Markwest

Major Utica Shale player MarkWest Energy Partners LP is buying a 36-mile railroad after reaching a tentative agreement with the Columbiana County, OH, port authority.

Major Utica Shale player MarkWest Energy Partners LP is buying a 36-mile railroad after reaching a tentative agreement with the Columbiana County, OH, port authority.

A Pennsylvania family that had sued Range Resources Corp. and other midstream operators for allegedly contaminating its property with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids is still receiving monthly royalty payments, according to court-released settlement documents.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and MarkWest Utica EMG LLC (MarkWest Utica) are putting up a $2 billion y-grade natural gas liquids (NGL) processing and transportation combo project that competes with the Bluegrass Pipeline, which has been proposed by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP and Williams.

Liquids-rich gas and high initial production rates from oil wells are driving red hot interest in the Eagle Ford Shale, and this is only bolstered by the region’s established midstream infrastructure and proximity to energy markets, Fitch Ratings said in a new report. More isolated shale basins need costly “mega pipelines,” which are tougher on credit ratings, Fitch said.

In the article “XTO, MarkWest Execs Tout Shale Success, Push Public Interaction, LNG Exports” (see Shale Daily, Sept. 21), NGI’s Shale Daily incorrectly stated that the Golden Pass liquefied natural gas terminal project is being developed by Cheniere Energy Inc. The Golden Pass Products liquefaction expansion project is a partnership of affiliates of Qatar Petroleum International (70% ownership) and ExxonMobil Corp. (30%). NGI’s Shale Daily regrets the error.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday the state has appealed to the state Supreme Court a ruling by the Commonwealth Court that struck down portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were “unconstitutional, null and void” on the grounds that its limits on local zoning violate municipalities’ right to substantive due process.

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.