Commitments

Oil and natural gas waste management startup BlueJack Energy Solutions LLC said Tuesday that it has secured a commitment of up to $100 million from the private equity firm Energy Spectrum Capital to maintain and expand its operations in shale plays located in the Northeast and Southwest.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (TGP) has cancelled its Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project after drawing too few customers, the Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) pipeline said Wednesday.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. (TGP) has cancelled its Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project after drawing too few customers, the Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) pipeline said Wednesday.

Although commodity prices have depressed oil and natural gas activity across the shales, Keller, TX-based Fountain Quail Water Management LLC was recently able to secure a commitment for up to $40 million of private equity financing to expand North American operations.

JBBR Pipeline LLC is holding an open season for a new 20-inch diameter crude oil pipeline, measuring approximately four miles in length, in Illinois.

Regency Energy Partners LP (RGP) and American Energy-Midstream LLC (AE-MidCo) have partnered on RGP’s proposed Utica Ohio River Project, which they have upgraded to deliver up to 2.1 Bcf/d of Utica Shale natural gas production initially to Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) and Texas Eastern Transmission.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has received enough binding commitments to enable its Mariner South Pipeline project to proceed. Mariner South will transport export-grade propane and butane from Lone Star NGL LLC’s storage and fractionation complex in Mont Belvieu, TX, to Sunoco Logistics’ terminal in Nederland, TX. A binding open season continues to solicit additional business (see Shale Daily, March 22). In addition to propane and butane, the pipeline will be available for other natural gas liquids and petroleum products depending on shipper interest, Sunoco Logistics said. It is expected to have initial capacity of 200,000 b/d with the potential for expansion. Operation is expected during the first quarter of 2015.

ConocoPhillips is on track for a “new era of development” in the United States, fueled by a growing list of discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and a solid portfolio in some onshore unconventional plays, the exploration and production (E&P) chief said Thursday.

Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP announced two projects in Freeport, TX, for its Gulf Coast pipeline and hydrogen/syngas businesses. The first project went on-line in March and has increased the supply of hydrogen purification and compression capacity to Air Liquide’s hydrogen pipeline system. The second project is expected to go online in 2014 and involves the construction of a new liquid oxygen storage and vaporization facility at the Freeport air separation unit complex to supply oxygen to the Gulf Coast pipeline network. This new installation represents an increase of nearly 25% over current storage and vaporization capacities on the networkd. Hydrogen gas is used by refiners to produce cleaner burning fuels, among other industrial uses. Government regulations calling for reductions in fuel emissions have increased demand for hydrogen. Growth in industrial gas demand is also anticipated as a result of the cost advantages resulting from low-priced natural gas, the company said.