Granite

Data from the latest Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) rig count shows drillers going back to the Granite Wash of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. They’re also continuing their return to Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale.

Data from the latest Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) rig count shows drillers continuing their return to Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale.

Plains All American Pipeline LP is constructing a 95-mile extension of its Oklahoma crude oil pipeline to service increasing production from the Granite Wash, Hogshooter and Cleveland Sands producing areas in western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. The new Western Oklahoma pipeline will provide up to 75,000 b/d of takeaway capacity from Reydon, OK, in Roger Mills County to PAA’s Orion station in Major County, OK. At the Orion station, crude oil will flow on PAA’s existing pipeline system to the PAA terminal in Cushing, OK. The new Western Oklahoma pipeline is supported by long-term producer commitments and is expected to be in service by the end of the first quarter of 2014, the company said.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP stepped deeper into the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas on Tuesday with a $1 billion cash agreement to buy privately held Teak Midstream LLC, a natural gas gathering and processing operator.

Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline Inc. is holding a binding open season through Dec. 7 for expansion capacity proposed to carry production from the Granite Wash, Cleveland/Tonkawa and Mississippian Lime areas to markets in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri as well as other intrastate and interstate pipelines. The Straight Blackwell Expansion would involve expanding the capacity of Southern Star’s system beginning in Texas County, OK, along the Straight Blackwell Line (Line Segment 315) extending east to its Blackwell Compressor Station in Kay County, OK. Customer interest will dictate whether Southern Star pursues the expansion and will help define the final parameters of any project, the company said. Southern Star said if the project proceeds, it will, subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval, install the necessary facilities to serve all or a portion of the requested capacity. Expansion service could begin Oct. 1. For more information, contact Philip Rullman at (270) 852-4440, Jim Neukam at (270) 852-4665, Pat Coomes at (270) 852-4552, Robbie Clark at (270)-852-4577, or Dale Sanders at (270) 852-4666.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.’s (APUC) regulated distribution utility, Liberty Utilities, has closed its $285 million acquisition of Granite State Electric Co. and EnergyNorth Natural Gas Inc. Ontario-based APUC announced in December 2010 that it would buy the New Hampshire-based businesses from National Grid (see Daily GPI, Dec. 10, 2010) and the deal received final state regulatory approval in May. The gas utility serves 87,000 customers in five counties and 30 communities across the state. Its load and customer count have shown a consistent 1.6% compounded annual growth over the past 10 years, APUC said. The electric distribution company serves 43,000 customers. Last year Liberty said it would pay about $124 million for Atmos Energy Corp.’s regulated gas distribution assets in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois (see Daily GPI, May 16, 2011). That deal has received all necessary federal and state regulatory approvals and is expected to close by Aug. 1, APUC said.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP (PVR) is buying Chief Gathering LLC for $1 billion. Chief Gathering serves northeastern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale producers and is a sister company to producer Chief Oil & Gas LLC.

The Utica Shale could double or triple liquids production in the Appalachian Basin, increasing the infrastructure challenges in the region, a midstream player told an audience in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Drilling in liquids-rich corners of the Marcellus Shale and Midcontinent region helped Range Resources Corp. post record production volumes in the first quarter of the year.