-Natural gas fuels business veteran Robert E. Petsinger is proposing a 600,000-gallon-per-day LNG production plant along the Ohio River. Via the Pittsburgh Business Times, the plant would serve a chain of LNG and LNG-derived compressed natural gas stations to be built within a 500-mile radius of Pittsburgh. The LNG production plant would buy natural gas from Marcellus shale producers and would have rail and river access to other sites or vessels. The projects are estimated to cost $440 million.
-ConocoPhillips and its partners in the Alaska North Slope Kuparuk River Field approved what will be the first new drill site there in nearly 12 years. Via Platts, the site will add 8,000 barrels per day of new production. ConocoPhillips’ partners in the Kuparuk River Field include BP and ExxonMobil.
-Continental Resources formed a joint venture with a U.S. subsidiary of SK E&S Co. of South Korea to develop part of Continental’s Northwest Cana Woodford natural gas assets. Continental sold a 49.9% interest in 44,000 net acres — including interests in 37 producing wells — for $360 million.
-Meanwhile, Anglo-Australian mining firm BHP Billiton is planning to divest its acreage in the Fayetteville shale. Via the Wall Street Journal, the company is making an effort to cut costs and improve productivity and wants to fully concentrate on its Haynesville shale gas field.
-Pipeline firm Williams announced a merger agreement between MLPs Williams Partners and Access Midstream Partners. Williams in July acquired a 50% general partner interest in Access Midstream for $6 billion. The newly created firm will be known as Williams Partners LP and will be based in Tulsa, Okla.
