Information

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said natural gas production in Pennsylvania increased 69% in 2012, despite a reduction in drilling activity.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) reports has tended to underestimate natural gas production and growth, and consequently overestimate net gas imports as well, the agency said in a report issued Friday.

The big spenders for natural gas in 2011 were Texans who paid $14.7 billion at the burner tip, Californians who paid $14.4 billion and New Yorkers, who paid $11.2 billion, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) tally, released earlier this month of 2011 state natural gas consumption statistics, which include residential, commercial, industrial, electric power and transportation customers.

A top House Republican has called on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to provide information on a two-year-old departmental internal investigations unit that was set up to look into wrongdoing by the offshore oil and gas industry and government officials who regulate their activities.

The big spenders for natural gas in 2011 were Texans who paid $14.7 billion at the burner tip, Californians who paid $14.4 billion and New Yorkers, who paid $11.2 billion, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) tally, released last Friday of 2011 state natural gas consumption statistics, which include residential, commercial, industrial, electric power and transportation customers.

The South Texas Energy and Economic Roundtable (Steer), which is claimed to be “the most comprehensive Eagle Ford Shale resource in the region,” has opened its offices in San Antonio, TX.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners LP and Apache Corp. have struck a new fee-based gas gathering, processing and purchasing agreement in support of Apache’s drilling in the Texas Panhandle. Apache has dedicated all existing and future wells drilled within an area encompassing more than 106,000 gross acres in Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Hansford and Sherman counties under market-based terms. The agreement supersedes and expands on previous agreements between Eagle Rock and Apache. The dedicated acreage covers the Granite Wash, Hogshooter, Tonkawa, Marmaton and Cleveland plays in the Anadarko Basin. The associated Apache production will be gathered and processed at one or more of the partnership’s cryogenic processing plants in the Panhandle. Eagle Rock’s Panhandle assets consist of 6,500 miles of gathering pipeline and more than 480 MMcf/d of processing capacity, with an additional 60 MMcf/d of processing capacity expected to come online in the second quarter.

Equitrans LP is holding a nonbinding open season through March 13 for firm transmission and storage capacity on a system to be known as Allegheny Valley Connector, which would consist of transmission and storage assets that are expected to transfer to EQT Corp. as part of a transaction with Peoples Natural Gas Co. LLC. EQT is the parent of Equitrans through its EQT Midstream Partners LP. The system is in the Marcellus Shale region, and its primary function is to store and transport gas to Peoples interconnects, including gas for use by Peoples and other suppliers. Information is at www.eqtmidstreampartners.com.

U.S. natural gas working inventories hit a record high in November of 3.923 Tcf, but domestic inventories ended January at an estimated 2.7 Tcf, or 0.2 Tcf below January 2012 levels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week. The lower storage numbers were blamed in part on wellhead freeze-offs in several onshore basins.