Utica Shale

Midstream companies are planning to spend about $40 billion, mostly over the next three to five years, on infrastructure projects in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to serve the Marcellus and Utica shales, according to a comprehensive analysis by Marcellus Drilling News (MDN).

Bluegrass Pipeline LLC, which would carry natural gas liquids (NGL) from the Marcellus and Utica shales to petrochemical and export facilities on the Gulf Coast, is launching a binding open season Tuesday (Oct. 29) and running through Dec. 16.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) office in New England says it appreciates the air quality benefits that will accrue from Algonquin Gas Transmission’s Incremental Market (AIM) expansion slated to bring 342,000 Dth/d to the region, while at the same time expressing some concerns about other potential environmental impacts.

Pennsylvania’s top utility regulator wants pipeline companies to use real-time monitoring and post additional employees at compressor stations in order to safeguard against, or actively handle, potential incidents.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. plans to repurchase up to 10 million shares of its stock to generate cash flow and ramp up drilling in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales as it moves forward from one of the best quarters in its history, executives said Friday.

EQT Corp., whose tentacles in the Appalachian Basin stretch into exploration and production (E&P), midstream operations and commercial applications, said Thursday oil and natural gas production in 3Q2013 rose 42% year/year, with Marcellus Shale output up by almost three-quarters.

A Michigan operator that wanted to drill for oil and gas in Bucks County, PA, is abandoning the effort and bringing a six-year-long legal battle to a close.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Texas Eastern Transmission are ready to “let ‘er rip” Nov. 1, opening up more than 1.4 Bcf/d of new pipeline capacity to New York, New Jersey and New England.

The way that production has been climbing in Marcellus-Utica Shale country, there could be enough to support two pipeline projects to carry natural gas liquids (NGL) from the region to the Gulf Coast, a Kinder Morgan executive allowed during an earnings conference call Wednesday. And the company is weighing other projects to move the region’s output into the Northeast.