Shale Daily

In a move signaling the anticipated growth of U.S. shale gas production, NiSource Inc. announced a plan to take its Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG) public and form a master limited partnership (MLP) capable of handling increasing volumes with more infrastructure investment.

Enterprise Products Partners LP is planning to construct a cryogenic natural gas processing plant and associated midstream infrastructure in Eddy County, NM to serve growing production in the Permian Basin’s Delaware sub-basin.

Encana Corp. on Monday placed another transformative piece into its puzzle to move from the natural gas world into oil, agreeing to pay a total of $7.1 billion for Permian Basin operator Athlon Energy Inc., giving it 140,000 net acres in the heart of the oily Midland sub-basin.

Goodrich Petroleum Corp. said two wells it completed in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in Mississippi had peak 24-hour average production that met at least 1,000 boe/d, and it is in various stages of completing three additional wells targeting the play.

After decades of using costly diesel fuel in their exploration and production operations, some industry players are ramping up the use of their produced natural gas for U.S. shale play development, which is proving to be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly proposition.

Recognizing that his state has a long history of complex oil and natural gas drilling issues, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday gave an initial pep talk to the first meeting of a 19-member task force charged with developing recommendations for addressing local issues regarding oil/gas development for the state legislature to consider early next year.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) reported the state had just under half of the active land rigs deployed across the United States in September, while one month earlier the number of original permits to drill in the state had increased more than 50%.

Green Group Holdings unit GGH Wyoming LLC has opened its Grasslands Environmental facility near Bill, WY, to serve the waste disposal and water needs of the state’s oil and gas producers. The facility includes a pull-through commercial oilfield wastewater disposal facility, an industrial landfill, a non-potable water supply well, and two Class I injection wells. Grasslands Environmental covers 482 acres and will contain about 10 million cubic yards of permitted airspace for the disposal of solid waste generated by the oil and gas industry. The facility will offer disposal of produced and flowback water, contaminated soil, and industrial wastes. The design of the facility ensures that trucks are always moving forward to minimize backing within the facility. Another safety feature of the facility is active water transfer, meaning control over water is maintained at all times, ensuring there is no risk of losing containment, according to Green Group. Grasslands Environmental began fresh water sales in August and will begin accepting wastewater in late October, the company said. The industrial landfill and the deep well injection sites are in the permitting process and expected to be operational next year. Green Group specializes in the development of large-scale infrastructure, environmental permitting and operations for projects such as industrial parks, water supply facilities, transfer stations, facilities for processing recyclable materials, and solid waste landfills.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has levied a $250,000 fine against a pipeline company for more than a dozen construction violations that occurred over a seven-month period in Lycoming County, in the heart of the Marcellus Shale.