The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed new air pollution standards for oil and gas exploration and production operations on July 29 in response to a court order. The standards would require operators to capture natural gas which currently escapes into the atmosphere, the agency indicated.

Crosstex Energy LP and Crosstex Energy Inc., Dallas, today announced a joint investment, with Apache Corp., Houston, of $85 million in a new natural gas processing plant in the Permian basin in West Texas.

Chipeta Processing LLC, a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., has commissioned Converteam, Pittsburgh, a power-conversion specialist, to supply a complete variable-speed drive system to control two natural gas compressor trains at the Chipeta gas processing plant in Utah.

Marcellus Ethane Pipeline System (MEPS) is holding a 30-day open season to secure binding commitments from potential shippers for ethane transportation service from fractionation plants in the Marcellus shale to interconnect points with third party ethane pipelines or storage facilities along the Gulf Coast.

An average $8.2 billion/year will have to be spent by 2035 for the US and Canada to accommodate new natural gas supplies, particularly from prolific shale plays, and meet growing demand, a study commissioned by the INGAA Foundation concluded.

Enterprise Products Partners LP, Houston, plans to build a 75,000-b/d NGL fractionator at its Mont Belvieu, Tex., site. The plant, sixth in the company’s push, will accommodate continued growth of liquids-rich natural gas production from Texas’s Eagle Ford shale basin, the company said.

Lone Star NGL LLC, a joint venture of Energy Transfer Partners LP and Regency Energy Partners LP, will build a 530-mile NGL pipeline from Winkler County in West Texas to the Jackson County processing plant in Jackson County, Tex., moving Permian basin production eastward.

AltaGas Ltd., Calgary, has received final regulatory approval to begin building its 120-MMcfd Gordondale gas processing plant about 100 km northwest of Grande Prairie, Alta. The plant will be equipped with liquids extraction (OGJ, June 6, 2011, p. 88).

Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50-50 joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Copano Energy LLC, reached a long-term agreement with Williams Partners LP to process Eagle Ford shale production at Williams Partners' Markham processing plant in Matagorda County, Tex.

Southcross Energy, Dallas, will build a 200-MMcfd gas processing plant in Refugio County, Tex., to process liquids-rich production from the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Qatar Petroleum reported the Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City sold its first commercial shipment of GTL gas oil.

DCP Midstream will acquire the Seaway Products Pipeline Co. from ConocoPhillips, rename it the Southern Hills Pipeline, and convert it from refined products service to NGL service covering the more than 700 miles between NGL market hubs at Conway, Kan., and Mont Belvieu, Tex.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP, Radnor, Pa., paid $11.4 million for a natural gas gathering system and processing plant in the Texas Panhandle. The company’s announcement did not name the seller, nor did the company respond to a request to identify it.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC expects oil product output to start in weeks at its $18-19 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids project, the world’s largest GTL facility, jointly owned with Qatar Petroleum.