Marcellus

Access Midstream Partners LP on Friday appeared to continue a push aimed at purchasing the remaining midstream assets of Chesapeake Energy Corp. when it announced the acquisition of 103 compression units servicing gathering systems in the Appalachian Basin for $160 million.

Nearly 10 years on and after 3 Tcf of cumulative operated production, the Fayetteville Shale is still setting records for the play’s pioneer, Southwestern Energy Co. Meanwhile, Marcellus Shale activity last year drove overall company production to record levels.

With 20 rigs running across the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, Antero Resources Corp. is undoubtedly the Appalachian Basin’s most active operator, and even with triple-digit production growth last year, the company has no plans to slow down anytime soon.

With 2013 in the rear-view mirror, Range Resources Corp. plans to spend more this year on a continuing strategy aimed at growing reserves and doubling production every four years, as the company’s top executive believes the Marcellus Shale drilling program is still in the “early innings.”

In Pennsylvania lines of tubing, trucks, overturned dirt and newly-dug deep trenches along rural stretches of land are a common sight and one that’s expected to continue as the midstream buildout to carry natural gas away from Marcellus production sites is far from over.

An oversupplied market and sagging basis differentials in the Northeast will find Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. reducing its capital budget by $75 million this year and adding no rigs in either the Marcellus or Eagle Ford shales as it opts instead to complete a backlog of wells in order to grow production.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line — Transco — has received binding commitments from nine shippers for 100% of 1.7 million Dth/d of firm transportation capacity for its proposed Atlantic Sunrise expansion project, infrastructure that would connect natural gas supplies in northeastern Pennsylvania with growing demand centers on the Atlantic Seaboard. The project brought in 15-year shipper commitments from producers, local distribution companies and power generators.

Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC (NGPL) is gauging interest in a potential reversal of part of its Gulf Coast mainline system to move natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales to markets along the Gulf Coast, launching a 14-day nonbinding open season Tuesday.

EQT Midstream Partners LP said Tuesday it has entered into agreements with a subsidiary of Range Resources Corp. to provide gathering, compression and transmission services for Range’s growing Marcellus Shale production in southwest Pennsylvania.