North America

Water Usage Analysis Shows Natural Gas Less Intensive Than Coal

A new report from the Worldwatch Institute concludes that electricity produced from natural gas uses less water than electricity from coal on a life-cycle basis – even when natural gas comes from deep shale formations.

Gas Pipeline Plans Hit Snag In Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's public utility regulators were advised to reject an effort by a Houston natural gas pipeline firm that could help it secure the power of eminent domain on private property. An administrative law judge recommended denial of an application by Laser Northeast Gathering Co.

Shale Gas Issues Yield To Adroit Community Relations Efforts

Interest in shale gas is being driven by concern about peak oil, pressure to develop secure domestic energy supplies and a need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Shale gas is also called tight gas or shallow gas. And, members of the conventional gas industry are experiencing some new challenges in the exploration, production and pipelining of this shale gas energy source.

National Fuel Gas Holds Open Seasons

National Fuel Gas Supply Corp. and Empire Pipeline, Inc., are holding two open seasons aimed at making firm transportation capacity available from the Marcellus Shale.

Chevron Acquiring Atlas Energy For $4.3 Billion

Chevron will acquire Atlas Energy for cash of $3.2 billion and assumed pro forma net debt of $1.1 billion in a deal that will provide Chevron with an attractive natural gas resource position primarily located in southwestern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale.

El Paso Midstream/Spectra Energy To Develop Ethane Pipeline

El Paso Midstream Group Inc. has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop the proposed Marcellus Ethane Pipeline System (MEPS) project. Terms call for El Paso Midstream and Spectra Energy to each own a 50% interest and jointly operate MEPS.

Energy Solutions Report: Natural Gas Prices May Begin To Rise By Mid-2011

On November 15, Energy Solutions, Inc. published its most recent educational analysis, <em>Natural Gas Price Outlook</em>. President Valerie Wood provided a summary of the contents: "Natural gas prices are at eight-year lows, and plentiful supplies have caused some analysts to predict sub-$5 natural gas prices as far out as 2015. If one is looking solely at supply and demand, that forecast may be relevant. But today, the price of natural gas is about so much more than just supply and demand.

BENTEK: Canadian Natural Gas Imports to U.S. Projected to Drop 30% by 2015

According to a new report from BENTEK Energy, LLC, Canadian producers face serious challenges as the continued growth of unconventional natural gas supplies and newly added pipeline infrastructure in the U.S. push Canadian imports out of the U.S. market. "<a href="http://www.bentekenergy.com/FCSRubyBigSqueeze.aspx">The Big Squeeze: Ruby, Canada and Marcellus</a>" examines the broad displacement of Canadian imports and its impact on the North American natural gas market, which will ultimately lead to curtailments in Canadian production.

Marcellus To The Rescue

Growing up in Pennsylvania, there was one thing you were sure of: you had to go elsewhere for a job that paid decently. I grew up in a small town in the once-bustling Lehigh Valley – an industrial powerhouse typified by its biggest employer, the now defunct Bethlehem Steel Corp.

Commencement of Majorsville Processing Complex Announced

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources, L.L.C., and The Energy & Minerals Group, have begun operations of jointly developed natural gas gathering, processing, and transmission projects in Majorsville, WV.

Baker Hughes Opens Marcellus Shale Repair and Maintenance Center

Baker Hughes announced Oct. 21 the opening of its Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, repair and maintenance center. The facility will support natural gas well drilling, completion and production operations in the Marcellus Shale.

Project To Improve Marcellus Producers Access To High-Value Markets

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage and UGI Energy Services Inc. are partnering to develop a natural gas pipeline to provide Marcellus Shale producers in Pennsylvania improved access to high-value markets.

Inergy Midstream Carving Gas Storage Niche In Marcellus

As we all know by now, it’s the midstream sector of the natural gas industry that is driving forward much of the activity in America’s energy sector, fed by the tax advantages offered through master limited partnerships. They come in all sizes, shapes and mixtures of businesses, which can often change on a moment’s notice or at an executive’s whim.

Kinder Morgan Launches Marcellus Open Season

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners launched a 30-day non-binding open season June 14 to further gauge shipper interest for its Marcellus Lateral Project.

Kinder Morgan Announces Cochin Pipeline Expansion Plans

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners plans to modify and expand the existing Cochin Pipeline system to provide a solution for transporting NGLs from the Marcellus Shale Basin to fractionation plants and chemical markets near Sarnia, Ontario, and Chicago.

Partnership Plans Rich-Gas Gathering And Processing Facilities

NiSource Gas Transmission & Storage (NGT&S) and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources, LLC, announced continued joint development of new natural gas gathering, processing, and transmission projects to support increased Marcellus production volumes in the northern West Virginia area of the Appalachian Basin.

NFG Announces Two Pipeline Projects

National Fuel Gas (NFG) announced its Pipeline Supply Corp. and Empire Pipeline subsidiaries have entered binding precedent agreements for the Northern Access and Tioga County Extension pipeline projects, respectively.

Dominion Plans Facilities To Handle Marcellus Gas

Dominion has plans to gather, process and transport the growing volumes of high-Btu (wet) Marcellus natural gas production in Marshall and Wetzel counties, WV and surrounding counties in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Future Role Of Natural Gas And Shale Revolution Dominate At P&GJs 2010 Pipeline Opportunities Conference

<em>Pipeline & Gas Journal</em>, in partnership with the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), presented its sixth annual Pipeline Opportunities Conference on March 31 in Houston. Jeff Share, conference founder and organizer, said the single-day event drew more than 500 attendees at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the third consecutive year, attesting to the intense interest in the pipeline industry.

From Drake To The Marcellus Shale Gas Play-- Midstream Developments

The major drivers of midstream infrastructure buildout are learning to read the Marcellus. Just what makes it different aside from its scale? Recognizing the indigenous challenges that are unique to this play and developing the solutions to overcome them are going to be paramount.

Enbridge To Build NGL Pipeline In Pennsylvania

Enbridge Inc. intends to develop a NGL pipeline from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to markets in the midwestern United States.

Welcome To Pittsburgh, Natural Gas Hub of The Northeast

Murry S. Gerber has a vision for the natural gas industry and this country, one that includes the pipeline sector. In fact, if Gerber’s vision became reality, we would have the pipeline project to end all pipeline projects. Gerber is executive chairman of EQT Corporation, a 120-year-old Pittsburgh-based company that traces its history back to the drilling of the first natural gas well by George Westinghouse in 1888.

From Drake To The Marcellus Shale Gas Play--Distribution Developments

The North American shale gas revolution is entering a new phase of activity with gas production in the “Big 7” shale gas plays: Antrim, Barnett, Devonian, Fayetteville, Woodford, Haynesville and Marcellus, now estimated to be on track to rise to between 27-39 Bcf/d over the next decade – with the Marcellus now singularly recognized as the largest unconventional natural gas reserve in the world.

Buckeye/NOVA Chemicals Plan NGL Pipeline

Buckeye Partners, L.P. and NOVA Chemicals Corp. have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the evaluation and development of a mixed NGL pipeline from the Marcellus Basin in Pennsylvania to the refining and petrochemical complex in the Sarnia-Lambton area in Ontario, Canada.

El Paso Pipeline To Serve Two Prominent Marcellus Shale Producers

El Paso Corp’s wholly owned subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP), has executed binding, 20-year term agreements for 100% of the capacity for its Northeast Upgrade Project.