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The state of Texas is losing billions of dollar because of tax rate deductions for shale gas wells using hydraulic fracturing that are classified as “high cost wells,” according to a report by the state Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

Oneok Partners LP Thursday launched plans to invest up to $500 million between now and 2015 to build additional natural gas liquids (NGL) infrastructure in some of its Midcontinent operations, with the bulk of the funds earmarked for the Williston Basin.

The United States likely will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia this year to become the largest liquids producer in the world because of tight oil and biofuels growth, according to BP plc. North America also is expected to lead in shale gas output to 2030.

This year will be a busy one for oil and gas operators in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in terms of new regulations, said an official for a group representing the offshore industries.

Westlake Chemical Corp.’s previously announced expansion of the Petro 2 ethylene unit at its complex in Lake Charles, LA, has begun. This expansion will be completed in conjunction with a planned maintenance turnaround and will increase ethane-based ethylene capacity by 230-240 million pounds annually in support of the company’s ethylene integration strategy. The unit is expected to be down approximately 60 days for the work to be completed.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) ended three days of hearings in Denver Wednesday as it drew closer to finalizing new setback requirements for oil and natural gas wells, but it still fell short of finishing the unpopular and complex task.

As a study emerged Monday in Canada raising public health concerns about oilsands, groups long opposed to TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline blasted a report released Friday evaluating a rerouting of the oilsands-linked pipeline in Nebraska by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

This year will be a busy one for oil and gas operators in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in terms of new regulations, said an official for a group representing the offshore industries.

Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. said Tuesday it has secured one of the three major pipeline systems that move western Canadian crude oil to refineries in the Rockies and Midwest, agreeing to purchase the entire ownership interest in the 1,717-mile Express-Platte Pipeline System. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2013.