Purchasing

United Parcel Service (UPS) on Tuesday said it plans to further transform its nationwide transit fleet by purchasing 700 more liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles and spending $18 million to build four fueling stations in Tennessee and Texas by the end of 2014.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners LP and Apache Corp. have struck a new fee-based gas gathering, processing and purchasing agreement in support of Apache’s drilling in the Texas Panhandle. Apache has dedicated all existing and future wells drilled within an area encompassing more than 106,000 gross acres in Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Hansford and Sherman counties under market-based terms. The agreement supersedes and expands on previous agreements between Eagle Rock and Apache. The dedicated acreage covers the Granite Wash, Hogshooter, Tonkawa, Marmaton and Cleveland plays in the Anadarko Basin. The associated Apache production will be gathered and processed at one or more of the partnership’s cryogenic processing plants in the Panhandle. Eagle Rock’s Panhandle assets consist of 6,500 miles of gathering pipeline and more than 480 MMcf/d of processing capacity, with an additional 60 MMcf/d of processing capacity expected to come online in the second quarter.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce is partnering with three universities in the state to conduct an economic impact study on shale development.

In a new push for development of the Marcellus and Utica shales, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has appointed former Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Director David Mustine to a top post with JobsOhio, Kasich’s new private, nonprofit corporation designed to spur job creation and economic development.

Devon Energy Corp., which last year began restructuring its operations to focus on North American onshore operations, Thursday agreed to sell all of its deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Brazil and Azerbaijan assets to London’s BP plc for $7 billion.

Devon Energy Corp., which last year began restructuring its operations to focus on North American onshore operations, Thursday agreed to sell all of its deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Brazil and Azerbaijan assets to London’s BP plc for $7 billion.

Supermajor and large independent producers generally enjoy strong liquidity positions, but tighter capital markets will crimp the purchasing power of smaller players at a time when some properties would likely become available at “distressed prices,” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) analyst Thomas Watters wrote in a recent note.

Supermajor and large independent producers generally enjoy strong liquidity positions, but tighter capital markets will crimp the purchasing power of smaller players at a time when some properties would likely become available at “distressed prices,” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) analyst Thomas Watters wrote in a recent note.

EnCana Oil and Gas added to its Bossier Trend holdings Friday by purchasing 7,400 net acres in the Amoruso Field in Robertson County, TX, from Leor Energy for $242.9 million in cash and 4,039 net acres adjacent to Leor’s existing Amoruso Field leasehold. The two companies are working together, with EnCana as operator, and currently have seven wells producing 65 MMcf/d. Three more large gas wells that collectively tested at 65 MMcf/d await completion.