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Linde North America has broken ground for an air separation unit (ASU) plant in La Porte, TX, part of a $200 million investment that is to include a gasification train and supporting facilities. The German-based The Linde Group unit, set to begin operations in 1Q2015, would be the largest single site investment in plant and equipment to date in the United States. Oxygen and nitrogen produced by the ASU would supply gasification assets at the Texas site, converting natural gas into syngas and constituent products such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which are used to produce methanol, downstream chemicals and cleaner transportation fuels (see related story). The syngas products would be served by pipeline to a “key” customer, the company said. “Coupled with our unique portfolio of industrial gas and hydrocarbons technology, engineering and operations capabilities, the new plants will allow Linde to better serve the petrochemicals industry that is being driven to new heights by the shale gas revolution,” said Linde North America President Pat Murphy.

In an announcement that ends a two-year tug of war with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over jurisdiction, Wyoming energy and environmental regulators will lead the investigation, working with the EPA, to continue the study of the potential impact of natural gas production activities in the Pavillion, WY, area on drinking water.

Eastern shale gas production growth has trumped Wyoming Powder River Basin (PRB) coalbed methane (CBM) as Calgary-based global energy processor Enerflex Ltd. said Thursday it is closing its Casper natural gas compression and processing plant, affecting 89 workers.

A U.S. natural gas storage surplus of 463 Bcf on Feb. 15 had tumbled to a 32 Bcf deficit by May 24, a 495 Bcf decline that “ranks among the strongest we have seen, and oddly, the timing was in the late winter and early spring,” analysts at Stephen Smith Energy Associates said in their most recent Monthly Energy Outlook.

While natural gas prices have recovered to nearly $4/MMBtu, the National Energy Board (NEB) said Thursday that Canadian natural gas producers are undertaking minimal natural gas drilling as current prices do not cover the full costs of developing most natural gas prospects and U.S. shale development continues to displace Canadian gas exports.

Natural gas production in the Lower 48 and Other States categories, which include some of the nation’s most prolific shale plays, was up in February compared with January and with February 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production Report.

Enterprise Products Partners is considering repurposing a portion of its 1,373-mile Seminole pipeline, which currently transports natural gas liquids (NGL) from the Hobbs hub and the Permian Basin to markets in south Texas, including the Enterprise NGL fractionation facility in Mont Belvieu, TX.

The deal that Chesapeake Energy Corp. made on Monday to sell half its leasehold in the Mississippian Lime was calculated at around $2,500/acre gross, or less than $1,000/acre net, not necessarily the price that the market had been expecting. The lower expected price may be attributed to several things, said analysts: foreign firms getting more savvy about undeveloped leaseholds, the value of the formation, or Chesapeake’s hurry to fix its balance sheet.

Natural gas prices may not be attractive enough for some producers, but Encana Corp.’s management team said it’s possible to make enough money in the Haynesville Shale to justify a five-rig program this year.