Processing

Swift Energy Co. has entered into a long-term agreement for natural gas gathering and processing services in the Eagle Ford Shale with Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50-50 joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Copano Energy LLC.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed an energy bill that enjoyed bipartisan support in the General Assembly and creates new rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

After several years of processing and various starts and stops, a plan to repower an existing natural gas-fired coastal electric generation plant in North San Diego County using a fraction of the 100-acre existing prime seaside acreage was unanimously approved Thursday by the California Energy Commission (CEC). Commissioners set aside possible conflicts with local and state zoning restrictions.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner David Porter said Wednesday the state must work to mitigate the impact of numerous gas flares across the state as Texas develops its oil and gas reserves from shale plays.

In a story published in April, BP Expanding in GOM Deepwater, the initial gas processing capacity from the Mad Dog field was incorrectly stated (see NGI, April 16). The platform initially was designed to process up to 60 MMcf/d of gas and up to 100,000 b/d of oil. NGI regrets the error.

In the story BHP Unleashes $708M for Second Mad Dog Platform in Deepwater Gulf, the initial gas processing capacity from the Mad Dog field was incorrectly stated (see Daily GPI, April 12). The platform initially was designed to process up to 60 MMcf/d of gas and up to 100,000 b/d of oil. NGI regrets the error.

The expansion of Boardwalk Field Services LLC’s Eagle Ford Shale gathering system and construction of an associated cryogenic gas processing plant is on schedule, as is work on the Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BPP) subsidiary’s $90 million Marcellus Shale gathering system project, according to company officials. “We expect that a portion of our Marcellus gathering line will go into service in the very near future, and additional portions of the gathering line will go into service over the next 12 to 24 months,” BPP CEO Stan Horten said during a conference call with financial analysts. Boardwalk is adding about 55 miles of 20- and 24-inch gathering pipeline to its existing 340-mile South Texas gathering system (see Shale Daily, Feb. 7). Once complete, the combined pipeline system will have the capability to move more than 300 MMcf/d of liquids-rich gas from Karnes and Dewitt counties in the heart of the Eagle Ford play. The Marcellus gathering system in northeastern Pennsylvania is designed to connect Southwestern Energy Co. wells in the region to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s (TGP) Line 300 (see Shale Daily, Oct. 11, 2011). BPP’s 1Q2012 operating revenues were $312.9 million, a 1% increase from $311 million during 1Q2011, and the Houston-based partnership’s net income was $92.6 million, a 12% increase from $83 million a year ago.

Oneok Partners LP plans to invest $1.5-1.8 billion to build a 1,300-mile crude oil pipeline with capacity to transport 200,000 b/d of light sweet crude from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin in North Dakota to the Cushing, OK, crude oil market hub, the partnership said Monday.

Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. has agreed with a subsidiary of Carmeuse Holding S.A. (Luxembourg) to acquire its U.S. industrial sands business, Carmeuse Industrial Sands (CIS), for $297 million, giving it a large supply of sand for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities.