Capacity

A dramatic increase in processing and fractionation capacity in Appalachia since 2010 has helped set the pace for the region’s natural gas production growth, with more expansion on the horizon, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a note Tuesday.

Enterprise Products Partners LP’s management team said it believes higher rigs counts in the Permian Basin, as well as the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales, will inexorably lead to higher oil and natural gas volumes flowing through its systems, beginning in the second half of the year.

Mexico has rescheduled a natural gas capacity auction on its import pipeline network for August, after failing to draw any bids on Monday.

The highly anticipated Rover Pipeline, a massive 3.25 Bcf/d Appalachian takeaway project scheduled to come online later this year, will likely begin partial service this month, backer Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) has confirmed.

After securing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) to cooperate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) issues, Alaska’s state-owned natural gas corporation said it will accept expressions of interest for capacity on its Alaska LNG Project through the end of August.

The California Department of Conservation (DOC) has scheduled workshops in July to discuss stepped up pipeline and idle oil and gas well safety rules as mandated under state laws AB 1420 and AB 2729. The DOC’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources plans to discuss draft regulations on July 13 for small-diameter (4-inch or less) pipelines and mapping/data submission requirements for active gas pipelines. The July 14 workshop would focus on idle wells, plugging/abandonment, testing, remediation and securing of inactive wells.

Although they won’t say when full capacity will be reached next year, backers of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) made clear this week that the vision of creating a pipeline route for Bakken sweet crude production in North Dakota to the Gulf Coast is now a reality.

More natural gas processing capacity and pipeline takeaway are underway in the Permian Basin under an infrastructure agreement between Crestwood Equity Partners LP and First Reserve.

Michigan’s DTE Energy plans to add more natural gas-fueled power generation as part of a broader plan to cut the company’s carbon emissions by more than 80% by 2050.