natural gas prices

Enable Midstream Partners LP has completed and brought online the first phase of its Nesson Crude & Produced Water Gathering System. The pipeline serves Bakken Shale wells in Williams and Mountrail counties in North Dakota. Construction of the first segment began in July. It provides services to producer XTO Energy Inc. and has a maximum throughput of 1,800 b/d. As of May 7, crude oil has been flowing into the downstream delivery pipeline system. Phase two construction began in April and is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter. Maximum throughput for the entire system is expected to be 30,000 b/d, with more than 160 miles of pipeline and 69 origin points to gather crude oil and produced water.

Natural gas forward basis markets spent most of the last week slowly chugging along, much like every other shoulder-season week of late, but Thursday (May 21) trading brought about a sharp downturn for one Northeast market hub that’s no stranger to volatility.

In spite of power load forecasts calling for huge increases Tuesday in eastern markets, spot natural gas for the extended holiday weekend skidded as traders decided to make any necessary spot purchases over the weekend instead of commit to a four-day deal.

Natural gas cash and futures markets parted ways in weekly trading for the week ended May 22. If the futures are viewed as a leading indicator for the physical market, the outlook does not look good for physical market bulls. TheNGIWeekly Spot Gas Average managed a gain of 6 cents to $2.71, but June futures skidded nearly 13 cents to $2.887 and failed to hold key technical objectives.

Enable Midstream Partners LP has completed and brought online the first phase of its Nesson Crude & Produced Water Gathering System. The pipeline serves Bakken Shale wells in Williams and Mountrail counties in North Dakota. Construction of the first segment began in July. It provides services to producer XTO Energy Inc. and has a maximum throughput of 1,800 b/d. As of May 7, crude oil has been flowing into the downstream delivery pipeline system. Phase two construction began in April and is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter. Maximum throughput for the entire system is expected to be 30,000 b/d, with more than 160 miles of pipeline and 69 origin points to gather crude oil and produced water.

A meeting to discuss a recent study on causal factors for seismicity near Azle, TX, is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. CDT on June 5, at the William B. Travis Office Building in Austin. Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner Ryan Sitton plans to host the meeting with participants who are expected to include RRC technical staff and scientists/researchers who published the study. The meeting is to be broadcast via the RRC’s website. In April Sitton said he would hold a public meeting on the study’s findings (see Shale Daily,April 24). In June, hearings are scheduled for two drilling waste injection well operators to determine whether their wells should be shut in because of seismic activity in the area.

Howard Midstream Energy Partners LLC is offering 1.12 Bcf/d of natural gas hub services on its existing assets in Webb County, TX (Webb County Hub). The company is accepting indications of interest for the new hub services and the export of natural gas to Mexico via the proposed Colombia interconnect through June 12. The Webb County Hub includes Howard’s existing 285 miles of pipeline, 200 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant tailgate, and more than 360 MMcf/d of local production. The hub services will connect domestic supply sources, including Agua Dulce, Houston Ship Channel, Katy, local production, and processing plant tailgates via interconnects to existing intrastate markets and markets in Mexico. For information contact Steve Cruse, scruse@howardep.com; or Brandon Seale, bseale@howardep.com. Impulsora Pipeline LLC, a unit of Howard, was recently issued a presidential permit by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and plans to construct a 36-inch diameter pipeline to interconnect with the Webb County Hub (see Daily GPI,May 14). Mexico’s Comision Federal de Electricidad’s Colombia-Escobedo project will provide customers with direct export access to Mexico.

Heavy-duty trucks switching to run on natural gas will only contribute to reining in climate change impacts if methane leakage across the natural gas supply chain is plugged, according to research summarized in the current issue of Environmental Science & Technology, an American Chemical Society (ACS) publication.

The use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a transportation fuel in the heavy-duty vehicle market will grow slowly over the next 10 years, unless there are aggressive marketing efforts, according to the latest Oil & Gas Market Notes published by Navigant Consulting.