Gather

SM Energy Co. has struck a long-term agreement with Eagle Ford Gathering LLC — a joint venture (JV) of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Copano Energy LLC — to gather, transport and process production from its Eagle Ford Shale assets in South Texas.

It was only a few months ago that booming times in the Texas oil and gas patch moved the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers to gather a handful of energy reporters at Houston’s Petroleum Club to tout the industry’s success, the market’s wisdom and to speak out against higher taxes. Things have changed a bit since that meeting in July.

It was only a few months ago that booming times in the Texas oil and gas patch moved the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers to gather a handful of energy reporters at Houston’s Petroleum Club to tout the industry’s success, the market’s wisdom and to speak out against higher taxes. Things have changed a bit since that meeting in July.

XTO Energy Inc. is moving into the Bakken Shale big time in a $1.85 billion cash-and-stock agreement with a private producer that will give it a leasehold with estimated proved reserves of around 68 million boe. The transaction follows on the heels of XTO’s $600 million purchase in April that gave it entry into the Marcellus Shale (see Daily GPI, April 16).

Enogex Inc. and Amarillo, TX-based producer Pablo Energy II LLC plan to gather and process natural gas from the Woodford Shale in southeastern Oklahoma through a new joint venture partnership, Atoka Midstream LLC, which is scheduled to begin operating in April.

Enterprise Products Partners LP last Monday signed a 30-year agreement to gather and process ExxonMobil’s Piceance Basin natural gas production in Colorado. The fee-based contract requires Enterprise to invest about $185 million to build new gathering and treating facilities to compress and treat ExxonMobil’s gas production, extract the natural gas liquids (NGL) and deliver the gas to interstate pipelines. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2008.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said Monday it signed a 30-year agreement to gather and process ExxonMobil’s Piceance Basin natural gas production in Colorado. The fee-based contract requires Enterprise to invest about $185 million to build new gathering and treating facilities to compress and treat ExxonMobil’s gas production, extract the natural gas liquids (NGL) and deliver the gas to interstate pipelines. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2008.

Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission will hold two days of public comment sessions Tuesday and Wednesday to gather input from the general public on Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp’s. proposed $27.5 million general rate increase. Tuesday’s hearing is in Carson City, and Wednesday’s session will be in Las Vegas.

El Paso Energy Partners, L.P. (EPN) announced last Wednesday that it will build and operate a new 16-inch pipeline to gather natural gas production from the Red Hawk field located in the Garden Banks area of the central Deepwater Trend of the Gulf of Mexico.