Venture

With a recently signed joint venture agreement targeting the Wolfcamp Shale in hand, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. this year plans to step up horizontal drilling there. In the Eagle Ford, longer laterals and more white sand proppant instead of ceramic are on the agenda.

An expansion of Seaway Crude Oil Pipeline is nearing completion and will increase capacity from about 150,000 b/d to about 400,000 b/d, said Seaway Crude Oil Pipeline LLC, a joint venture of Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge Inc. Seaway suspended service on its 500-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline to complete the remaining pump station connections. Service is expected to resume by Jan. 11. In addition to the pipeline that transports crude oil from Cushing, OK, to the Gulf Coast, the Seaway system is composed of a terminal and distribution network originating in Texas City, TX, which serves refineries locally and in the Houston area. The Seaway system also includes dock facilities at Freeport and Texas City. Further expansion of the system is planned to be completed in 2014 (see Shale Daily, March 28, 2012).

Dominion and Caiman Energy II LLC on Thursday said they are forming Blue Racer Midstream LLC, a $1.5 billion joint venture (JV) that would provide midstream services to natural gas producers operating in the Utica Shale in Ohio and portions of Pennsylvania.

Caterpillar Inc. (Cat) and natural gas compressor manufacturing firm Ariel Corp. have formed a 50-50 joint venture (JV) to provide well service pressure pumping products to the oil and gas industry, the companies said Wednesday.

It’s too early in the game to know if the productivity power of the Utica/Point Pleasant Shale in Ohio and western Pennsylvania will match other U.S. unconventional plays, but initial natural gas well data is encouraging, and if the oil-prone window is successfully derisked, the play could prove to be a triple-play hydrocarbon monster, according to IHS Inc. researchers.

Caliber Midstream Partners LP, a joint venture (JV) formed by Triangle Petroleum Corp. and First Reserve Corp.’s Energy Infrastructure Fund (FREIF), will focus on midstream and infrastructure opportunities in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana, Triangle said Monday.

Low natural gas prices have created a buying opportunity among dry gas-directed companies for larger players whose pockets are lined with oil dollars, according to consultancy Deloitte. And in the midstream, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will be propelled by a consolidation trend among master limited partnerships (MLP), according to the firm’s midyear report on M&A activity.

The Alaska Pipeline Project (APP), a venture of TransCanada Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp., is holding a nonbinding solicitation of interest for capacity on a potential pipeline to carry Alaska North Slope gas.

The Alaska Pipeline Project (APP), a venture of TransCanada Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp., is holding a nonbinding solicitation of interest for capacity on a potential pipeline to carry Alaska North Slope gas.