-Shell Pipeline Co. announced a second open season for its Westward Ho Pipeline, which will stretch from St. James, La., to Nederland, Texas. The Westward Ho Pipeline will be designed to transport 400,000 barrels per day of crude and is expected to begin service in 2017. The open season began Monday and ends Nov. 24.
-GE continued its acquisitive growth in oil and gas by agreeing to acquire an Irish helicopter leasing company for $1.8 billion, FuelFix reports. Dublin-based Milestone Aviation Group has a fleet of helicopters designed to transport drilling rig crews hundreds of miles offshore.
-Denver-based American Midstream Partners acquired Costar Midstream for approximately $470 million. Costar owns gas gathering, processing and fractionation assets in east Texas and a gathering and processing system in the Permian Basin. It is also building an oil gathering system in the Bakken shale, a rail terminal in east Texas and a condensate blending facility in the Permian Basin. American Midstream said it would spend $70-80 million over the next 12-18 months to complete Costar’s ongoing projects.
-Bakken oil producers are expected to cut back on their planned drilling activity in 2015 as global oil prices tumble, Bloomberg reports. Bakken oil fell below $80 per barrel for the first time in 11 months on Monday and it has lost 26% of its value over the past six months. Analysts say drillers who expected to increase capital expenditure by 5-10% in 2015 may ultimately keep spending flat or increase it slightly.
-Meanwhile, natural gas exploration in the Marcellus shale has created more than 45,000 construction jobs since 2008, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Illinois based their figures on hours worked in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio.
