Infrastructure

Texas Eastern Transmission LP (Tetco) has asked FERC for clearance to place into service the remainder of its Appalachia-focused Ohio Pipeline Energy Network (OPEN) project, saying it expects “full project mechanical completion” by Oct. 30. Service is expected to begin Nov. 1, a spokesman said.

New pipeline capacity out of the Appalachian Basin is helping alleviate bottlenecks from the prolific producing region and will continue to force production and market prices there and in Mid-Atlantic and Northeast market areas ever closer, according to FERC’s Office of Enforcement (OE).

Demand for onshore pressure pumping services has all but evaporated, but conditions may deteriorate further by late November into the first quarter of 2016, Halliburton Co. CEO Dave Lesar said Monday. The fourth quarter average horizontal rig count could drop about 15-20% sequentially, the acting CFO warned.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC’s (Transco) Leidy Southeast Expansion project continued to move forward with FERC’s authorization to commence service on the Pleasant Run Loop Friday.

It took $5.25 million and a public-private sector effort to develop the natural gas transportation sector’s near-zero (NZ) emissions engine unveiled earlier this month (see Daily GPI,Oct. 8).

Mexico on Wednesday unveiled a plan to spend nearly $10 billion by 2019 to construct a dozen natural gas pipelines, adding about 3,100 miles to the country’s network as it increasingly relies on U.S. natural gas to meet demand created by new power generation.

FERC on Thursday issued a presidential permit for the U.S.-Mexico border-crossing facilities of Roadrunner Gas Transmission LLC in support of a pipeline project to export Permian Basin natural gas.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) hit the road again in New York state Thursday. Vermont-based NG Advantage LLC signed an 18-month contract extension with International Paper’s Ticonderoga, NY, paper mill to continue fueling its operations with CNG (see Daily GPI,April 23).

Talen Energy Corp. has agreed to sell 996 MW of electric generation capacity, most of which comes from its Ironwood natural gas-fired power plant in Southeast Pennsylvania, for $1.51 billion in cash.