Carrying

Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. is taking a US$2.84 billion pre-tax charge against the value of dry gas assets in the Fayetteville Shale that it acquired just last year due to weak natural gas prices and oversupply.

An environmental group opposed to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in New York State has launched a campaign asking the top 1,000 contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reelection effort to pressure him to ban the practice.

North America’s burgeoning unconventional oil supplies have created “considerable investment needs” because pipelines are in the “wrong place carrying crude in the wrong direction and/or transporting the wrong products,” according to a review by Ernst & Young LLP.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s (KMP) Crude/Condensate pipeline (KMCC) has entered service, carrying crude oil and condensate from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas to the Houston Ship Channel.

Kinder Morgan Pony Express Pipeline LLC and Belle Fourche Pipeline Co. are holding an open season through June 20 for crude oil transportation from a point near Baker, MT, to delivery points at Ponca City and Cushing, OK. Pony Express and Belle Fourche anticipate the ability to transport 100,000 or more b/d beginning in the fourth quarter of 2014. The companies have secured a long-term anchor shipper commitment for a minimum of 30,000 b/d. For more information, contact John Eagleton at (303) 914-4702, Mike Smith at (303) 763-3484, Bob Mishler at (303) 914-7762, Tad True at (307) 237-9301 or Bob Stamp at (307) 266-0345. In separate open seasons, Pony Express will offer single pipeline (local) oil transportation service from the Guernsey, WY, area and from the Denver-Julesburg Basin. Last year Kinder Morgan proposed converting a 635-mile Wyoming to Missouri section of its former Pony Express Pipeline from natural gas service back to its original function of carrying crude oil (see Daily GPI, Aug. 8, 2011).

The Department of Energy (DOE) is carrying out two studies to determine what, if any, impact exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) would have on domestic gas prices, a department official told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Natural gas pipeline giant El Paso Corp. on Wednesday reported a one-time quarterly loss for its investment in the Ruby Pipeline, which is carrying Rocky Mountain gas to West Coast markets, but the company completed a historic $8 billion pipeline backlog and continues to add new projects to meet customers’ infrastructure needs, said CEO Doug Foshee.

Citing Florida forecasts of temperatures in the high 90s, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day for market-area customers Friday carrying a 25% tolerance for negative daily imbalances.

Australia’s Eureka Energy Ltd. recently agreed to acquire 3,975 net acres in Burleson and Washington counties, TX, within the eastern liquids-rich fairway of the Eagle Ford Shale. The acreage potentially is within the gas condensate window as well, the company said.