Holdings

SemGroup Corp. and Exterran Holdings Inc. are developing a gas processing plant for SemGas LP to service growing midstream services demand in the Mississippi play. SemGas has agreed to buy the new gas processing plant and associated compression equipment. It is expected that the plant will be designed and fabricated by Exterran to handle a throughput of 60 MMcf/d and will feature cryogenic technology for natural gas liquid extraction and enhanced ethane recovery. Exterran offers pre-engineered processing plants in quantities of 60, 150 and 200 MMcf/d nominal capacity.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s decision five years ago to build an onshore position in the United States to rival its massive Gulf of Mexico holdings is more than paying off, and in places that many have put way down on the go-to list. Land that the independent has long controlled in northern Colorado holds a massive liquids-rich resource potential of 500 million to 1.5 billion boe net, executives have disclosed this week.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the proposal of Norway’s Statoil ASA, which already has significant holdings in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, to acquire Austin, TX-based independent Brigham Exploration Co., which would give it access to the Williston Basin’s Bakken and Three Forks oily formations. The transaction has cleared the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period with the FTC imposing no restrictions. The transaction is valued at $4.4 billion (US$36.50/share) and is expected to close either later this year or early in 2012, Brigham said. The transaction would give Statoil access to more than 375,000 net acres in the Williston Basin, which holds potential for oil and gas production from the Bakken and Three Forks formations. Brigham also holds interests in 40,000 net acres in other onshore plays. In addition to the production assets, the transaction also provides Statoil with about 430 miles of oil, natural gas and water transportation systems in the Williston Basin, which not only secures wastewater offtake but reduces the environmental footprint in production operations.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved the proposal of Norway’s Statoil ASA, which already has significant holdings in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, to acquire Austin, TX-based independent Brigham Exploration Co., which would give it access to the Williston Basin’s Bakken and Three Forks oily formations.

The meltdown of securities firm giant MF Global Holdings Ltd. is a “fresh slap-in-the-face reminder” of why the country needs tougher financial regulations, a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said Tuesday.

EnerVest Ltd. on Thursday said it had come to terms with Encana Corp. to acquire the Calgary-based producer’s Barnett Shale portfolio in North Texas for $975 million.

Marathon Oil Corp. CEO Clarence Cazalot said the company’s purchase of 141,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford Shale from Hilcorp Resources Holdings LP for $3.5 billion was exceeding expectations, with production totaling nearly 1,000 boe/d on Tuesday, Marathon’s first official day as operator (see Shale Daily, June 2).

After reviewing orders from bankrupt securities firm MF Global Holdings Ltd., CME Clearing, a trading arm of CME Group, said it was holding “substantial excess margin collateral” and continued to be in a “strong financial position” with respect to MF Global and in general.

Shocking details surrounding the surprise bankruptcy of securities firm giant MF Global Holdings Ltd. were coming to light Tuesday, one day after the company turned in its Chapter 11 papers following an ill-timed bet on the European debt markets (see Daily GPI, Nov. 1).