Pump

DCP Midstream’s Sand Hills Pipeline has initiated natural gas liquids transport service from the Eagle Ford Shale. DCP is opening Sand Hills in phases, with this first segment in South Texas online. By the end of 2012, DCP will have completed Sand Hills to connect directly into Mont Belvieu, TX. “When finished, Sand Hills Pipeline will be a major link between the liquids-rich Eagle Ford and Permian producing regions and growing Gulf Coast markets,” said DCP CEO Tom O’Connor. Construction activities continue on the second phase of Sand Hills for Permian Basin service. This phase is expected to enter service by the second quarter of 2013. Sand Hills will consist of 720 miles of 20-inch diameter pipeline with an initial capacity of more than 200,000 b/d, which can grow to 350,000 b/d with the installation of additional pump stations (see Shale Daily, Aug. 19, 2011).

The cost of crude oil and gasoline may be soaring, but natural gas prices continue to lag, with Henry Hub spot prices forecast to average $3.17/MMBtu this year, an 83-cent decline from last year’s average spot price, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook for March. The 2012 price forecast is 11 cents lower than last month’s outlook (see NGI, Feb. 13).

UK-based Weir Group plc this week struck a $176 million deal to acquire Dallas-based Novatech LLC, its second oilfield services purchase in two months. The transaction would give Weir an even bigger footprint in North America’s onshore.

The Obama administration on Wednesday denied the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal on the recommendation of the U.S. State Department, saying at this time it is not in the U.S. national interest to build the 1,700-mile link from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

There is evidence that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can affect aquifers and water supplies, according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, but she is “not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.”

As gasoline pump prices continue to soar, proponents for more natural gas use as a transportation fuel are popping up around the nation, using environmental and economic drivers to promote their cause. Cities including Chicago and gas-rich states like Texas and Wyoming are getting in on the act.

Southern California Gas did not extend a high-linepack OFO beyond Wednesday.

With gasoline prices exceeding $5/gallon in parts of the state, Californians are pushing back at the pump and softening their historic reluctance toward additional nuclear generating plants, offshore drilling and liquefied natural gas (LNG) development, according to a new Field Poll.

With gasoline prices exceeding $5/gallon in parts of the state, Californians are pushing back at the pump and softening their historic reluctance toward additional nuclear generating plants, offshore drilling and liquefied natural gas (LNG) development, according to a new Field Poll.