Spectrum

Crestwood Midstream Partners LP has agreed to acquire Tristate Sabine LLC from affiliates of Energy Spectrum Capital, Zwolle Pipeline LLC and Tristate management for $65 million in cash at closing plus a deferred payment of $8 million one year later. The entities to be acquired own and operate 52 miles of gas gathering pipelines in Sabine Parish, LA, known as the Tristate System, which serves Haynesville and Bossier shale production from the Toledo Bend South field area for delivery to Gulf South Pipeline and Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Contracts dedicate about 20,000 acres under long-term, fixed-fee arrangements, and capacity is being expanded to 100 MMcf/d for gathering and 80 MMcf/d for treating. The acquisition is expected to close on Nov. 1 and will be financed with borrowings under Crestwood’s credit facility.

Under a state regulatory process established a little more than a year ago for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Wyoming has determined that trade secret compounds involving 146 separate chemicals, but not the chemicals themselves, have been granted confidentiality by the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC).

Confronted with exorbitant gasoline prices, a wide spectrum of Americans are expressing support for oil and natural gas drilling in protected coastal and wilderness areas, according to a recent poll conducted by ABC News, Planet Green and Stanford University.

After reaching a high of $8.010 in trading last week, May natural gas futures were pushed lower Monday to explore the other end of the spectrum. The prompt month put in a low of $7.500 on the day before settling at $7.530, down 27.1 cents from Friday’s close.

In only six months since going live with its full spectrum of over-the-counter (OTC) products, Online trading platform IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), has made a significant impact on the energy and metals markets. The company said over 42,000 trades have been made on ICE since it commenced trading with a combined notional value of $70 billion. Trading volumes on ICE have been growing exponentially with average daily volume in March up 33% from February.