EQT gets Sunrise Pipeline approval

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - EQT announced on Sept. 21 that it has received federal permission to start building its $272 million Sunrise pipeline system that will run for 44 miles between Greene County and Wetzel County, W.Va.

Sunrise will connect to a new compressor station in Greene County, near Jefferson, and in West Virginia will have a hookup to MarkWest's Mobley processing plant that can separate natural gas liquids from the region's wet gas.

Construction is being done through the company's gathering, storage and transmission arm, Equitrans LP. Construction starts almost immediately, and the system is expected to be operational before next summer.

EQT gets federal OK to build Sunrise Pipeline in Marcellus Shale

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - EQT Corp., one of the Marcellus Shale region's largest natural gas exploration, production and midstream companies, on Sept. 21 announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given its subsidiary, Equitrans, L.P., notice to proceed with construction of a new natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

As part of its ongoing Marcellus capacity expansion, Equitrans will begin construction of its project Sunrise, which is comprised of the installation of approximately 41.5 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline and 2.7 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline running from Wetzel County, W. Va., to Greene County, Pa., as well as a new compressor station near Jefferson in Greene County.

The Sunrise pipeline system will generally parallel existing Equitrans facilities, thereby reducing its environmental footprint, and is expected to be operational before summer 2012.

The Sunrise Project will expand Equitrans' existing mainline transmission system to address the rapid development of natural gas from both the liquids rich and dry areas of the Marcellus Shale formation in the central Appalachian Basin. The pipelines interconnect with MarkWest's Mobley processing complex will provide producers a cost-effective option to transport liquids-rich natural gas to pipelines serving the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern markets as well as local distribution companies and on-system storage.

"We are excited to begin construction of the Sunrise project; when completed, the pipeline will provide the critical infrastructure necessary to facilitate continued development of Marcellus acreage in northern West Virginia," said Randy Crawford, senior vice president and president, Midstream, Distribution and Commercial.

Russia's Transneft second quarter net more than doubles

MOSCOW - Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft saw net profit more than double to 45.1 billion roubles ($1.4 billion) year on year in the second quarter of 2011, thanks to crude sales to China.

Second-quarter revenue at the company, whose sole source of revenue is oil transportation fees, increased to 147.3 billion roubles from 105.4 billion in the same period of 2010.

Transneft increased its fees by 2.8 percent from Sept. 1 and is expected to boost them by a further five percent from November.

State-controlled Transneft, which owns and operates most of the oil and refined product pipelines in Russia in January, started shipping 300,000 b/d of oil to China along the first stage of a pipeline from oil fields in Siberia.

European energy firms take 50 percent stake in South Stream natural gas project

NEW YORK - Russian gas pipeline operator Gazprom, chemical company BASF and energy companies EDF and Eni have signed an agreement establishing the entry of BASF subsidiary Wintershall and EDF in the South Stream gas pipeline project.

Wintershall and EDF would each take a 15 percent interest in the project for conveying Russian natural gas to Europe under the Black Sea, while Gazprom and Eni would have a respective 50 percent and 20 percent stake in the project.

Executives from each company signed the agreement on Sept. 16 in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia.

"Today's agreements are part of the strategic partnership signed between Eni and Gazprom in 2006, which envisages the commitment of both parties to jointly develop projects in the entire gas chain," the company said.

The company expects construction of the South Stream gas pipeline to begin in 2013 and that the first gas supplies will be ready for delivery to Europe by 2015.

Analysts estimate that Europe's yearly demand for additional gas imports could reach 80 billion cubic meters by 2020 and surpass 140 billion cubic meters by 2030.

Russia signs North, South Korea pipeline deals

MOSCOW - The energy chiefs of North and South Korea signed draft deals on Sept. 15 with Gazprom to funnel Russian natural gas across the peninsula under a project long-abandoned because of its political risks.

The Kremlin hopes the lucrative multi-billion-dollar link will unite the two Koreas in a common cause at a time of flaring tensions and afford Russia the prestige of acting as peacemaker in a conflicted region.

But analysts warn that much depends on the good will of the Stalinist state's leadership and its commitment not to use the pipeline as blackmail against the South.

Gazprom said in separate statements that its chief Alexei Miller held talks on Sept. 15 with North Korea's Oil Minister Kim Hui-Yong and the South's Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) president Choo Kang-Soo.

The first round of talks with the North's Kim concluded with the signature of a memorandum of understanding while the second with Choo produced a "roadmap" for future gas deliveries to the South.

Crosstex Energy announces binding open season for NGL pipeline project

DALLAS, Texas - In accordance with the open access requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Crosstex NGL Pipeline, L.P. on Sept. 14 announced the start of a binding open season for volume commitments for interstate common carrier transportation service on a new Crosstex NGL Pipeline that will transport unfractionated natural gas liquids (NGLs) produced in the Permian Basin, Midcontinent, Barnett Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and Rocky Mountain areas from the Mont Belvieu, Texas, area to NGL fractionation facilities in Eunice and Riverside, La.

The open season began on September 14, and will close on Oct. 14.

As announced on July 25, the Crosstex Energy companies - Crosstex Energy, L.P. (NYSE: XTEX) and Crosstex Energy, Inc. (NYSE: XTXI) plan to construct the Crosstex NGL Pipeline.

This common carrier pipeline will have a preliminary design capacity of at least 70,000 barrels per day (b/d) to Eunice, with a lesser amount of capacity available to Riverside.

The Crosstex NGL Pipeline is scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of 2013.