Utica Shale

The parameters of Ohio’s Utica shale play are extending beyond a three-county swath in the eastern part of the state, spreading south as more exploration and production companies set out to validate their acreage and gain a better understanding of what the play holds.

Net inflows of natural gas to the Northeast from all outside sources during the first nine months of 2013 decreased by 60% from the comparable 2008 period, displaced by internal production, according to a report Tuesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

After nearly two years dedicated to its closely watched appraisal program in Ohio, BP America expects to make an announcement early next year about whether it intends to go forward with Utica operations and make the play a material part of its business.

Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) pipeline is holding an open season for its proposed TEAM-South Expansion Project, which would move up to 300,000 Dth/d of natural gas from Uniontown, PA, in the heart of the Marcellus and Utica shales, to delivery points in Tetco’s ELA Access Area Zone in Mississippi.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced Thursday that a Brazilian company, Odebrecht Organization, will explore the possibility of building a multibillion-dollar ethane cracker and three polyethylene plants in Wood County.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP reported weaker-than-expected profits in the third quarter, partly on continuing operational constraints in the Marcellus Shale, as well as weak results from the Utica Shale segment, issues that management expects to remedy once most of the 22 growth projects are completed in 2014.

Two weeks after Bluegrass Pipeline LLC launched an open season to test support in a pipeline to carry natural gas liquids (NGL) from Appalachia to Gulf Coast markets, another team officially joined the horse race on Monday.

Spectra Energy and Spectra Energy Partners Monday announced they have executed new long-term contracts to bi-directionally transport 650,000 Dth/d of natural gas on their Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) system to accommodate the growing manufacturing sector and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market along the Louisiana and Texas coast.

Despite problems with their first well targeting the Utica Shale, executives with Magnum Hunter Corp. said the company plans to speed up leasing activity and deploy a second drilling rig in the play, based on encouraging results by their competitors.