Fourth

A subsea survey for the fourth time has confirmed the integrity of the Macondo well and the associated relief wells in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, BP plc said. The visual inspection by BP and Transocean Ltd., which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, was to see if residual oil remained trapped under wreckage. The sheen is not recoverable and poses no risk to the shoreline, the U.S. Coast Guard said. No conclusive evidence of hydrocarbons leaking was observed from the surveyed area, but a “white, cloudy substance” appeared to emanate from several places on the overturned rig. Samples were collected, and BP plans to review the results with federal officials.

NuStar Energy LP is expanding its South Texas Crude Oil Pipeline System with the support of a long-term pipeline and terminal services agreement recently struck with ConocoPhillips, the partnership said Thursday.

The Lone Star West Texas Gateway NGL (natural gas liquids) Pipeline has entered service, transporting NGLs from the Permian and Delaware basins in West Texas to Mont Belvieu, TX, project partners Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) and Regency Energy Partners LP said Tuesday.

CF Industries Holdings Inc., an agricultural fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, reported record third quarter earnings on Tuesday and said low natural gas costs were part of a favorable outlook for 2013.

During an earnings conference call Tuesday, analysts peppered the management of Fort Worth, TX-based Quicksilver Resources Inc. with questions about efforts to establish a joint venture (JV) in the Horn River Basin and take a partner in the Barnett Shale, but executives were tight-lipped, not wanting to disclose details of talks.

The initial phase of Enterprise Products Partners LP’ Enterprise Crude Houston (Echo) storage terminal is complete and the facility is receiving deliveries of crude oil. Separately, the partnership said its sixth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator at Mont Belvieu, TX, has entered operation.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) on Tuesday published recommended practices to respond to stray gas incidents, the fourth in a series of guidance documents published by the industry group.

A U.S. flagged oil tanker arrived at the Port of Corpus Christi, TX, on Wednesday to load Eagle Ford Shale crude for transport to other U.S. ports. The Jones Act of 1920 requires that any goods moved by water from one U.S. port to another must be carried by a U.S. flagged ship. The M/V Pennsylvania passed by the Harbor Bridge gateway to the inner harbor Wednesday and docked at the port’s Oil Dock No. 1, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported. It is the U.S. built tanker’s first visit to the Corpus Christi port.

Natural gas and electric utility bills will decrease in the fourth quarter for Xcel Energy’s Colorado customers, assuming state regulators approve the combination utility’s proposed new rates, effective Oct. 1. Xcel asked the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to OK monthly gas utility bills going down by an average of $6.15 for residential customers and $23.16 for small businesses. Commodity prices for the two customer groups will be 44.19 cents/therm and 43.84 cents/therm, respectively, compared to rates of 52.11 cents/therm and 52.33 cents/therm in 4Q2011. For electric customers, monthly bills are expected to drop for residential ($3.21) and small business ($26.79).