Liquids

Regional natural gas liquids (NGL) differentials will collapse over the next two years as new NGL pipelines create excess takeaway capacity out of all major basins (except the Marcellus Shale) into Mont Belvieu, TX, according to analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

Everyone knows “Texas tea” means oil, but in the Lone Star state, ethylene produced from booming supplies of natural gas liquids (NGL) might come to be known as “Texas sweetened tea” for the profitability it’s bringing to the Gulf Coast petrochemical industry.

A poll shows a majority of Ohio voters support new severance taxes on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas liquids (NGL), especially if the revenue raised is used to cut state income taxes, an idea proposed by Gov. John Kasich.

The number of original drilling permits issued in Texas during November declined from one year ago, as did the amount of natural gas produced from Texas wells during October compared to a year ago, according to Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) figures.

Norway’s Statoil ASA on Wednesday said it has snapped up another 70,000 net acres in liquids-rich areas of the Marcellus Shale for $590 million in cash. The portfolio additions, which give the producer full or joint partnership in close to 750,000 net acres in the play, are spread across West Virginia and Ohio.

Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp., which has a 95,000-net acre position targeting the liquids-rich Eagle Ford Shale, Pearsall Shale, Austin Chalk and Buda Limestone, said its estimated current net production is 4,400 boe/d, of which 84% was oil. This rate represents a 159% increase over the third quarter net production exit rate of 1,700 boe/d (see Shale Daily, Oct. 30). “We continue to see strong well performance across our three focus areas as we execute on the remainder of this year’s development plan,” said CEO Tony Sanchez. “Additionally, we are testing tighter spacing in each of our positions in the Eagle Ford trend and, more specifically, one of the rigs in our Palmetto area is drilling the first of a five-well, 40-acre spacing pilot on the southern part of the Barnhart Ranch.” The company is running two rigs in the Palmetto area, one rig in the Maverick area, and two rigs in the Marquis area.

Ultra Petroleum Inc.’s Wyoming unit on Friday agreed to sell a liquids pipeline system and gathering facilities and certain associated real property rights in the Pinedale Anticline in Wyoming for $225 million. The buyer is Pinedale Corridor LP, a newly created unit of CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust, and the deal is expected to close later this month.

DCP Midstream LLC and DCP Midstream Partners LP said they are constructing the Goliad cryogenic gas processing plant to serve liquids-rich production from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The plant will have capacity of 200 MMcf/d and will become part of the DCP Eagle Ford system providing Eagle Ford producers one-stop service from the plant tailgate to Gulf Coast market centers, the partners said. The plant will be constructed and funded by the previously announced DCP Eagle Ford Joint Venture formed Nov. 1, which is owned two-thirds by DCP Midstream and one-third by DCP Midstream Partners. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2014. The plant will be the seventh in South Texas owned by the DCP enterprise.

South Africa’s Sasol Ltd. last week put in all the chips on a bet that U.S. natural gas is here to stay, announcing plans to construct a $16-21 billion natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Westlake, LA — the second largest commercial plant of its kind in the world.