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Liquefied natural gas (LNG) Train 7 at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar has been completed and undergone start-up, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd. (3) project partner ExxonMobil Corp. said last Wednesday.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) Train 7 at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar has been completed and undergone start-up, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd. (3) project partner ExxonMobil Corp. said Wednesday.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) Train 7 at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar has been completed and undergone start-up, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd. (3) project partner ExxonMobil Corp. said Wednesday.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has tapped Thomas R. Sheets, a partner in the Las Vegas law firm of McDonald Carano Wilson, to be general counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, succeeding Cynthia Marlette. Sheets has more than 32 years of energy industry, administrative practice and regulatory hearing experience. He has served as chairman of the Nevada Tax Commission for the past four years and was senior vice president and general counsel of Southwest Gas Corp. As FERC general counsel, Sheets will represent the Commission before the courts and Congress and will be responsible for the legal aspects of the agency’s activities.

Regency Energy Partners LP said it plans to purchase another 5% stake in the Haynesville Expansion Project (HEP) from joint venture (JV) partner GE Energy Financial Services using part of an $80 million investment from private equity investors led by MTP Energy Management and Harvest Partners. The purchase would give Regency a 43% interest in HEP, which initially is designed to transport up to 1.1 Bcf/d of gas from the Haynesville Shale (see Daily GPI, March 2; Nov. 11, 2008). Regency serves as a platform for the GE affiliate’s growth in the midstream sector. Because of financial market turmoil, Regency secured Alinda Capital Partners LP and the GE affiliate as JV partners in HEP. Once the private equity offering is closed, the GE affiliate would retain a 7% interest in HEP, Regency said.

Dena E. Wiggins has joined Ballard Spahr as a partner in the Business & Finance Department and Energy and Project Finance Group in Washington, DC, according to the firm. Ballard Spahr said Wiggins’ experience representing energy clients, coupled with her extensive work on natural gas projects, enhances the range of legal services the firm offers the energy industry. Wiggins, who most recently was with Sutherland, will concentrate on natural gas regulatory issues. She has more than 20 years’ experience handling energy policy issues, incentives for natural gas production and regulatory matters involving natural gas, crude oil, petroleum products, and hydropower. She represented a major producer in successful legislative efforts to oppose reform of Outer Continental Shelf leases and represents a client on the Natural Gas Council, a coalition of major gas and electric trade associations. She speaks regularly on natural gas policy, has testified before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and served on the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board under then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham.

Lexington, KY-based NGAS Resources Inc. has agreed to sell a 50% interest in most of its Appalachian gas gathering facilities to its gas processing partner, Seminole Gas Co., for $28 million. NGAS said proceeds will used to be reduce debt and strengthen its balance sheet.

DCP Midstream Partners LP has completed the acquisition of an additional 25.1% ownership interest in DCP East Texas Holdings LLC from the owner of its general partner, DCP Midstream. Through the transaction — which was financed through the issuance of partnership units to DCP Midstream, the partnership now owns 50.1% of the East Texas joint venture, with DCP Midstream owning the remaining interest.

Parallel Petroleum, which holds a 35% stake in 34,500 acres of the Barnett Shale, has struck a deal that allows its leasehold partner, Chesapeake Energy Corp., to take care of all of the drilling and development commitments in the play through 2016.