Said

Fledgling Canadian shale gas development is growing a new wing that is attracting Asian as well as North American investment attention as a supply source with potential to reach international scale.

Linn Energy LLC said Monday it plans to acquire a 40% interest in oil and gas properties from two privately held companies — Tulsa-based Panther Energy Company LLC and Perryton, TX-based Red Willow Mid-Continent LLC — as it looks to expand in the Anadarko Basin and capitalize on Panther’s expertise in horizontal drilling.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) generated nearly $1 million at an auction Tuesday from the sale of oil and gas leases on about 13,820 acres in Wyoming.

Eagle Rock Energy Partners LP said it plans to expand its cryogenic Phoenix gas processing plant in Hemphill County, TX, by an incremental 30 MMcf/d. Once the expansion is completed, capacity will be 80 MMcf/d. The expansion, coupled with expansions of related gathering systems, will increase Eagle Rock’s processing and gathering capacity and accommodate volume growth from the Granite Wash play. The projects are intended to complement the partnership’s recent acquisition of CenterPoint Energy assets (see Daily GPI, Oct. 5, 2010), which extended its reach into Hemphill and Wheeler Counties on its East Panhandle System. The projects are expected to be completed during the fourth quarter at a cost of about $20 million.

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) said it would deliver to Gov. Andrew Cuomo a petition calling on the state to protect drinking water from the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking). New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is due to complete work on a supplemental generic environmental impact statement on hydrofracking this summer (see Shale Daily, April 13). The NYPIRG, a student-run organization with chapters on 20 college campuses in the state, told the Associated Press its petition had been signed by more than 10,000 New Yorkers.

The story “Devon May Unveil ‘New Play Types’ This Year” (see Daily GPI, April 14) should have said that Devon Energy Corp. acquired its Barnett Shale leasehold in 2001 for $3.1 billion. NGI regrets the error.

ANR said it began unplanned engine repairs Monday at Bridgman Compressor Station along its Michigan Leg South, which reduced total St. John W-E (west to east) capacity by 265 MMcf/d (leaving 1,030 MMcf/d available) until further notice. Based on current nominations, ANR anticipates that the reduction may result in the curtailment of IT and Firm Secondary nominations.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has hired three full-time senior staff members to advance the organization’s communications, outreach, education and policy objectives. Steve Forde, the new policy and communications director, was senior director of corporate communications for Education Management Corp. He previously was deputy communications director for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and also served as communications director for the House Education and Workforce Committee. Christopher Heck, who will lead membership services, joins the MSC after serving as vice president and relationship manager at Fifth Third Bank. Heck is current chair of the Enterprise Forum Pittsburgh. The new conference director, Helen Goodman, founded Pittsburgh-based Event Resources 20 years ago to provide services to corporate, nonprofit and public-sector organizations. She also worked for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. “Having our membership more than double over the past year, we’re continuing to grow our core team of experts with our focus remaining on effectively conveying our industry’s long-term commitment to the environment, safety, and a cleaner, more competitive energy economy,” said MSC President Kathryn Klaber.

Energy regulators must operate independently of both industry and environmental groups, led only by facts and the rule of law, said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary John Hanger, who leaves office this month after a tenure of more than two years during which activity in the state’s Marcellus Shale mushroomed.