Outstanding

Less than two months after gaining a financially able partner to develop some of its Marcellus Shale acreage, Gastar Exploration Ltd. on Wednesday said it would buy another 59,000 net acres in the WestVirginia portion of the play.

DCP Midstream Partners LP has bought a Colorado-to-Kansas natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline system from Buckeye Partners LP for $22 million in cash, the companies said Thursday. The partnership said the acquisition supports its expansion efforts that target growing producer demand.

DCP Midstream Partners LP has bought a Colorado-to-Kansas natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline system from Buckeye Partners LP for $22 million in cash, the companies said Thursday. The partnership said the acquisition supports its expansion efforts that target growing producer demand.

Two of Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) underground natural gas storage fields in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area were honored with “Outstanding Lease Maintenance Awards” by the California Department of Conservation’s oil, gas and geothermal resources Ventura Division. The awards were announced by the Los Angeles-based Sempra Energy utility. SoCalGas’s 100 Bcf-plus Aliso Canyon storage site in the north end of the city’s sprawling suburban San Fernando Valley was honored by the state for the 25th consecutive year; the other facility, Honor Rancho, near Valencia beyond the norther boundaries of the San Fernando Valley, was honored for the 23rd consecutive year. The utility said the state has informed it that a third storage facility, Playa del Rey, located in the load center of Los Angeles near the Pacific Coast, will also receive an award. Last year, SoCalGas earned three of 37 lease maintenance awards from the state department’s oil/gas division. Aliso and Honor Rancho were developed in the 1970s; Playa del Rey dates back to the mid-1940s.

Colorado regulators have approved the sale and transfer of Aquila Inc.’s utility operations in Colorado to Black Hills Corp. That leaves outstanding only the approval of Missouri officials for the multi-billion dollar, three-way transaction that will spell the end of Aquila and its predecessors, which have served portions of mid America since 1908.

Colorado regulators have approved the sale and transfer of Aquila Inc.’s utility operations in Colorado to Black Hills Corp. That leaves outstanding only the approval of Missouri officials for the multi-billion dollar, three-way transaction that will spell the end of Aquila and its predecessors, which have served portions of mid America since 1908.

Spectra Energy Corp. announced last Wednesday that it has agreed to settle outstanding litigation stemming from a contract dispute between Citrus Trading Corp. and Spectra LNG Sales, formerly Duke Energy LNG Sales Inc.

Williams’ Northwest Pipeline said Wednesday that it filed a stipulation and settlement agreement that resolves all outstanding issues in its pending rate case (RP06-416), which was filed on June 30 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The settlement between Northwest and the intervening parties in the case, including Northwest’s customers, is supported by the FERC staff and is expected to be uncontested.

Spectra Energy Corp. said Wednesday it has agreed to settle outstanding litigation stemming from a contract dispute between Citrus Trading Corp. and Spectra LNG Sales, formerly Duke Energy LNG Sales Inc.