Venture

Walter Oil & Gashas completed the first phase of plugging a natural gas well in the Gulf of Mexico that blew out in July, according to theInterior Department’sBureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement(BSEE). The well blowout partially destroyed a Hercules Inc. rig, but as responders were working on ways to prevent releases, the well naturally clogged with sand (seeDaily GPI,July 30). All of the debris from the original well had been removed as of Friday (Sept. 6), and no gas has been detected, BSEE said. Regulators said the original well would be reentered at a later date to set deeper, permanent plugs.

A SaskEnergy subsidiary and Calgary-based Mistral Midstream Inc. have formed a joint venture (JV) to build a facility in southeast Saskatchewan to extract ethane and other hydrocarbons from natural gas from the Bakken formation being transported on the SaskEnergy system.

The Port of Vancouver, WA, Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a 10-year lease with a joint venture (JV) involving units of Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies for a crude oil rail terminal at the port.

Newfield Exploration Co. and joint venture (JV) partner Hess Corp., have terminated about 1,500 leases in northeastern Pennsylvania, dashing hopes that landowners could earn about $187.5 million in royalties.

In a blow to oil and gas development in northeast Pennsylvania, Newfield Exploration Co. and its joint venture (JV) partner, Hess Corp., have terminated about 1,500 leases in the region and dashed hopes that landowners could earn about $187.5 million in lease payments.

As of Monday, Norway’s Statoil has taken over operatorship of the eastern portion of its Eagle Ford Shale assets that it has held in a 50-50 joint venture (JV) since 2010 with Talisman Energy USA Inc.

Leatherstocking Gas Co., a 50-50 joint venture between Corning Natural Gas Corp. and Mirabito Holdings Inc., recently broke ground on a natural gas distribution system in Susquehanna County, PA, the latest step in its “local gas for local people” effort to supply Marcellus Shale gas to customers living in the area.

Leatherstocking Gas Co., a 50-50 joint venture between Corning Natural Gas Corp. and Mirabito Holdings Inc., recently broke ground on a natural gas distribution system in Susquehanna County, PA, the latest step in its “local gas for local people” effort to supply Marcellus Shale gas to customers living in the area.

Western Gas Partners LP has exercised an option to acquire a 25% interest in a joint venture with Enterprise Products Partners LP to own two fractionation trains (Trains 7 and 8) being constructed in Mont Belvieu, TX. The trains, scheduled to begin service later this year, would be operated by Enterprise. Western, formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., also plans to begin constructing a second cryogenic processing train at its Lancaster plant in the Denver-Julesburg Basin this year. Lancaster II is expected to have a capacity of 300 MMcf/d with throughput of 200 MMcf/d guaranteed by an Anadarko subsidiary. The partnership anticipates the project will cost $165 million, with 50% spent in 2013 and the remainder spent by early 2015. The new train is expected to begin operating in early 2015.