Blueknight  to  build 65-mile pipeline, provide crude oil service for XTO Energy

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P. (BKEP) on May 1 announced plans to construct a crude oil pipeline as part of a long-term transportation agreement with XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp.

BKEP will build a 65-mile pipeline from southern Oklahoma to Wynnewood, Okla., where it will intersect with an existing BKEP pipeline. The pipeline will transport committed XTO crude oil production from the Woodford Shale area in Southern Oklahoma to BKEP's crude oil terminal in Cushing, Okla.

"We're pleased to have the opportunity to provide XTO with an efficient and reliable way to transport their crude oil production from the Woodford Shale to the market hub in Cushing…” said J. Michael Cockrell, Blueknight Energy Partners' president and chief operating officer.

BKEP expects construction of the new pipeline and associated enhancements to its Oklahoma mainline system to begin this quarter with completion targeted early-mid 2013 at an approximate total cost of $37 million.

NiSource, XTO Energy building $150 million gas line in Pennsylvania

NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage on April 5 announced a partnership with Texas-based XTO Energy to build a 70-mile natural gas pipeline across Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The line will serve as a gathering system for Marcellus shale wells in Butler, Armstrong, Allegheny, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.

Construction of the pipeline has started in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

The $150 million pipeline project, formerly known as the Lancer Line, has been renamed the Big Pine Gathering System.

NiSource plans to replace a dormant 55-mile, 10-inch Buckeye pipeline with a combination 20- or 24-inch high pressure line. The company will lay new pipe to extend the line on both ends of the former Buckeye line.

"(XTO), along with other producers in the area, will now have the capacity and access to markets needed in this burgeoning shale gas development play in Western Pennsylvania by the end of the year," Jimmy Staton, NiSource executive vice president, said in a written statement.

The system is expected to provide an initial capacity of about 425 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

NiSource, which owns Columbia Gas Transmission, parent company of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, plans to connect the pipeline with its own transmission line as well as Texas Eastern Transmission and Dominion Transmission lines.

Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. announces long-term agreement with XTO Energy

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. announced on Dec. 1 that it has entered into a long-term, fee-based agreement with XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, to provide natural gas gathering and processing services for up to an incremental 60 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) from the Woodford Shale region of Oklahoma to its Velma processing facility in Velma, Okla.

Under the agreement, APL will provide gathering and processing services for XTO production in the liquids-rich area within the Woodford Shale. The agreement also supports APL's previously announced expansion of its Velma system.

"We are pleased to enter into this long-term agreement with XTO with respect to production in the area around our Velma facility. Activities in the area have increased over the past year and we are adding capacity to address the needs of our producer customers. We are excited to work with them on their development plans and are pleased to be adding de-risked cash flows to the business through this arrangement," stated Eugene N. Dubay, chief executive officer of APL.

"This agreement will help provide XTO Energy the necessary infrastructure to operate effectively in the Woodford Shale and access markets beyond the region," said Terry Schultz, senior vice president of marketing, XTO Energy.