Necessary

Teak Midstream LLC is building more than 200 miles of natural gas gathering and residue delivery pipelines and an adjoining 200 MMcf/d cryogenic gas processing plant in South Texas to better serve producers operating in the Eagle Ford Shale, the Dallas-based company said.

A combination of fit-for-purpose technology with solid execution in drilling horizontal wells using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is giving Halliburton Co. confidence that it can deliver on its “frack-of-the-future” strategic initiatives, a company executive said Monday.

At a conference in Arlington, VA, Monday doctors called for a pause in the use of hydraulic fracturing well stimulation “so that necessary research can be done into the potential harmful effects on human health.”

After warning Thursday that one might become necessary, El Paso on Friday declared a systemwide Strained Operating Condition due to high linepack. The tolerance for positive daily imbalances was set at 10%.

Due to a pigging operation resulting in “an excessive amount of emulsified liquids, water and other nonspec material arriving onshore,” the necessary treatment for the emulsified liquids has resulted in a takeaway delay, Stingray said. Being unable to deliver gas to downstream pipelines, Stingray declared a force majeure and began refusing to accept nominations Wednesday until further notice.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the final air quality permits necessary for Shell Oil Co. to conduct oil and gas exploration drilling in Alaska’s Arctic region. In August the U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc was awarded conditional approval by the Department of Interior to drill up to four exploratory wells over two years in the Beaufort Sea, where it has invested more than $3.5 billion in leases and predevelopment. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said Shell may begin exploring the area in July 2012 once it obtains required permits (see NGI, Aug. 8). Shell said it is “still pursuing permits and authorizations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service” and “later in the process, we will file our applications for permits to drill, largely considered the final permitting steps before drilling commences.”

After ending a previous Overage Alert Day (OAD) Friday but saying a new one might become necessary soon, Florida Gas Transmission wasted little time before implementing a new OAD for market-area customers Saturday. The tolerance for negative daily imbalances was initially set at 20% that day but was increased to 25% Sunday and Monday.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has given Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. and shale patch pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. the final necessary regulatory green light for their proposed $12.1 billion merger, concluding that the deal poses no national security issues of concern, the companies said.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has given Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. and shale patch pioneer Petrohawk Energy Corp. the final necessary regulatory green light for their proposed $12.1 billion merger, concluding that the deal poses no national security issues of concern, the companies said.