Commitment

Post Oak Energy Capital and funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management have made a $100 million capital commitment to PetroEdge Energy III LLC, a newly formed oil and gas company based in Houston and focused on the Eagle Ford Shale.

Steel manufacturer Nucor Corp. said it will spend more than $700 million during a two-year period on natural gas drilling in order to meet its contractual obligations with Encana Corp. for a supply of low-cost natural gas.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said it will invest $107 million to expand its Kinder Morgan Crude and Condensate pipeline system (KMCC) deeper into the Eagle Ford Shale play in Karnes County, TX. The expansion, supported by a long-term contract with ConocoPhillips, will extend the 178-mile pipeline 31 miles from the KMCC DeWitt Station in DeWitt County, TX, to ConocoPhillips’ central delivery facility near Helena in Karnes County. Kinder Morgan will also build receipt tanks and a truck unloading facility adjacent to ConocoPhillips’ Helena facility. Construction is expected to begin in July. “This expansion further assists our commitment to deliver up to 300,000 b/d of crude and condensate from the Eagle Ford Shale,” said KMP products pipelines President Ron McClain.

With close cooperation with its major unions, a lot of new management expertise and a commitment throughout its company workforce, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) natural gas system has risen from the trauma of the San Bruno pipeline rupture and explosion two and a half years ago, Nick Stavropoulos, PG&E Corp. executive vice president of gas operations, told an energy conference in Houston Tuesday.

Gulfport Energy Corp. officials have reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Utica Shale, unveiling details of an accelerated, but cheaper, drilling plan coordinated with the construction of much-needed infrastructure in the play.

Gulfport Energy Corp. officials have reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the Utica Shale, unveiling details of an accelerated, but cheaper, drilling plan coordinated with the construction of much-needed infrastructure in the play.

The industry-led Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has canceled a study underway by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) about natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), following criticism that previous research had a pro-drilling slant.

Energy & Exploration Partners Inc. on Monday said in a filing with U.S. regulators that it intended to raise up to $275 million through an initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. In conjunction with the filing, the producer said it had agreed to buy acreage in the Eaglebine formation of Texas from Chesapeake Energy Corp. for $125 million.

Enterprise Products Partners LP is holding a binding open commitment period through Sept. 27 for capacity on the Appalachia-to-Texas (Atex Express) pipeline. The 1,230-mile system will deliver ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to Mont Belvieu, TX (see Shale Daily, Jan. 5). “While the long-term commitments we already have are more than sufficient to proceed with the development of Atex Express pipeline, we continue to receive steady interest from other producers seeking long-term transportation capacity,” said Jim Teague, chief operating officer of Enterprise’s general partner. For information contact Russ Kovin at (713)381-7925, or rkovin@eprod.com.