Enhancement

Westbound volumes on the Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) increased about 200 MMcf/d Tuesday, according to NGI’s REX Zone 3 Tracker.

FERC staff Monday released a favorable environmental assessment (EA) for the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) Zone 3 Capacity Enhancement project, which would help move more natural gas from the Marcellus Shale westward.

Whether it is safety enhancement work in California, pipeline extensions to service new electric generation plants in the Midwest or new distribution pipelines to serve formerly oil-heated homes in New England, low natural gas prices are being felt nationally in the operations of various local utility distribution companies (LDC).

Whether it is safety enhancement work in California, pipeline extensions to service new electric generation plants in the Midwest or new distribution pipelines to serve formerly oil-heated homes in New England, low natural gas prices are being felt nationally in the operations of various local utility distribution companies (LDC).

New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) Tuesday received approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to implement its Safety Acceleration and Facility Enhancement (SAFE) program, which will replace 276 miles, or about 50%, of the cast iron and unprotected steel mains and associated services in its delivery system over the next four years.

Calgary-based Keyera Corp. is planning a $210 million enhancement project to recover ethane and other natural gas liquids from the raw gas stream at the Rimbey gas plant in the Hoadley region of central Alberta. The project would include installing a 400 MMcf/d turbo expander unit and constructing a 34 kilometer, six-inch diameter ethane pipeline to connect to the Alberta Ethane Gathering System. The enhancements would allow Keyera to recover more than 90% of the ethane at the plant. Upon completion of the project, Keyera expects to extract up to 20,000 b/d of ethane through the turbo expander unit, which would be sold to a large consumer in Alberta under a long term sales agreement. The company has also secured a long-term, fee-for-service processing agreement and is in discussions with other producers interested in contracting processing capacity at the plant. Subject to regulatory approvals, construction of the expansion is anticipated to begin in 4Q2012, with start-up expected in late 2014.

An El Paso Corp.-operated well in North Louisiana is the first gas-producing well to be completed using all three of Halliburton’s proprietary CleanSuite production enhancement technologies for both hydraulic fracturing and water treatment, the companies said. More than four million gallons of an ecofriendly CleanStim fracture fluid system, which was first introduced by Halliburton last year (see Shale Daily, Nov. 16, 2010), was used to enhance the well, they said. CleanStim is a food-based fracking solution. Halliburton’s CleanStream process was used to treat nearly 4.8 million gallons of water and another one million gallons of produced water was prepared for recycling in the well through the CleanWave system.

An El Paso Corp.-operated well in North Louisiana is the first gas-producing well to be completed using all three of Halliburton’s proprietary CleanSuite production enhancement technologies for both hydraulic fracturing and water treatment, the companies said. More than four million gallons of an ecofriendly CleanStim fracture fluid system, which was first introduced by Halliburton last year (see Daily GPI, Nov. 16, 2010), was used to enhance the well, they said. CleanStim is a food-based fracking solution. Halliburton’s CleanStream process was used to treat nearly 4.8 million gallons of water and another one million gallons of produced water was prepared for recycling in the well through the CleanWave system.

Pipeline projects in the planning stages by Equitrans L.P. and Dominion Transmission Inc. would carry as much as 1.4 Bcf/d of Marcellus Shale and other Appalachian production out of northern West Virginia to major connections in southwestern Pennsylvania by late 2012.