System

NuStar Logistics LP, an affiliate of NuStar Energy LP, is holding a binding open season for firm priority space to transport crude petroleum from the Niobrara Shale near Platteville and Watkins, CO, to Wichita Falls, TX.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline association believes that an existing voluntary system with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for dealing with cyber attacks “is the way to go,” a spokeswoman said.

Mixed with the solid reviews about all-time record highs for monthly natural gas and oil production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale and Williston Basin region, the director of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) sounded words of caution that the drilling boom is showing signs of easing, but not because production has slowed much.

FERC Tuesday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Creole Trail Pipeline Co. LP’s proposal to modify its system to accommodate the delivery of raw gas to a liquefaction project that Cheniere Energy affiliates Sabine Pass LNG and Sabine Pass Liquefaction are planning to build at the existing import terminal in Cameron Parish, LA.

FERC has issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co.’s (ESNG) proposal to expand its pipeline system to meet the needs of its customers in the growing Delmarva Peninsula market, which includes most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia.

FERC has approved Transwestern Pipeline Co. LLC’s application to abandon by sale to affiliate Lone Star NGL Pipeline LP a nearly 60-mile segment of its system in West Texas.

Health care providers Guthrie Health and Geisinger Health System have formed a partnership to study the health impacts of Marcellus Shale gas drilling, saying it will be “the first large-scale, scientifically rigorous assessment of the health effects of” natural gas production.

Enterprise Products Partners LP’s midstream system handled more natural gas liquids (NGL), natural gas and crude oil during the second quarter, setting records for gas processing, gas pipeline and NGL fractionation volumes and helping to lift gross operating margin to 12% above the year-ago quarter, CEO Michael Creel said Wednesday.

The Mississippian Lime formation, which stretches across northern Oklahoma, western Kansas and southern Nebraska, is drawing increased industry interest, thanks to cheaper drilling costs and shallower wells compared to North Dakota’s Bakken Shale, according to the “IHS Herold Mississippian Oil Play Regional Play Assessment.”