Date

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has received requests from citizens, oil and gas companies and local officials to review the drilling ordinances of three of the five localities in southwestern Pennsylvania that have filed a legal challenge to Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC’s (KMIGT) proposal to sell a 432-mile segment of its Pony Express natural gas pipeline to an affiliate (Kinder Morgan Pony Express Pipeline LLC) for the purpose of converting it to transport crude oil from the Bakken and Denver-Julesburg/Niobrara shales has received a mixed reaction at FERC.

In response to the booming development in the Bakken Shale play, Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC (KMIGT) is seeking FERC authorization to transfer a portion of its Pony Express natural gas pipeline to an affiliate to transport crude from the Bakken to key refinery centers.

The latest records year-to-date at Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) underscore reports from the industry players that drilling activity is on the upswing in the Powder River Niobrara, interim WOGCC Director Bob King told NGI’s Shale Daily on Wednesday.

Private equity power broker Riverstone Holdings LLC announced Monday that it has made an investment in Three Rivers Operating Co. LLC, which in turn has signed an agreement to buy several assets in the Permian Basin of West Texas from Meritage Energy Company LLC.

Meritage Midstream Services LLC and private equity power broker Riverstone Holdings LLC on Wednesday said they were teaming up once again, with Riverstone providing $500 million to pursue new natural gas liquids (NGL) midstream opportunities in some of North America’s emerging resource plays.

A proposed 16-inch diameter, 450-mile oil pipeline from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale to a hub near Clearbrook, MN, is at risk for delay or termination due to a stalemate with Enbridge Energy Partners LP, which is refusing to allow an interconnection with its pipeline in Minnesota, according to High Prairie Pipeline, which has filed a complaint at FERC.

TransCanada Corp. has submitted a presidential permit application to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for the Keystone XL Pipeline from the U.S.-Canada border in Montana to Steele City, NE. The company said it will supplement that application with an alternative route in Nebraska as soon as that route is selected.

The outlook for takeaway capacity from the Marcellus Shale continued to brighten this week, with FERC approving three pipeline expansion projects — two requested by National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. and another by Texas Eastern Transmission — designed to feed Marcellus gas to Northeast markets.