Handling

Williams Partners LP and a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc have partnered on an ambitious midstream venture to invest in natural gas liquids (NGL) and dry gas handling infrastructure to serve Marcellus and Utica shale operators in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.

Williams Partners LP and a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc have partnered on an ambitious midstream venture to invest in natural gas liquids (NGL) and dry gas handling infrastructure to serve Marcellus and Utica shale operators in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.

GreenHunter Water LLC recently began handling water disposal services at its newly completed salt water disposal (SWD) facility near Helena in Karnes County, TX. The facility is composed of new storage tanks and a fully contained offloading platform that features four unloading tractor trailer bays, a 150 hp pumping system and 2,400 bbl of onsite storage. The newly drilled SWD well was completed to the Middle Wilcox formation at a total depth of 7,800 feet. Green Hunter Water is a unit of GreenHunter Energy Inc. “We expect demand for Class II injection capacity in this part of the Eagle Ford Shale play to remain robust due to the increased drilling in the region directly related to the successful drilling efforts by operators in the ‘oil window’ of the Eagle Ford,” said Green Hunter Energy President Jonathan D. Hoopes. “With this new well now online and the facility operational, GreenHunter Water’s total owned disposal capacity has reached 35,000 bbl per day from a total of seven SWD wells located in five states.”

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said it met an industry-leading 30-minute response time criteria for handling natural gas leaks 85% of the time in August. The response time compares to a 58.4% result in August 2011. The San Francisco-based combination utility said it is now ranked in the top quartile for meeting benchmarking criteria established by the American Gas Association (AGA). PG&E applied a more stringent standard in seeking to meet the 30-minute response time, given that the industry and AGA use 60 minutes as the usual test of responsiveness, said a PG&E spokesperson. Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos said the utility is seeking to “ease any anxiety” for customers regarding leaking gas.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was vindicated Wednesday in a recent whistleblower’s case, which alleged negligence by the utility in its handling of pipe welds on critical parts of its 6,000-mile natural gas transmission system.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is considering revisions to requirements for the Air Quality Standard Permit for Oil and Gas Handling and Production Facilities, which are used to authorize oil and gas facilities in the Barnett Shale of North-Central Texas.

Focusing on the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on Wednesday made a pitch for more rules to cover the handling of wastewater produced in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with the release of a new NRDC report.

Energy industry-backed changes to New Mexico’s rules for handling natural gas and oil drilling and production waste, the so-called pit rule, have been put on hold by a state judge until a hearing scheduled in June. Until that hearing is held, attempts by the state’s two major industry groups, the Independent Petroleum Association (IPA) and Oil and Gas Association (OGA), may not be able to seek administrative changes.

As a compromise bill to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas plodded through the Pennsylvania legislature Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett assumed a favorable outcome, commending lawmakers for their cooperation, saying he was “looking forward to signing the legislation into law.”