Operates

Boosted by the “shale gas revolution,” Williams on Tuesday said it will spend up to $400 million to expand its Geismar olefins production facility near Baton Rouge, LA.

Improved development and drainage of shale plays is among the topics researchers at the University of Texas (UT) will investigate as part of an energy partnership agreement signed by UT and Statoil in Austin, TX, Monday.

A unit of General Electric (GE) has developed a new natural gas-fired 50 MW generation turbine that operates without water. GE claims its FlexAero (LM 6000-PH) turbine is highly efficient and provides a faster, more flexible source of electricity to businesses and communities alike with onsite power generation needs. It is aimed at both utilities and large industrial/commercial customers, a GE spokesperson told NGI. FlexAero represents a multi-million-dollar investment in research and development by GE, the spokesperson said. GE also said that it has passed the $1 billion mark in orders received for both aeroderivative and heavy duty gas turbines for projects in North America. GE touts its new turbine as “leveraging” the use of clean-burning natural gas in a quick-start context.

Propane company NGL Energy Partners LP had its eye on North America’s expanding liquids-rich shale plays when it agreed to acquire the natural gas liquids (NGL) assets of SemGroup Corp.’s SemStream LP in a deal worth about $283 million.

The EXCO Resources Inc. board of directors is ending its bid to sell the company.

Southcross Energy has acquired from Tauber Pipeline LLC about 58 miles of 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-inch diameter natural gas pipelines in San Patricio and Refugio counties in South Texas, the Dallas-based midstream company said Tuesday. Terms were not released.

Forced pooling is critical to ensuring that the Marcellus Shale is developed to its fullest, but crafting those laws will be difficult because of the unique nature of shale and the slim legal history of pooling in Appalachia, a natural resources legal expert told a Pittsburgh audience Tuesday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Friday it would pay $315 million to buy land driller Bronco Drilling Co. Inc. to advance its goal to own two-thirds of the rigs it operates in its unconventional drilling program.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. said Tuesday it plans to reduce the number of rigs it operates in the Marcellus Shale by the end of the year, but it will increase development in the Eagle Ford and Farrell Creek shales, which are both liquids-rich.