nymex settlement

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) has completed the sale of assets of Missouri Gas Energy (MGE) to Laclede Gas Co., a subsidiary of The Laclede Group, for an estimated $975 million. The transaction positions Laclede to be the largest natural gas distribution company in Missouri, serving more than 1.1 million residential, commercial and industrial customers. MGE is a division of Southern Union Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of ETP.

Dry natural gas production in June from the Lower 48 states was higher than a year earlier and proved resilient from May, lifted mostly by sharp increases in the Marcellus Shale, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Form 914 data.

Physical natural gas prices for Wednesday delivery bounded higher by 12 cents overall on average Tuesday. A change in the near-term weather outlook was enough to shoot the screen higher, and cash quotes quickly followed.

PVR Partners and Hess Corp. have struck a deal for the former to construct an 45-mile natural gas trunkline and gathering facilities to serve Hess’s lean gas production in the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio. The deal also establishes an area of mutual interest (AMI) to the companies.

More than one year after creating a subcommittee to study hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and develop a consensus for best practices, ASTM International has proposed a new standard for data management and reporting that would cover oil and gas operations in shale plays.

Jobs at the core of Ohio’s growing shale industry, including those in pipeline construction and well drilling, grew nearly 18% and paid an average wage of more than $76,000 during the fourth quarter of 2012, according to a quarterly report by the state’s Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has approved a Sunoco Pipeline LP request to abandon a portion of its petroleum products pipeline transportation service in the state, moving Sunoco Logistics Partners LP’s plans for the Mariner East pipeline project one step closer to fruition.

After multiple delays, Dallas-based Cubic Energy Inc. has obtained nonbinding commitments for up to $107 million of financing to fund the the previously announced acquisition of Gastar Exploration Texas LP’s East Texas properties (see Shale Daily, April 23). The financing is also intended to fund drilling and working capital, potential additional acquisitions, as well as payment of existing debt. Gastar agreed to extend the closing date of the transaction until Sept. 20, and Cubic agreed to increase the price to be paid for the East Texas assets by $1 million, resulting in a final price of $47 million.

A loose coalition of anti-hydraulic fracturing (fracking) groups is calling for a unconventional drilling moratorium in California and is lobbying against the lone remaining bill (SB 4) related to fracking in the state legislature, now in its final weeks before adjournment.