Pipelines

Canadian projects to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) are leading charmed lives by being left out of escalating conflicts over pipelines and tanker terminals planned for the Pacific Coast.

Houston-based Spectra Energy’s earnings fell 24% in the second quarter from a year ago as each of the company’s divisions — pipelines, field services, distribution and Western Canadian operations — turned in lower performances. But this will not deter the company from moving forward with its “solid roster” of energy projects, said CEO Greg Ebel.

Houston-based Spectra Energy’s earnings fell 24% in the second quarter from a year ago as each of the company’s divisions — pipelines, field services, distribution and Western Canadian operations — turned in lower performances. But this will not deter the company from moving forward with its “solid roster” of energy projects, said CEO Greg Ebel.

North America’s burgeoning unconventional oil supplies have created “considerable investment needs” because pipelines are in the “wrong place carrying crude in the wrong direction and/or transporting the wrong products,” according to a review by Ernst & Young LLP.

While oil production in North Dakota could more than quadruple by 2025 to more than 2 million b/d, natural gas could do even better, gaining by nearly six times over current production to 3.1 Bcf/d, according to an analysis commissioned by the state’s Pipeline Authority and performed by Bentek Energy LLC.

Dominion Resources has formed new unit Dominion NGL Pipelines, which is soliciting interest in a new pipeline that would carry ethane from the tailgate of a new processing plant being built by Dominion near Natrium, WV, to an interconnect with Enterprise Products Partners LP’s planned Appalachia to Texas Express (Atex Express) pipeline near Follansbee, WV.

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale-driven oil and gas production continued to rise in May from April, according to the state’s Department of Mineral Resources. Preliminary results indicated growth in nearly all of 17 counties — particularly Dunn, McKenzie, Mountrail and Williams, where most of the drilling to date has occurred.

Williams Partners LP (WPZ) agreed late Tuesday to expand its business venture in the Utica Shale with Caiman Energy II by funding almost half of a midstream infrastructure development in Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania.

As the Pine Ridge fire along the Western Slope in Colorado was put out Thursday and the more than 100 natural gas wells in the Piceance Basin brought back online, a new fire northwest of De Beque, CO, called the Third Water Spring fire, caused Encana Corp. to shut in some of its other gas wells in the area.