Distribution

NRG Energy Inc. on Friday said it has a definitive agreement to acquire Direct Energy, a leading North American natural gas retailer and subsidiary of Centrica plc, in a $3.625 billion, all-cash transaction. Direct Energy operates in all 50 states and six Canadian provinces, supplying natural gas, electricity, and home and business energy-related products and…

Phillips 66 Partners LP (PSXP) attributed record earnings in the second quarter to higher volumes for its pipelines and terminals, as the partnership completed an open season for a crucial crude oil pipeline link to serve the booming Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale.

The Mexican energy ministry (Sener) expects to release a draft of its natural gas distribution policy as early as the first quarter of this year.

Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa (GNF) has kicked off the constructionof a natural gas distribution system in the municipality ofCajeme, as part of a plan to expand its network in northwesternMexico.

Williams (WMB) and Williams Partners LP (WPZ) Monday afternoon said they have agreed to an incentive distribution rights (IDR) waiver transaction worth about $11.4 billion, bolstering WPZ’s credit rating and lowering its cost of capital. WMB also said it has identified further noncore assets to be sold and announced a public offering of 65 million common shares.

Under a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Google Earth Outreach that began in 2014, Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) was able to reduce methane emissions from targeted areas in its service territory by 83% and prioritize which aging distribution pipelines it should replace first.

Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has agreed to acquire Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $20 billion in a tie-up that would create the nation’s second largest midstream master limited partnership by enterprise value.

TransCanada Corp., Sierra Oil & Gas and Grupo TMM are proposing to jointly develop storage and transportation infrastructure to serve growing demand for refined products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, in the central region of Mexico and surrounding markets. The pipeline project would run parallel to a recently announced TransCanada natural gas pipeline and would transport refined products to Central Mexico from the Gulf Coast.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co.(PG&E) may begin to implement a precedent-setting plan after California’s State Lands Commission approved a lease extension for the utility’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The extension would allow the plant to run through the now-targeted shutdown in 2025. PG&E has to file a proposal with the California Public Utilities Commission and convene a conference of interested parties related to settlement reached earlier in June (see Daily GPI,June 21). The State Lands extension was one of five contingencies listed in the settlement agreement.