Report Volume XXIII, Number 9, January 1st, 2012
Posted by pcook on January 1, 2012 · Leave a Comment
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – A merger of Pipeline Supply & Service with Wasatch Supply has led to the formation of PSS Companies, which is now the leading supplier of consumable pipeline materials and specialty equipment for the oil and gas industry in the U.S. PSS Companies now has five strategically placed distribution points across the U.S., with plans to continue its geographic expansion.
PSS Companies will serve as the parent holding company to Wasatch Supply, and Pipeline Supply & Service, as well as Porta Lathe, which provides pipeline cold cutting services throughout North America. For now, each PSS Companies division will maintain its own customer base, but will be moving to a unified brand platform that will deliver improved benefits to customers that include more responsive customer service due to the greater availability, accessibility, and delivery of products.
PSS Companies Quote “I wanted to be a part of this exciting new partnership at PSS Companies as I see it as a way to deliver greater value to our customers. Customers can expect to continue to see excellent customer service and responsiveness, and will now be able to get the supplies they need faster and more easily as a benefit from our increased warehouse locations.” – Karma Newberry, Wasatch Supply President, PSS Companies Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – Spectra Energy Corp’s Texas Eastern Transmission, LP, American Electric Power and Chesapeake Energy Marketing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, announced recently their intention to advance the development of the Ohio Pipeline Energy Network (OPEN) project, a proposed expansion of the Texas Eastern pipeline system that will connect Ohio’s Utica and Marcellus shale gas supplies with the fast-growing markets attached to the Texas Eastern system, in particular natural gas-fired power generation.
The OPEN project brings together the largest producer and leaseholder in the Utica shale play, the largest power generator in the region and the premier pipeline company with over 60 years of safe and reliable operational history in the state of Ohio. The project will involve approximately 70 miles of new pipeline and create an additional 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of transportation capacity to serve local distribution companies, industrial users and gas-fired power generators in the Ohio market, as well as markets along the Texas Eastern system.
The project is anticipated to deliver substantial investment in energy infrastructure in the state through mineral leasing and development and construction of pipeline gathering and transportation infrastructure, as well as create significant jobs and lasting tax revenue for the state. A binding open season for the OPEN project is planned for the first quarter 2012 with the projected inservice slated for November 2014.
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX and Calgary, AB) – Enterprise Products Partners L.P.and Enbridge Inc. announced recently plans to hold concurrent open seasons from January 4, 2012 through February 10, 2012 to solicit capacity commitments from shippers for an expansion of the Seaway pipeline and an extension of the pipeline into the Port Arthur/Beaumont refining market. Enterprise and Enbridge recently announced plans to reverse the flow direction of the 500-mile, 30-inch diameter Seaway crude oil pipeline, enabling it to transport crude oil from the oversupplied hub in Cushing, Oklahoma to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The initial 150,000 barrels per day (”BPD”) of capacity on the reversed system could be available by the second quarter 2012. Following pump station additions and modifications, which are expected to be completed by the first quarter 2013, capacity would increase to 400,000 BPD, assuming a mix of light and heavy grades of crude oil. Shippers who participated in the Wrangler open season have indicated strong support for the Seaway reversal and expansion. Given the advantages associated with Seaway, Wrangler has been terminated. Depending on the results of the open season, the Seaway pipeline would be looped or twinned to create additional capacity. This new loop would be built at the size and capacity required to meet shipper needs and in a location that generally follows the route of the existing Seaway pipeline. The new 85-mile pipeline that will be built from Enterprise’s ECHO crude oil terminal southeast of Houston to Port Arthur, Texas will give shippers access to the region’s heavy oil refining capabilities. Service is scheduled to begin in early 2014.
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX and Tulsa, OK) – Copano Energy, L.L.C. and Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. announced recently the formation of a joint venture to deliver Eagle Ford Shale condensate to Corpus Christi, Texas.
The 50/50 joint venture, known as Double Eagle Pipeline LLC, will construct and own approximately 140 miles of new pipeline to connect an existing 50-mile pipeline segment owned by Copano to Karnes, Live Oak, McMullen and LaSalle Counties of Texas, enabling delivery of condensate to Magellan’s terminal in Corpus Christi. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 100,000 barrels per day. Double Eagle also will construct a new truck unloading facility along the pipeline near Three Rivers, Texas for deliveries of condensate destined for Corpus Christi.
The joint venture project is supported by long-term customer commitments from Talisman Energy USA Inc. and Statoil Marketing and Trading (US) Inc., major producers with significant acreage in the rich gas window of the Eagle Ford Shale. The expected cost of the new joint venture facilities is approximately $150 million and will be shared equally by Copano and Magellan. Copano will oversee construction of the new pipeline and serve as operator. The companies expect to provide limited services by the end of 2012, with full service available beginning in the first quarter of 2013.
In connection with the joint venture, Copano will convert its existing 50-mile pipeline from natural gas to condensate service, and Magellan will make enhancements to its Corpus Christi terminal, including the construction of 500,000 barrels of new dedicated condensate storage and a new dedicated dock delivery pipeline.
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – o Crestwood Midstream Partners LP announced recently the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Mountaineer Keystone LLC (”MK”), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to construct a 42 mile 16″ natural gas gathering system (the “Tygart Valley Pipeline”) to serve MK’s Marcellus Shale development program in Northeast West Virginia. The Tygart Valley Pipeline (”TVP”) is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter 2012 and will interconnect with Columbia Gas Transmission’s WB Pipeline in Randolph County, West Virginia. The TVP will provide MK and other area producers with access to the growing natural gas markets in the Washington DC and Baltimore areas. Crestwood estimates the TVP project, as currently planned, will cost approximately $70 million.