Permian

U.S. Shale Boom Drawing Big Oil Back to Permian Pushing Out Independents

Major oil companies are pouring money and resources back into the Permian after new shale discoveries and improvements in technology will enable the U.S. to quickly become the world's second largest oil producer behind only Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Energy Information Administration Forecast Continued Growth of Natural Gas Production and Export

The 2019 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2019) Reference case produced by the U.S. Energy Information Association (EIA) shows continued growth of natural gas production in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio region from the Marcellus and Utica formations, resulting in increases of natural gas being transported to the Eastern Midwest and, ultimately, into the South Central region, which includes the Gulf Coast and Texas.

Cheniere Announces Substantial Completion of Train 5 at the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. (Cheniere) announced today that Substantial Completion of Train 5 of the Sabine Pass Liquefaction (SPL) Project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana was achieved on March 7, 2019. Commissioning has been completed and Cheniere's EPC partner Bechtel has turned over care, custody, and control of Train 5 to Cheniere.

NextDecade Leases Brownsville Site for $15 Billion Rio Grande LNG Project

NextDecade Corporation (NextDecade) announced today that Rio Grande LNG, LLC, a NextDecade subsidiary, has entered into a lease agreement with the Brownsville Navigation District (BND).

ExxonMobil Ups Permian Output Target to 1 Million Barrels per Day by 2024

ExxonMobil said Tuesday it has revised its Permian Basin growth plans to produce more than 1 million BOE/d by as early as 2024 – an increase that is driving significant pipeline and infrastructure development.

Global News

TAP Gas Pipeline Completes $4.5 Billion Project Financing The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) completed its $4.5 billion (3.9 billion euros) project financing, paving the way for construction to be completed for start-up in 2020, its managing director said in January. ..

Phillips 66, Kinder Morgan Announce Gray Oak Open Season

Phillips 66 Partners and Kinder Morgan announced the start of a joint open season by Gray Oak Pipeline, LLC and Kinder Morgan Crude & Condensate LLC (KMCC) to provide shippers with long-term crude oil transportation from origin points in the Permian Basin to KMCC delivery points at or near the Houst..

Noble, Apache, Diamondback Affiliates Buy Stakes in EPIC Pipelines

EPIC Midstream announced Monday that Noble Midstream Partners exercised its option for a 30% equity stake in the EPIC Crude Pipeline Project and a 15% equity stake in the EPIC NGL Pipeline. Also Monday, EPIC also said an Altus Midstream subsidiary and Diamondback Energy's Rattler Midstream subsidiary exercised options for 15% and 10%, respectively, in the EPIC Crude Pipeline Project.

Exxon, Plains, Lotus Order Pipe for Wink-to-Webster Project

ExxonMobil, Plains All American Pipeline,and Lotus Midstream formed the Wink-to-Webster Pipeline LLC Joint Venture and have ordered nearly 650 miles of domestically sourced 36-inch line pipe. The new common-carrier pipeline system will provide more than 1 MMbpd of crude oil and condensate capacity and will be constructed from the Permian Basin in West Texas to the Texas Gulf Coast.

2019 Global Pipeline Construction Outlook

The upstream sector started the new year on a cautious note following a sharp decline in oil and gas prices, but the midstream sector roared into 2019 on a wave of pipeline construction activity. The latest Pipeline & Gas Journal survey indicates 145,353 miles of pipelines were planned or under construction worldwide at the start of the year.

WhiteWater Holds Open Season for NM-Texas Pipeline

WhiteWater Midstream commenced a binding open season for a 500,000 MMBtu/d pipeline from multiple points in Eddy County, N.M., to delivery points in northern Culberson County, Texas.

Projects

Valley Crossing Pipeline to Mexico Gains FERC Extension The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) awarded Enbridge subsidiary Valley Crossing Pipeline six additional months to connect its natural gas pipeline to its counterpart in Mexico, moving the deadline to April 23. The 168-mile pipelin..

Global News

Natural Gas Utilities Testing Demand Response Programs Demand Response (DR) programs have become a fairly common method of reducing electricity demand during summer peak periods, and now the approach is being tried by natural gas utilities – most recently due to concerns about limited pipeline capa..

