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Enterprise Products Partners LP plans to build one of the world’s largest propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units on the Texas Gulf Coast to take advantage of abundant supplies of propane thrown off by shale gas plays and to address periodic shortages of propylene in the region.

A group of industrial energy consumers have urged Interior Secretary Ken Salazar not to impose “duplicative” regulations on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and natural gas wells on public lands.

It didn’t take that long for the horizontal drilling technology and hydraulic fracturing stimulation technique that unlocked huge stores of unconventional natural gas to be transferred to the oil patch, and now oily producers face as bleak a future for prices and activity as their gassy brethren, energy analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said Monday.

Celanese Corp. plans to construct a methanol production facility at its Clear Lake, TX, acetyl complex to take advantage of abundant natural gas supplies in the region, the company said. “The positive developments in the U.S. energy complex and the current and emerging natural gas surplus make it advantageous for us to produce our own methanol requirements for U.S. acetyl production,” said CEO Mark Rohr. “Utilizing existing Celanese infrastructure helps reduce capital requirements while capturing advantages of state-of-the-art technologies.” Following necessary approvals, Celanese intends to construct a 1.3 million metric ton per year facility with anticipated start-up after July 1, 2015. A significant portion of the methanol produced would be used to support the company’s current operations, Celanese said, adding that it expects to partner with one or more others interested in the remaining methanol.

Operators in Pennsylvania spud fewer Marcellus Shale gas wells last month than the year before, shifted their focus to counties in wetter areas of the play and saw turnover at the top in terms of most wells spud, data from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows.

Japanese chemical manufacturer Kuraray Co. Ltd. announced Tuesday that it plans to take advantage of an abundance of shale gas in the United States and will build a $10.1 million facility in Texas to produce plastic.

Atlas Resources Partners LP (ARP) has made a friendly deal to take over privately held Barnett Shale operator Titan Operating LLC for $184 million, giving the Philadelphia-based operator another big natural gas liquids (NGL) lift in the heart of Texas.

While normally associated with the chemicals and petrochemical industries, a number of small, niche players want to take liquids derived from natural gas and compete in the alternative transportation fuels space. The reinvigorated natural gas transportation fuel buzz has brought back methanol, introduced dimethyl ether (DME) and found potential room for bio-based fuels from natural gas.

Strong growth in the total marketed production of natural gas last year — an estimated increase of 4.8 Bcf/d (7.9%) compared with 2010 — was driven in large part by increases in shale gas production, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).