Southwestern’s Jennifer Stewart (tax and fee); Range’s Joe Frantz (technical); Cabot Oil & Gas’s John Smelko (environmental stewardship); WPX Energy’s Charles McCandless (transportation); and Atlas Energy’s Viola Lazzer (workforce).

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (APL) on Monday agreed to pay $600 million for all of the operating assets of privately held Cardinal Midstream LLC, which would give it cryogenic processing plants, associated gathering pipelines and a gas treatment business that includes facilities in the Woodford, Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Fayetteville shales, as well as the Granite Wash and Avalon formations.

Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent WestTex LLC and Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc. have filed a joint application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval by Oct. 1 to build a natural gas pipeline from a proposed Permian Basin cryogenic gas processing plant that is due to go into service in early 2013. The proposed 10.2-mile pipeline in Midland, TX, would transport 150 MMcf/d of pipeline-quality gas to interconnections with Northern Natural Gas and two intrastate pipelines owned by Atmos Energy Corp. and Enterprise Products Partners LP. The so-called Driver Plant is being built in two phases (see NGI, Nov. 21, 2011). The first phase would have the capacity to handle 100 MMcf/d and is expected to begin service in 1Q2013; the second phase would add 100 MMcf/d with a target date of 1Q2014. Completion of both phases would increase capacity at the WestTex facility from 255 MMcf/d to 455 MMcf/d at an estimated cost of about $200 million.

Atlas Resources Partners LP (ARP) has made a friendly deal to take over privately held Barnett Shale operator Titan Operating LLC for $184 million, giving the Philadelphia-based operator another big natural gas liquids (NGL) lift in the heart of Texas.

A bipartisan group of Michigan House lawmakers is urging its colleagues to consider ways to boost natural gas exploration, development and production, including a proposal to put more land up for oil and natural gas leasing, including its considerable unconventional resources, that include the Antrim, Collingwood and Utica shales.

Atlas Resource Partners LP (ARP) has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with subsidiaries of Canada’s Equal Energy Ltd. in the core area of the Mississippian Lime, a formation in Oklahoma and Kansas rich in oil and natural gas liquids (NGL).

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (APL) struck a long-term, fee-based agreement with ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. to provide gas gathering and processing services for up to an incremental 60 MMcf/d from the Woodford Shale region of Oklahoma to its Velma processing facility in Velma, OK. The agreement supports APL’s planned 60 MMcf/d expansion of its Velma system. The cryogenic facility is expected to enter service in mid-2012. XTO would use the expanded facility, which would have capacity of 160 MMcf/d after the expansion is completed.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (APL) has signed agreements with DCP NGL Services LLC (DCP), a subsidiary of DCP Midstream LLC, to sell its natural gas liquids (NGL) production from each of APL’s processing facilities in Oklahoma and Texas. The agreements are based on Mont Belvieu NGL pricing and each has a term of 15 years, which will become effective at various times upon expiration of APL’s existing NGL sales agreements, the company said. The agreements provide long-term support for APL’s previously announced expansions at its WestTX, WestOK and Velma systems (see Daily GPI, May 16). The arrangements also allow for the sale of additional NGLs from the West Texas plants on an interim basis.

Michigan regulators on Wednesday announced a new series of regulations that will impact the future operations of oil and gas drillers using hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) to stimulate production.