Carlyle Group to Head US Gulf Coast Crude Export Terminal Project

Lone Star Ports will lead development and operation of a Carlyle Group-backed crude export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, as new crude pipelines that will ferry an additional 2 MMbpd to the South Texas port are expected to begin operations in late 2019.

Phillips 66 Sets $1.6 Billion Midstream Budget for 2019

Phillips 66 announced that it has set a $2.3 billion capital budget for 2019 and will direct the bulk of that spending to midstream growth projects.

Kenyan Pipeline, Insurance Fund Officials Charged Over Graft

A Kenyan court has charged senior officials from the state-run oil pipeline and others from the state health insurance fund for abuse of office and economic crimes that led to the loss of billions of shillings from the two institutions.

Jupiter Announces Open Season for Permian-Gulf Coast Crude Pipeline

Jupiter Energy Group announced it has commenced a 90-day open season for binding shipper commitments on a potential 1 Mmb/d crude oil pipeline from West Texas to the Port of Brownsville.

Permian Pipeline Constraints Push Waha gas to 25 Cents

Next-day natural gas prices for Tuesday at the Waha hub in the Permian basin in Texas tumbled almost 80 percent to their lowest on record because of limits on the amount of gas that can move out of the region by pipeline.

Williams, Brazos Midstream Agree to Joint Venture in Delaware Basin

Williams and Brazos Midstream agreed to a partnership in the Delaware Basin, under which Williams will contribute its Delaware Basin assets in exchange for a 15% minority position in the venture.

Permian Basin — Where Midstream Infrastructure Needs Take on Outsized Importance

An updated examination of the Permian midstream reveals extraordinary growth projections for the one-of-a-kind petroleum basin with robust buildout continuing for years to come,

Enterprise Starts Orla 2, Begins Construction of 7th Delaware Plant

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. announced it has started construction of the Mentone cryogenic natural gas processing plant in Loving County, Texas, and commenced commercial operation of the second train at its Orla processing facility in Reeves County.

West Texas Pipeline to Resume on Schedule after Spill

Energy Transfer Partners said a West Texas pipeline will resume operations on Saturday as planned after it spilled water with nontoxic green dye and residual crude oil near Abilene.

Crude Oil Service to Begin on Epic NGL Pipeline in 2019

Epic Midstream Holdings obtained all required approvals for its subsidiary Epic Crude Oil Pipeline, through a lease arrangement, to begin crude oil service on a portion of the Epic NGL Pipeline, once construction is completed in the third quarter of 2019.

Salt Creek, Noble Midstream to Partner on Delaware Basin Project

Salt Creek Midstream and Noble Midstream Partners have agreed to form a joint venture to build a new 200,000 bbl/d crude oil pipeline and gathering system in the Delaware Basin in West Texas.

Canadian Pension Fund Takes 50% Stake in BridgeTex Pipeline

Plains All American and Magellan Midstream have become minority owners of BridgeTex Pipeline after completing the sale of a 50% stake to OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in Ontario, Canada, and its infrastructure investment manager.

Permian Gas Prices Fall as Production Continues to Grow

As Permian Basin oil production grows, producers must find outlets for the associated natural gas. Once pipeline capacity is fully used, choices are limited. The widening price differential between Waha and Henry Hub indicates pipeline capacity is already somewhat constrained.

Siemens Passes 100th Reciprocating Compressor Order from Permian Customer

With this latest order for 11 HOS compressors, the Permian Basin customer has ordered a total of 106 high-speed reciprocating compressors from Dresser-Rand business Siemens since 2012.

Permian, We Have a Gas Problem

Permian gas prices will remain weak for the next few years despite nearly 2 Bcf/d of additional pipeline capacity coming online by 2020. This is because the Permian, predominantly a shale oil play, has large quantities of associated gas production.

ONEOK Plans Second Expansion of West Texas LPG Pipeline System

Tulsa, Okla.-based ONEOK will invest $295 million to expand its West Texas LPG pipeline system, which provides natural gas liquids takeaway capacity for Permian Basin producers.

Apache, Kayne Anderson Form $3.5 Billion Permian Basin Pipeline Firm

U.S. oil producer Apache Corp is putting its West Texas pipeline assets into a joint venture with investment firm Kayne Anderson that will operate in the largest U.S. shale field, the companies announced on Wednesday.