Condensate

Kinder Morgan Inc. CEO Rich Kinder didn't see the shale revolution coming, not for U.S. natural gas, nor for crude oil, the CEO confided at the IHS CERAWeek conference last week during a discussion with IHS Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) confirmed that at least one condensate pipeline in Marshall County was damaged during inclement weather that rolled through the region late last week, causing a spill into a nearby creek.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on Tuesday provided guidance on petroleum product exports, officially clarifying that lightly processed condensate can be exported.

A report Monday that the U.S. Commerce Department has queried companies seeking authority to export condensate should not get export proponents too excited thinking that clarity on the issue will be forthcoming from Washington, DC, ClearView Energy Partners LLC analysts said in a note.

Appalachian pure-play Eclipse Resources Corp. said late Wednesday that production has started at two of its pads in Ohio’s Utica Shale, including the first in the company’s condensate type-curve area and another that provides an early read-through for other operators preparing to test Utica wells in West Virginia.

Echoing some of the criticism from Congress toward the U.S. Commerce Department on its handling of proposals to allow crude oil condensate exports (see Shale Daily, July 10), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) CEO Gary Heminger on Thursday said the uncertainty is counterproductive economically. He made the remarks during a 2Q2014 conference call reporting greatly increased quarter-over-quarter results.

With unconfirmed reports of a hold being placed on requests to export crude oil condensates by the U.S. Commerce Department, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Tuesday continued her call for the agency to loosen restrictions on condensate exports.

A new truck-to-rail transloading facility has opened in Parkersburg, WV, that is capable of handling more than 150,000 bbl of crude oil condensate and natural gas liquids from the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Eagle Ford Shale crude and condensate production in 2020 will rival Alaska’s entire North Slope field at its peak, hitting an estimated 2 million b/d, according to an analysis by Wood Mackenzie Ltd.