-Energy Transfer Partners has agreed to buy Regency Energy Partners for $11 billion in cash and stock. Regency’s vulnerability to the oil and natural gas price plunge necessitated more scale and diversification, company CEO Mike Bradley said in a statement. The deal will give Energy Transfer a broader midstream footprint in Texas and in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays, where it is building a 3-billion-cubic-feet-plus-per-day natural gas pipeline. The sale is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015.
-Kinder Morgan last week agreed to acquire Hiland Partners for $3 billion. The deal will give Kinder Morgan a significant midstream presence in the Bakken region. Hiland’s assets include crude oil gathering and transportation pipelines and gas gathering and processing systems in North Dakota and Montana. Its customers include Continental Resources, Oasis Petroleum, XTO Energy, Whiting Petroleum and Hess Corp. The deal is expected to close in the current quarter.
-Enterprise Products Partners will move forward with its proposed Panola Pipeline Co. NGL system expansion after a successful open season. The project will add 60 miles of new pipeline to the 181-mile system, which currently originates near Carthage, Texas, and extends to Mont Belvieu, Texas. The added capacity of 50,000 barrels per day is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2016.
-BP put its 950,000-cubic-meter oil storage terminal in Amsterdam on the selling block. The terminal, which BP has owned and operated since 1997, is a hub for trading fuels in and out of Europe. BP said it would continue to supply its customers after the sale, which is expected to be complete near the end of the year.
-Western Refining Logistics CFO Karen Davis has resigned to take the same position at Northern Tier Energy. She replaces Dave Bonczek, who will step down March 16. Davis previously served as chief accounting officer for PBF Energy and PBF Logistics and as global controller of Petroplus Holdings. Western Refining Logistics Executive Vice President Gary Dalke will serve as interim CFO until a replacement for Davis is found.
