Operation

The integration of Illinois-based Nicor Inc. to form the largest distribution-only natural gas utility operation in the nation went off without a hitch in the first quarter (see Daily GPI, Dec. 8, 2011) but financial results were pressured by unseasonable winter weather, AGL Resources Inc. CEO John Somerhalder told financial analysts Tuesday.

As the clock was winding down for counties to sign on to the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale impact fee, also known as Act 13, a Commonwealth Court judge pushed back the start date for portions of the law to give local governments more time to adopt its standardized zoning measures.

Cheniere Energy Inc. has called on FERC to issue an order by Thursday authorizing the construction and operation of Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility, saying that to not do so would cause significant financial harm.

Range Resources Corp. is expanding the reach of its Appalachian ethane operation. A subsidiary of the Fort Worth, TX-based company said Thursday it had signed a deal to ship 20,000 b/d on Enterprise Product Partners LP’s proposed Appalachia-to-Texas (Atex Express) ethane pipeline.

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 Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has asked four companies operating in the Haynesville Shale to temporarily refrain from withdrawing water for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from Bayou Pierre because of an ongoing severe drought.

A contract signed last week for the liquefaction and export of domestically produced natural gas lends further credibility to the shale gas optimism that has swept the energy industry in recent years, and it could quiet skeptics who think the United States isn’t poised to become an exporter of gas to global markets.

Although noting that industry never wants to be taxed, one of the largest players in the Marcellus Shale said it supports an impact fee in principle.

The fifth natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator at Enterprise Products Partners LP’s Mont Belvieu, TX, complex has entered operation, producing 75,000 b/d, exceeding its nameplate capacity, the company said Tuesday. Work on a sixth unit is under way as Enterprise continues to tout the bullish outlook for U.S. ethane production and its benefits for the petrochemical industry.