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Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a joint venture (JV) of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Copano Energy LLC, has made a long-term agreement with Williams Partners LP to process Eagle Ford Shale production at Williams Partners’ Markham processing plant in Matagorda County, TX. The JV will construct a seven-mile, 20-inch diameter lateral to connect its previously announced crossover pipeline project to the Markham plant and install 3,400 hp of compression at a cost of about $27 million. The agreement will initially provide Eagle Ford Gathering with 100 MMcf/d of processing capacity at the Markham plant, with an option to increase capacity to up to 200 MMcf/d. “The new agreement augments the previously announced agreement with Formosa Hydrocarbons Co., [see Shale Daily, Feb. 7] resulting in up to 375 MMcf/d of total processing capacity through the crossover project,” said Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan’s intrastate pipeline group.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said it plans to build an 80-mile extension of its 350,000 b/d Eagle Ford Shale crude oil pipeline, which would allow the partnership to serve production in the southwestern portion of the play. The Phase II project would originate in Wilson County, TX, at the terminus of the previously announced 140-mile Phase I segment, and extend to near Gardendale, TX, in La Salle County, where a new central delivery point is planned that would feature 500,000 bbl of storage. Phase I is on schedule to begin service by the second quarter of 2012 with Phase II set to commence operations in the first quarter of 2013. When completed, the approximately 220-mile crude oil pipeline system would provide Eagle Ford producers with access to the Texas Gulf Coast refining complex through Enterprise’s network. The Phase II extension, which is being designed with a capacity of 200,000 b/d, is anchored by a 10-year agreement with Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc., which has committed to 100,000 b/d of firm capacity.

New Jersey wants the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to ultimately oversee the approval process for natural gas well sites in the river basin, and is calling for a strict limit to the initial number of production wells to be drilled once it adopts regulations on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) reintroduced legislation on Tuesday to increase regulations on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), but the new bill is entering a different world than its predecessor.

Chief Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Chief Oil & Gas, has been fined $34,000 and has agreed to surrender a discharge permit for operations in four counties in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale area after “illegally discharging hydrostatic testing water at a pipeline project” in Lycoming County, PA, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said.

Truck traffic on Pennsylvania roads that is generated by Marcellus Shale drilling operations has cost the state $30-35 million more than the industry is providing for road repairs, according to a report by the state’s Department of Transportation (DOT).

Following months of testing samples from drinking water wells in the Pavillion, WY, area near natural gas drilling sites, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week said results indicate the “presence of hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds in the groundwater,” and called it a “drinking water concern.”

EnCana Corp. instituted new safety procedures and conducted a risk assessment review at 500 drilling sites ahead of a report issued Thursday by the British Columbia (BC) Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) that said the producer failed to properly execute its emergency response plan following a natural gas leak last November at a shale drilling site.

EnCana Corp. instituted new safety procedures and conducted a risk assessment review at 500 drilling sites ahead of a report issued Thursday by the British Columbia (BC) Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) that said the producer failed to properly execute its emergency response plan following a natural gas leak last November at a shale drilling site.