Grow

DCP Midstream’s Sand Hills Pipeline has initiated natural gas liquids transport service from the Eagle Ford Shale. DCP is opening Sand Hills in phases, with this first segment in South Texas online. By the end of 2012, DCP will have completed Sand Hills to connect directly into Mont Belvieu, TX. “When finished, Sand Hills Pipeline will be a major link between the liquids-rich Eagle Ford and Permian producing regions and growing Gulf Coast markets,” said DCP CEO Tom O’Connor. Construction activities continue on the second phase of Sand Hills for Permian Basin service. This phase is expected to enter service by the second quarter of 2013. Sand Hills will consist of 720 miles of 20-inch diameter pipeline with an initial capacity of more than 200,000 b/d, which can grow to 350,000 b/d with the installation of additional pump stations (see Shale Daily, Aug. 19, 2011).

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday said domestic natural gas consumption is on track to grow this year, while marketed production will slow.

Gasfrac Energy Services Inc., which has been attempting to build market share in the U.S. hydraulic fracturing (fracking) market with its waterless technology, on Tuesday said CEO Zeke Zeringue and COO Steve Batchelor have left the company, and an operational review and management restructuring have begun.

British Columbia (BC) Premier Christy Clark trekked north to see new gas processing and pipeline facilities start work in the resource-rich region where Canada’s western-most province meets the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Despite dry gas production curtailments and rig lay-downs nationwide, Northeast production will grow by 1 Bcf/d from its current 8.3 Bcf/d by the end of the year as the Marcellus Shale “seems impervious to the unfavorable economics,” Bentek Energy LLC said in its Forward Curve Quarterly.

Consolidated Edison Co. (Con Ed) of New York is projecting natural gas demand from utility conversions will grow 3.5% through 2017, requiring substantial new pipeline capacity to be up and running, according to the director of the utility’s gas supply.

Consolidated Edison Co. (Con Ed) of New York is projecting natural gas demand from utility conversions will grow 3.5% through 2017, requiring substantial new pipeline capacity to be up and running, according to the director of the utility’s gas supply.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said development of the Marcellus Shale was “good for the entire state” but conceded that several challenges lay ahead, in part because natural gas prices remain less than $3/Mcf.

Even with a continuing slow recovery in the regional economy, natural gas demand is expected to grow steadily at just under 1% annually during the next 10 years, with gas used for power generation expected to lead the growth, according to the 2012 Gas Outlook released Saturday by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA).