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Calgary-based Kitimat LNG Inc. said it has entered into a more than $20 billion agreement with Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), under which KOGAS will acquire up to 40% of Kitimat LNG’s production and an option to acquire an equity stake in Kitimat LNG’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Bish Cove, BC.

Houston-based Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corp. (UPDA) has entered into negotiations with EOG Resources Inc. to farm out the drilling of 13 wells on 2,700 acres it owns in the Barnett Shale in North Texas, UPDA said Tuesday.

CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Co. (CEGT) has entered into two separate firm transportation agreements to transport Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Haynesville Shale natural gas. CEGT, the interstate pipeline subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy Inc., owns and operates Line CP, a 1.55 Bcf/d pipeline that extends from Carthage, TX, to the Perryville Hub in Louisiana. Under the agreements with Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc., CEGT will transport gas on both a forward-haul basis to CEGT’s Perryville Hub and on a backhaul basis to Carthage. The 27-month backhaul agreement provides for firm transportation volumes to ramp up to 500 MMcf/d. The long-term firm forward-haul agreement provides for 230 MMcf/d of capacity, effective when CEGT’s Phase IV Line CP compression expansion goes into service, currently projected for April 2010. CEGT said its application for the Phase IV expansion has been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). To fulfill the forward-haul requirements of the agreement, CEGT said it would add a compressor to each of Line CP’s Westdale Compressor Station in Red River Parish, LA, and Vernon Compressor Station in Jackson Parish, LA. The expansion would add 274 MMcf/d of capacity to CEGT’s Line CP, bringing the total year-round capacity to more than 1.8 Bcf/d. CEGT previously held an open season for expansion of Line CP’s capacity (see NGI, June 30, 2008). It also is evaluating proposals for the remaining 44 MMcf/d capacity in the Phase IV expansion and said it plans to execute definitive service agreements before the project is placed in service in 2010.

CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Co. (CEGT) has entered into two separate firm transportation agreements to transport Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Haynesville Shale natural gas, the companies announced late Monday.

FERC Thursday rejected the uncontested joint settlement entered into by its own Office of Enforcement staff with affiliates of collapsed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC and two of its natural gas traders accused of manipulating the market to influence natural gas futures prices.

FERC Thursday rejected the uncontested joint settlement entered into by its own Office of Enforcement staff with affiliates of collapsed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC and two of its natural gas traders accused of manipulating the market to influence natural gas futures prices.

Continuing its strategy of divesting assets considered noncore to the company, Houston-based Linn Energy LLC said it has entered into an agreement with an undisclosed buyer to sell its deep rights in certain central Oklahoma acreage, which includes the Woodford Shale interval, for cash consideration of $229 million.

SCANA Corp. subsidiary PSNC Energy has entered into a settlement agreement with staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) and the Carolina Utility Customers Association that provides for an increase in PSNC Energy’s annual natural gas margin revenues of approximately $9.1 million, or 1.32% — nearly 56% less than the $20.4 million increase PSNC had requested. The settlement agreement also includes a reduction in PSNC fixed gas costs, which represents a pass-through for the company, of approximately $8.4 million and establishes an allowed return on common equity of 10.6%. The agreement also allows PSNC to implement a rate decoupling mechanism, which breaks the link between revenues and the amount of natural gas sold, allowing the company to periodically adjust its base rates based on customer consumption. If approved by the NCUC, the settlement agreement will become effective on Nov. 1. In June the NCUC approved an increase to the purchased gas component of the company’s retail natural gas rates, effective with July bills. The increase raised the company’s residential rate by 15%, taking it from approximately $1.50/therm to approximately $1.72/therm. Gastonia, NC-based PSNC distributes gas to approximately 458,000 customers in 28 North Carolina counties.

TECO Energy has formed subsidiary SeaCoast Gas Transmission LLC to develop and own a Florida intrastate gas pipeline, the company said last week.