South

Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly were able to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a bill to legalize hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Monday after a voting error by a Democratic lawmaker.

The DeWitt County, TX, tax base might be bursting with Eagle Ford Shale dollars, but the South Texas county’s roads are buckling under the weight of trucks and other vehicles in the service of developing the play, a new study has found. And a county judge claims his county and others in the play are being short-changed when it comes to funds for road repair.

Marcellus Shale reserves may spark life into a shuttered, 110-year-old oil refinery complex south of Philadelphia that once supported nearly 500 jobs, according to IHS Inc. researchers.

Southcross Energy is expanding the capacity of its Bonnie View Fractionator, which is nearing completion in Refugio County in South Texas. Initial capacity was intended to be 11,500 b/d of natural gas liquids (NGL), but that has been increased to 22,500 b/d. The facility is expected to operate at the higher capacity beginning in January. The fractionator is connected to the Seadrift ethane and propane products pipelines and will have truck-loading facilities to ship and receive NGL products. Completion of this project will bring Dallas-based Southcross Energy’s fractionation capacity in the Corpus Christi, TX, area to 27,300 b/d. About a year ago Southcross acquired about 58 miles of 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-inch diameter natural gas pipelines in San Patricio and Refugio counties (see Shale Daily, July 6, 2011).

Another study is under way to look at hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and increased seismic activity in an urban oilfield sitting in a hilly southwest residential portion of Los Angeles. The producer in the crosshairs of skeptics, Plains Exploration and Production Co. (PXP), is undaunted in its efforts to try to make increased drilling activity in a mostly residential area work, according to local news reports.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Southern Natural Gas Co. the green Light to begin service on the Phase III leg of its South System Expansion III project, which will provide up to 375,000 Dth/d of firm capacity for Southern Company Services Inc. to serve affiliate Georgia Power Co.’s proposed expansion of its Plant Jack McDonough electric generation facilities near Atlanta. The Phase III portion of the expansion included construction of a a 2.4-mile, 36-inch diameter Bay Springs Loop paralleling Southern’s main system in Clarke County, MS; construction of a 5.2-mile Gallion Loop in Hall and Perry counties in Alabama; abandonment and replacement of 11.7 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline with 42-inch diameter pipeline in Elmore County, AL; and installation of a 7,000 hp electric motor unit at its existing Ellerslie Compressor Station in Harris County, GA.

Add Earth Networks, the owner of WeatherBug, as well as Telvent DTN to the growing list of forecasters that expect the 2012 hurricane season to produce fewer tropical storms than the last few years.

Matador Resources Co. is moving forward with its plan to target the wet gas and oil-prone Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas this year while ramping down development of its dry gas Haynesville Shale acreage in North Louisiana, the Dallas-based company said Tuesday.

Production of oil, natural gas and condensate from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas increased dramatically from 2010 to 2011, according to a new study of the play and its impact on the region. And there’s more to come, thanks in large part to the attractive economics offered by the Eagle Ford’s oil and liquids-rich gas.