Planned

Affiliate of Peoples Natural Gas Co. LLC seeks to have storage facility operating by start of winter heating season.

Russia’s OAO Rosneft no longer is considering BP plc as a partner for its planned Arctic development, the company’s CEO said Friday.

Three of Japan’s largest utilities have joined a Mitsubishi Corp.-led consortium to partner in Penn West Exploration’s shale gas project in northeastern British Columbia (BC).

During the first quarter predominantly shale gas-focused EXCO Resources Inc. produced more and sold it for less. The company had planned to do the former and is making the best of the latter, said CEO Doug Miller, who told financial analysts last Wednesday that “it’s hard to put lipstick on this pig.”

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) is buying Petrohawk Energy Corp.’s half of the companies’ Haynesville Shale midstream joint venture, KinderHawk Field Services, and also acquiring a 25% interest in Petrohawk’s gas gathering and treating business in the Eagle Ford Shale, the companies said.

During the first quarter predominantly shale gas-focused EXCO Resources Inc. produced more and sold it for less. The company had planned to do the former and is making the best of the latter, said CEO Doug Miller, who told financial analysts Wednesday that “it’s hard to put lipstick on this pig.”

Xcel Energy’s 550 MW Unit 1 at its Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota began a planned four- to six-week refueling outage late last Friday, meaning the multi-state utility holding company will be drawing on added supplies from its other generation sources or purchasing more power in the wholesale market. The refueling comes after more than 500 days of continuous operation of the unit, Xcel said. The unit is one of two at the 1,100 MW plant in Red Wing, MN. One of the reactors typically is refueled every 18 months.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) will “significantly expand” its Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM) project in South Texas and construct a processing facility in Jackson County, TX, to accommodate more than 540,000 MMBtu/d of new commitments for long-term fee-based services from multiple producers, the partnership said Thursday.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Office of Oil and Gas (OOG) has ordered Antero Resources Appalachian Corp. and Bronco Drilling Corp. to cease operations at an Antero well pad in Harrison County, WV, following a March 21 incident in which drill cuttings were washed into a nearby stream, OOG said.