Work

British Columbia (BC) Premier Christy Clark trekked north to see new gas processing and pipeline facilities start work in the resource-rich region where Canada’s western-most province meets the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Work on Shell Pipeline’s Eagle Ford Shale- and Permian Basin-focused Houma, LA, to Houston (Ho-Ho) oil pipeline system reversal is going according to plan, based on shipper requests and new crude production and infrastructure coming online, the company said. Through a Declaratory Order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved the contract rates and capacity allocation for the Ho-Ho Reversal project. The initial phase will move crude oil from connecting pipelines and terminals in East Houston to Nederland, TX, and Port Arthur, TX, thereby supplying the refining complex across the region with crude from the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin, as well as crude supplies from the Cushing, OK, area. Phase I of the project is designed to complement new pipeline infrastructure that is currently being built to the Houston area. The Royal Dutch Shell plc subsidiary last August said it was considering reversing flows on the 22-inch diameter Ho-Ho system to enable more than 300,000 b/d of crude to be distributed across the Gulf Coast region (see Shale Daily, Aug. 9, 2011).

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael Krancer said a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) was “incorrect and inapplicable to Pennsylvania in many respects,” and urged the environmental group to reconsider its labeling of natural gas as a “dirty fossil fuel.”

If you work in one of the 23 counties comprising the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas, today — or any day, for that matter — would be a good day to ask your boss for a raise.

The expansion of Boardwalk Field Services LLC’s Eagle Ford Shale gathering system and construction of an associated cryogenic gas processing plant is on schedule, as is work on the Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP (BPP) subsidiary’s $90 million Marcellus Shale gathering system project, according to company officials. “We expect that a portion of our Marcellus gathering line will go into service in the very near future, and additional portions of the gathering line will go into service over the next 12 to 24 months,” BPP CEO Stan Horten said during a conference call with financial analysts. Boardwalk is adding about 55 miles of 20- and 24-inch gathering pipeline to its existing 340-mile South Texas gathering system (see Shale Daily, Feb. 7). Once complete, the combined pipeline system will have the capability to move more than 300 MMcf/d of liquids-rich gas from Karnes and Dewitt counties in the heart of the Eagle Ford play. The Marcellus gathering system in northeastern Pennsylvania is designed to connect Southwestern Energy Co. wells in the region to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s (TGP) Line 300 (see Shale Daily, Oct. 11, 2011). BPP’s 1Q2012 operating revenues were $312.9 million, a 1% increase from $311 million during 1Q2011, and the Houston-based partnership’s net income was $92.6 million, a 12% increase from $83 million a year ago.

A unit of Willbros Group Inc.’s oil and gas business has been awarded a contract by Energy Transfer Partners LP to construct a portion of the Red River Gathering Pipeline (RRG). Work is to include construction of 97 miles of 30-inch diameter pipeline from Ardmore, OK to Denton, TX. Construction is scheduled to begin in early April. The project is part of an agreement for Energy Transfer to provide gas gathering, processing and transportation services in the Woodford and Barnett shales for XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp. (see Shale Daily, Oct. 24, 2011). “The significant growth in the midstream market is driving additional opportunities for our strategy to offer comprehensive services to project developments in the liquid-rich drilling plays such as the Woodford shale,” said Willbros CEO Randy Harl.

A study of the electricity needs in the oil/natural gas patch was funded Monday by the North Dakota Industrial Commission for upcoming work to be overseen by the state’s power transmission authority. Separately, the commission also authorized paying for another study of future natural gas growth in the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Citizens Advisory Council has appointed Marjorie Hughes as executive director. The 18-member council reviews the work of the DEP and makes recommendations to the department, the governor and the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Hughes comes to the position following 35 years working on environmental and transportation issues for state and local governments, most recently serving as the chief of the DEP’s Conservation District Support Division in the Bureau of Waterways and Wetlands. She is replacing Sue Wilson, who retired from the position in December after 19 years.

The Marcellus Shale boom does not appear to be driving up crime rates in Pennsylvania, but more research is needed to gauge the actual impact, according to a Pennsylvania State University report.