Customers

Growing natural gas production in the Permian Basin has prompted Atlas Pipeline Partners LP to announce plans for a new 200 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant, which will be anchored by production from Pioneer Natural Resources Inc.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said Tuesday it has signed up enough customers to support its planned 270-mile pipeline header system to carry ethane from Mont Belvieu, TX, to petrochemical plants in the Gulf Coast region.

Unimin Corp. has opened a proppant distribution terminal in Navarre, OH, in Stark County to serve oil and natural gas operators in the Utica Shale.

A bill that would enable Maryland’s natural gas utilities to impose a monthly surcharge on customers of up to $2.00/month to pay for maintaining and replacing aging distribution lines appears likely to be approved by the legislature as soon as this week.

Xcel Energy Inc., which provides power generation to Colorado customers, plans to build a 21-mile transmission line (230-kV) in the Piceance Basin to serve anticipated natural gas-fired generation to enhance reliability on the Western Slope. A 1,100 MW gas-fired generator also is planned near Mesquite, NV, on 250 acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A unit of EWP Renewables Corp. has filed an application with Nevada regulators to construct the plant, which would come online in two 550 MW phases in 2016 and 2017.

Chevron Corp. subsidiary Chevron Canada Ltd. will acquire a 50% operating interest in the Kitimat, British Columbia (BC), liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project and proposed Pacific Trail Pipeline (PTP), and a 50% interest in 644,000 acres of petroleum and natural gas rights in the Horn River and Liard basins in BC, and be a partner in the project and acreage with Apache Corp., the companies said Monday.

Of the estimated 33,000 natural gas customers who were impacted by Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) reported on Wednesday that it had restored service to about 18,000 meters on Long Beach Island in Monmouth County and parts of Ocean County. However, before gas can flow to the meters, residents have to return to their homes, have their electricity restored and hire qualified technicians to ensure the equipment is safe to operate, said a NJNG spokesman. He said it was a “little harder to quantify” how much of the distribution system’s infrastructure, which was damaged by Sandy, would have to be replaced.

Dominion Resources Inc. announced Monday that it plans to close and decommission a nuclear power plant in Wisconsin next year, a decision the company said was made in part due to continuing low natural gas prices.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. and S.H. Bell Co. are planning a new silica sand storage facility in East Liverpool, OH, to support growing demand from oil and natural gas customers in the Marcellus and Utica shales, the companies said.