E&P

Williams Partners LP’s Ohio Valley Ethane Pipeline is still out of service as the company assesses damage from a fire that broke out at a metering station on Christmas Eve in southwest Pennsylvania, a company spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

After a recent buying spree to strengthen its position in the Appalachian Basin and gain entry to the region’s liquids-rich window, Southwestern Energy Co. won’t slow down next year, with plans to spend on its latest acquisitions and ramp-up production steadily.

A 70-mile stretch of the Monongahela River is no longer impaired for potable water use, according to a report issued by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). A voluntary prohibition on Marcellus Shale wastewater discharge may get the credit for the cleaner water.

Two opponents of the FERC-approved Dominion Cove Point LNG LP export project have asked the Commission to stay work on the project while it considers their rehearing request, saying that by delaying action on rehearing they are blocking a court appeal.

As oil’s six-month slide persists and natural gas prices stagnate with warmer temperatures, the season hasn’t treated the upstream sector kindly, with news of spending cuts, potential job losses and some fields feeling the squeeze more than others.

The continuing effort to gain traction for increased pipeline takeaway capacity from North Dakota’s Bakken shale play received a pre-holiday boost when Enid, OK-based Hiland Crude LLC extended until Jan. 23 both its local open season and its joint open season with Tallgrass’ Pony Express Pipeline to accommodate requests by interested shippers.

Dominion Resources Inc. is filing lawsuits against hundreds of landowners in Virginia and North Carolina who have not allowed the company access to their properties for survey work related to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

New drilling permits issued in Texas during November were down by 50% from the total issued in October; however, the November permit total of 1,508 was down modestly from the year-ago level of 1,559 in November 2013, according to Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) data.

More than a week after it lost control of its Stalder 3UH Utica Shale well, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. said specialists have stemmed the flow of natural gas by temporarily capping it.