Attorneys involved with a legal challenge to portions of Act 13, Pennsylvania’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, say a decision by the state’s Commonwealth Court could come within a month and will have far-reaching consequences regardless of which way the court rules.
Liberty
Articles from Liberty
Utica Shale Revives Youngstown, OH’s Flagship Steel Plant
Youngstown, OH, long a Rust Belt poster child, now is watching the phoenix-like revival of its flagship steel plant, Youngstown Iron Sheet & Tube, thanks to the Utica and Marcellus shales. The 100-year old plant, once one of largest in the world before it foundered in the 1970s collapse of the nation’s steel industry, will be making steel pipe to serve the state’s burgeoning shale gas and oil development.
Turtle Bayou Storage Gets Initial Environmental Nod from FERC
A Birmingham, AL-based developer Friday got the initial environmental go-ahead for its proposal to build salt dome natural gas storage facilities in Chambers and Liberty counties, TX.
Kinder Morgan to Double Working Gas Capacity at Dayton Storage Field
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said it will spend $76 million to expand its Dayton natural gas storage field in Liberty County, TX to increase capacity. The project, which involves development of a new underground cavern, will add an estimated 5.5 Bcf of incremental working gas storage capacity. Two existing storage caverns currently provide 4.2 Bcf of working gas capacity.
Kinder Morgan Buys Dayton Salt Dome Storage Field for $100M
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP. (KMP) said it is buying the 4.2 Bcf Dayton salt dome gas storage facility in Liberty County, TX, from Texas Genco for $51 million in cash plus $49 million of debt. The field will continue to serve Texas Genco’s power generation operations in East Texas.
Duke Energy’s Moss Bluff Storage Facility to Return to Full Service Soon
The Duke Energy natural gas storage cavern in Liberty County, TX, which sustained the most damage in an explosion and fire last August, is expected to return to service within a couple of weeks, a spokesman for Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) said Thursday.
Duke Energy’s Moss Bluff Storage Facility to Return to Full Service Soon
The Duke Energy natural gas storage cavern in Liberty County, TX, which sustained the most damage in an explosion and fire last August, is expected to return to service within a couple of weeks, a spokesman for Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT) said Thursday.
Industry Briefs
Houston-based independent Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. said Thursday that its Hankamer No. 1 well in Liberty County, TX, has begun producing at a gross rate of 15,122 Mcfe/d and 772 bbl/d. The well, in which Carrizo is operator and 40% partner, was drilled in the fourth quarter. The company said the well, which was successfully completed in the Cook Mountain interval, had a flowing tubing pressure of 7,166 psi. Carrizo is monitoring the well’s performance and has increased the production rate to a current rate of approximately 525 bbl and 7,000 Mcf (10,50 Mcfe) a day. Carrizo also announced that the Pauline Huebner A-382 #2 well in the company’s Matagorda Project Area, which targeted a previously untested structure near successful wells in the Providence Field, has now been drilled, reaching a total depth of 12,500 feet earlier this month. The well logs indicate 74 feet of apparent net pay in three potential pay intervals. Carrizo is the operator of the well and owns working interests ranging from 46.5-52.5% in the primary well objectives, depending upon the actual depth of the zone to be produced. Completion operations are in process and Carrizo expects to be able to test the well in the next seven to 10 days. Carrizo also is currently drilling another follow-up well to the company’s successful wells in the Providence Field, the Pauline Huebner A-382 #3, which is expected to reach total depth in the next seven to 10 days.
Transportation Notes
NGPL expected to complete planned maintenance on Compressor Station 343 in Liberty County, TX on its Louisiana Line (see Daily GPI, Dec. 3) by Thursday night. Capacity will be back to normal in Segment 25 for Friday’s gas day, the pipeline said.
Industry Briefs
Gulfstream Natural Gas System received the first shipment of pipe for construction of its 753-mile natural gas pipeline system. The pipe was delivered to Liberty Port in Mobile, AL, and transported to a concrete weight coating facility in Theodore, AL. “This is the largest pipeline project in the Gulf of Mexico. When you see this first shipment of pipe arrive — all 23,000 tons of it — and realize we still have 12 more shipments coming, it underscores just how enormous this project really is,” said Nancy Schultz, Gulfstream senior vice president and general manager, technical functions. “It is exciting to have reached this milestone, which marks the imminent start of physical construction.” The pipe, purchased from Berg Steel Pipe Corporation in Panama City, Fla., arrived by ship from Bremen, Germany, where it was manufactured by Berg’s parent company, Europipe. Each section of 36-inch diameter pipe, with a wall thickness of up to 1.375 inches, is 40 feet in length and weighs up to eight tons. One hundred seventy two miles of 36-inch pipe will be stored in Alabama until the scheduled start of construction in June. Additional steel pipe manufactured at Berg’s pipe mill in Panama City, Fla., is scheduled to be delivered to Port Manatee, Fla., on May 28. The pipeline is sponsored by Williams and Duke Energy and was approved by FERC in February. It will extend from Mississippi and Alabama across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida.