natural gas

Nearly two months after being struck by lightning, the third processing train at MarkWest Energy Partners LP’s Houston facility in southwest Pennsylvania is operational, at the same time that new facilities started up in Ohio.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is looking for more buyers for a considerable U.S. onshore portfolio that would help pay down debt and expand development in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Since the beginning of July, August forward basis curves around the U.S. Northeast have been accentuating their end of summer contango as markets continue to price in cooler expectations of August weather and a warmer-than-average autumn. According a report published Monday by forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI), average temperatures in the Northeast will be cooler than normal in August, likely dampening air conditioning load across the region (see Daily GPI, July 21).

Forward basis curves are continuing into August the trend begun in July of falling price expectations, with negative basis for Northeast points deepening as markets continue to price in cooler expectations of August weather and a warmer-than-average autumn.

Gastar Exploration Inc. was able to add 24 million boe to its estimated proved reserves during the first half of this year with a strong drilling program focused primarily on the Appalachian Basin and the Hunton Limestone formation in Oklahoma.

Australia’s BHP Billiton said its petroleum production increased 4% to a record 246 million boe during fiscal year (FY) 2014, thanks in large part to strong onshore production in the United States, where liquids volumes increased by 73%.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) is taking comments until Aug. 25 on proposed changes to Form T-4 that operators of natural gas, crude oil, carbon dioxide and other pipelines must submit to the commission indicating whether a pipeline is to be operated as a gas utility, common carrier, or as a private pipeline. Texas law generally grants condemnation power to operators of gas utility and common carrier pipelines but not to operators of private pipelines. Recent condemnation cases in Texas, including Texas Rice Land Partners Ltd. v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas LLC, determined that RRC approval of a Form T-4 does not conclusively determine a pipeline’s classification, according to an analysis by law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP (V&E). Amendmentsrecommended by RRC staff to Section 3.70 of Title 16 of the Texas Administrative Code would create a procedure to more thoroughly analyze Form T-4 applications for new pipelines and for changes in classifying existing pipelines. “Pipeline operators as well as producers should take notice of the proposed rule amendments and closely monitor the potential effects a final rule may have on pipeline infrastructure development, including the pace in which such development may take place in the future and the effects the commission’s more structured analysis may have on the condemnation process in Texas,” V&E said.

Cameron LNG LLC has asked FERC to strike the Sierra Club’s request for rehearing of its approval of the company’s proposed Louisiana liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal because it was filed past the deadline and fails to cite required legal precedent.

The coolest tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures and an emerging El Nino event in the Pacific continue to convince forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI) that the 2014 hurricane season will be relatively mild.