Basin

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) said it completed the second phase of its 265-mile, 42-inch pipeline construction project, providing Fort Worth Basin producers with 500 MMcf/d of new firm transportation capacity to major hubs in East Texas.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) said it completed the second phase of its 265-mile, 42-inch pipeline construction project, providing Fort Worth Basin producers with 500 MMcf/d of new firm transportation capacity to major hubs in East Texas.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has given tentative approval to drill up to 2,000 natural gas wells in the Atlantic Rim Natural Gas Project in the eastern Washaki Basin, located in Carbon County, WY. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is developing the project with Warren Resources Inc. and Double Eagle Petroleum and Mining Co.

As the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approached, the energy industry was watching ominous Tropical Storm Ernesto, which was strengthening in the Atlantic Basin Friday night. As of 5 p.m. EDT Friday the National Hurricane Center (NHC) was predicting that Ernesto would become the season’s first hurricane by Monday and could track right into the center of the Gulf of Mexico possibly targeting the Texas or Louisiana coasts.

Calgary, AB-based Powder River Basin Gas Corp. (PRBG) said Wednesday it has purchased a 4,600-acre property in South Texas known as the McFadden Ranch in the East McFadden Field. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Currently, East McFadden Field has three wells that are producing a total of 40 b/d of oil and 350 Mcf/d of natural gas. There are an additional 52 shut-in wells on this project. PRBG said it intends to rework all of these wells and install electronic submersible pumps, or ESP units, which are capable of moving an average of 3,000 bbl/d of fluid per well. The service work and ESP units are being supplied by Weatherford International, which has participated in PRBG’s research and due diligence on the project. The property’s total proved developed reserves are valued at 2.45 million bbl of oil and 2.5 Bcf of gas. McFadden Ranch also has 79 additional locations that have been identified for offset drilling on the project. The company said it plans to complete a new 3-D seismic survey on the project, which is close to the successful Goliad County project. “This is an exciting purchase for Powder River, as it brings our Texas holdings to close to 7,000 acres. McFadden Ranch is an excellent addition, as it is already producing and generating revenue while we rework the other 52 wells. In addition it provides a long-term drilling and marketing project to fulfill Powder River’s requirements over the next few years,” said PRBG CEO Brian Fox.

A tropical storm now forming in the Atlantic Basin is “a storm with the potential we are really looking out for,” a Wood Mackenzie energy analyst said Wednesday. If the developing storm becomes the next hurricane, to be named Ernesto, “it has a much more favorable pathway to affect Gulf of Mexico (GOM) production” and “could turn into a threat by the end of this week potentially,” said Eugene Kim, Wood Mac’s senior analyst for North American natural gas research.

Talisman Energy Inc. subsidiary Fortuna Energy Inc. of Calgary began production from two prolific gas wells in New York’s Appalachian Basin, and the latest results from the upper Black River Formation are showing the same promise that’s been seen in recent years.

Houston-based independent Ultra Petroleum Corp., which explores for natural gas in the Green River Basin of Wyoming and offshore China, plans to file a 15-day automatic extension notification with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2005 after identifying “certain deficiencies in its internal controls,” the company said in a statement. The extension will allow the company more time to prepare its consolidated financial statements and the work required to complete management’s assessment of internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley and the rules of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Ultra said it will disclose weaknesses in its financial reporting system and related remediation activities in its Form 10-K. Ultra expects to make its filing by March. 31.

The Sid Richardson purchase includes 4,000 miles of natural gas and gas liquids pipe in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico, about 450 MMcf/d of cryogenic processing capacity among six interconnected plants, 930 MMcf/d of high-pressure treating capacity and a gas liquids and gas marketing operation based in Houston and Fort Worth.