Bakken

As TransCanada Corp. pursues various parts of the spurned Keystone XL oil pipeline project, shippers who hold long-term firm contracts equating to 850,000 b/d are continuing to stick with the C$7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline project, TransCanada CEO Russ Girling told an institutional investment conference in British Columbia (BC) Thursday.

Linn Energy LLC has agreed to acquire Midcontinent oil and gas properties primarily in the Granite Wash of Texas and Oklahoma from Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) for $600 million.

The Utica Shale could double or triple liquids production in the Appalachian Basin, increasing the infrastructure challenges in the region, a midstream player told an audience in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Tesoro Corp. said it plans to spend about $50 million on rail facilities to boost Bakken Shale crude oil shipments from North Dakota to its refinery in Anacortes, WA. The San Antonio-based company said it hopes to deliver up to 30,000 b/d after the project’s completion, up from the current rate of 1,000 to 2,000 b/d. The project will include loading and unloading facilities and a unit train. Tesoro estimates construction will take between nine months to a year to complete, once the necessary permits are received.

Growing production from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas has prompted Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) to agree to build a new 130-mile crude oil and condensate pipeline, a marine terminal facility and 1.5 million bbl of storage capacity, the Houston-based partnership said Tuesday.

The Arlington, TX, City Council voted 8-1 to award Chesapeake Energy Corp. for its Bobcat 1H well on a site that is about a half-mile southwest of the Cowboys Stadium. The approval followed a public hearing and an agreement by Chesapeake to coordinate heavy truck traffic around events at the stadium and the nearby Rangers Ballpark, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. As many as a dozen wells could be placed on Chesapeake’s Truman site accessing the mineral resources of about 1,200 property owners. Some area residents had expressed concerns about traffic and pollution, but others at the council meeting said they supported development of their mineral rights.

A trio of Bayer AG-owned sites in West Virginia totaling about 1,480 acres would be ideal locations for thermal crackers to process ethane from the state’s Marcellus Shale area, the company said.

North American onshore drilling contractor Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN) has seen an uptick “in all segments” but it’s particularly strong in the Marcellus, Haynesville and Bakken shale plays, the company’s management team said Thursday.

North American onshore drilling contractor Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN) has seen an uptick “in all segments” but it’s particularly strong in the Marcellus, Haynesville and Bakken shale plays, the company’s management team said Thursday.