South

Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) has agreed to pay Chesapeake Energy Corp. $125 million for crude oil and condensate gathering assets in the Eagle Ford Shale. The acquired assets are complementary to and would be connected with PAA’s existing crude oil and condensate gathering systems. Included in the purchase are 40 miles of crude oil/condensate gathering pipelines with a throughput capacity of 50,000 b/d; 150,000 bbl of existing crude oil and condensate storage capacity; 300,000 bbl of storage capacity under construction; and a truck unloading terminal. Chesapeake agreed to provide long-term acreage dedications of future production from its South Texas leasehold in Webb and Dimmit counties.

FERC has approved an application of Tres Palacios Gas Storage LLC, a unit of Inergy LP, to build an extension of its header system to a processing plant in south-central Texas.

The Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas is likely the biggest potential driver of U.S. oil production growth for the next five to 10 years with production on track to pass 1 million b/d by the middle of next year and 1.7 million b/d by the end of 2015, analyst at Raymond James & Associates said in a note Monday.

One of the seven Pennsylvania municipalities that sued over the legality of Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law, is now considering changes to its local drilling ordinance to comply with the measure, a move intended to help it collect more than half a million dollars in impact fee revenue.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.’s production in the Appalachian Basin remains “substantially curtailed” nearly three months after an unusually severe thunderstorm knocked out electricity service to much of the region, the Houston-based independent said Wednesday.

WBI Energy Transmission Inc. is seeking FERC authorization to expand the northern portion of its natural gas pipeline system to meet increased demand in western North Dakota.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is on a trade mission to talk up exports of liquefied Alaskan gas to Asian markets. Parnell is slated to meet with Japanese and South Korean officials and business leaders over the coming days. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry arranged a meeting of Parnell and executives from companies such as Samsung C&T, STX Energy, Daesung Industrial Co. Ltd., Korea Midland Power Co., GS Global Co., LG International Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industries and Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. Ltd. Parnell recently met with the CEO of Kogas to discuss Alaska’s role as an LNG exporter and the state’s desire to boost exports with an in-state gas pipeline. Alaska’s major oil and gas producers and TC-Alaska are working with the Alaska Pipeline Project on the commercialization of North Slope gas with a specific focus on a large-scale liquefied natural gas project in Southcentral Alaska (see Daily GPI, July 31).

Ten people were reportedly killed Tuesday following a fire at a natural gas pipeline distribution center near the South Texas-Mexico border.

Louisiana officials last Friday called for the capture or venting of natural gas in the area of the compromised Napoleonville Salt Dome in South Louisiana. The salt dome is in the area of a mysterious sinkhole that developed earlier this summer, threatening some natural gas pipelines in the area.