Season

For Marcellus Shale producers, the gift-receiving season begins this week and continues through the end of the year in the form of additional pipeline takeaway capacity. Multiple projects are slated to come online between Thursday and the end of the year, giving Marcellus producers increased access to markets, and presumably better prices for their gas.

Ryckman Creek Resources LLC, a unit of Peregrine Midstream Partners LLC, is holding a nonbinding open season through Nov. 2 for up to 8 Bcf of firm, high-deliverability, multi-cycle gas storage capacity available April 1 at the company’s new facility in Uinta County, WY, near the Opal Hub (see Daily GPI, Aug. 22). Ryckman Creek has interconnections with five interstate pipelines, all of which are connected to the Opal Hub. Combined meter capacity is in excess of 1 Bcf/d. For information, visit www.peregrinempllc.com or contact Jeff Foutch, jhfoutch@peregrinempllc.com, (713) 974-5606; Don Wash, dwash@peregrinempllc.com, (713) 750-9939; or Chuck Sawyer, csawyer@peregrinempllc.com, (720) 359-1589.

Oneok Partners LP is holding an open season through Nov. 20 for its Bakken Crude Express Pipeline, a proposed 1,300-mile pipeline with capacity to transport 200,000 b/d of light-sweet crude oil from multiple points in the Williston Basin’s Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana to the crude oil market hub in Cushing, OK (see Shale Daily, April 10). Construction is expected to begin in early 2014 and be completed by mid-2015. For information, visit the project website or contact Lisa Nishimuta at (918) 588-7730, lisa.nishimuta@oneok.com; or Tim King at (918) 732-1339, tim.king@oneok.com.

Questar Pipeline Co. is holding a binding open season through Sept. 10 for capacity that will be created by new replacement compressor facilities at its existing Simon Station in Sweetwater County, WY.

Questar Pipeline Co. is holding a binding open season through Sept. 10 for capacity that will be created by new replacement compressor facilities at its existing Simon Station in Sweetwater County, WY.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC is holding a binding open season through Aug. 20 for firm capacity on the Rose Lake Expansion Project, which would provide incremental firm capacity from Zone 4 receipt points between Stations 321 and 313 to delivery points at its existing interconnection with National Fuel Gas Supply at Rose Lake and the Zone 4 Station 219 Pool. Tennessee said it expects firm capacity for the expansion project to be around 230,000 Dth/d, with an in-service date of Nov. 1, 2014. The company is also offering additional limited term capacity from mutually agreeable receipt points in Zone 4 between Tennessee’s Stations 321 and 313, the Rose Lake interconnection with National Fuel and/or the Station 219 Pool. The company is specifically offering up to 55,000 Dth/d from Nov. 1, 2014 to Oct. 31, 2016, and up to 15,000 Dth/d from Nov. 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, all to Rose Lake/Station 313.

The flood of new natural gas supplies from U.S. shale exploration combined with stagnant demand due to the current U.S. economic woes lead natural gas prices to decline across the country by 38-49% from the first six months of 2011 to the first six months of 2012, according to research done by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Kinder Morgan Pony Express Pipeline LLC and Belle Fourche Pipeline Co. are holding an open season through June 20 for crude oil transportation from a point near Baker, MT, to delivery points at Ponca City and Cushing, OK. Pony Express and Belle Fourche anticipate the ability to transport 100,000 or more b/d beginning in the fourth quarter of 2014. The companies have secured a long-term anchor shipper commitment for a minimum of 30,000 b/d. For more information, contact John Eagleton at (303) 914-4702, Mike Smith at (303) 763-3484, Bob Mishler at (303) 914-7762, Tad True at (307) 237-9301 or Bob Stamp at (307) 266-0345. In separate open seasons, Pony Express will offer single pipeline (local) oil transportation service from the Guernsey, WY, area and from the Denver-Julesburg Basin. Last year Kinder Morgan proposed converting a 635-mile Wyoming to Missouri section of its former Pony Express Pipeline from natural gas service back to its original function of carrying crude oil (see Daily GPI, Aug. 8, 2011).

Despite the fact that some producers are increasing their dry natural gas shut-ins and retooling their operations to go after liquids, the industry is still facing a supply glut problem, which could be exacerbated later this summer as storage room becomes scarce. As a result, cash prices could easily slip back below $2, according to Evergreen, CO-based Bentek Energy.