Connecting

Connecting the wells only addresses part of the problem with flaring of natural gas in North Dakota’s Bakken and Three Forks formations; it’s no help if there’s a lack of takeaway and processing capacity.

Spectra Energy has been busy building out infrastructure in the Northeast, where capacity is needed to get Marcellus and Utica gas to market. However, the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions are ripe for billions of dollars of investment as well, said Spectra’s Bill Yardley, president of the U.S. transmission and storage business.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) has granted a certificate of public convenience and a construction permit to PTE Pipeline LLC (PTEP) to construct and operate a condensate pipeline connecting Point Thomson production facilities with BP plc’s Badami Pipeline on the North Slope.

Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has launched production at the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Chinook field, connecting its second well to the first floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel platform in U.S. waters.

Natural gas produced from Marcellus Shale wells owned by Shell Upstream America and Ultra Petroleum Corp. has begun flowing through a UGI Central Penn Gas Inc. supply pipeline that feeds some 15,000 customers in Tioga, Bradford and Potter counties in Pennsylvania, according to the UGI Utilities Inc. subsidiary.

The low price of natural gas may be keeping producers up at night, but it’s helping some Pennsylvania consumers sleep easier.

Continued production growth and new pipelines connecting producing areas to consumers have helped keep natural gas prices low, despite a 2.6% increase in demand this year, and market conditions going into the winter are generally positive, according to FERC’s Office of Enforcement (OE).

Continued production growth and new pipelines connecting producing areas to consumers have helped keep natural gas prices low, despite a 2.6% increase in demand this year, and market conditions going into the winter are generally positive, according to FERC’s Office of Enforcement (OE).

Connecting wellheads — particularly those in shale gas fields — to gas-fired turbines and burner tips will require billions in spending on midstream infrastructure over the next 25 years, according to a new report. Adding to the projected demand for new pipe, storage and other facilities is the increasing focus on liquids-rich gas production.