Page 6 - NorthAmOil Week 47 2022

NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT NorthAmOil

FERC completes review of

TC Energy gas pipeline

US NORTHWEST THE US Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- pipeline – known as GTN Xpress – is opposed
sion (FERC) has completed a review of plans by the attorneys general of the states of Ore-
to expand the capacity of TC Energy’s Gas gon, Washington and California, as well as by
Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline across environmentalists.
Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The commis- The expansion would upgrade three com-
sion found the project would have little adverse pressor stations with new gas cooling bays, tur-
impact on the environment. bine compressors and associated piping.
The expansion would increase the capacity of But opponents say that expanding the pro-
GTN’s existing natural gas transmission system ject will result in more greenhouse gas (GHG)
from Canada by more than 150mn cubic feet emissions. This would lead to more than 3.47mn
(4.2mn cubic metres) per day between Idaho tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent for
and Oregon. The pipeline has been operating at least 30 years.
since 1961. The expansion will undermine West Coast
According to GTN, the expansion is neces- states’ plans to reduce the pipeline’s effects on
sary to serve growing market demand in Wash- climate change, said the office of Washing-
ington, Idaho, Oregon and California. ton Attorney General Bob Ferguson when a
“The FERC staff concludes that modifying motion to intervene at the FERC was filed in
and installing the project facilities would result August.
in limited adverse impacts on the environment. “This is equivalent to adding 754,000 cars
Most adverse environmental impacts would be on the road each year until 2052,” he said. “This
temporary or short-term and would have mini- pipeline is bad for the environment and bad for
mal impact on existing land use,” said the FERC consumers.”
in a release. If this expansion is approved, emissions from
The regulator had come to the same conclu- this pipeline alone will comprise 48% of the
sion in a draft report in June. Canada-based TC region’s targeted total emissions from all sources
Energy applied to expand the pipeline in Octo- in 2050, said his office. “That will undermine the
ber 2021. region’s efforts to reduce emissions and transi-
Expansion of the 1,377-mile (2,216-km) tion to renewable energy,” it said.™

INVESTMENT

Ranger Oil reportedly considering sale

TEXAS EAGLE Ford oil and gas producer Ranger Oil is equivalent per day (boepd), while its crude sales
reportedly exploring a potential sale. Such a sale exceeded the mid-point of guidance at 30,700
would be aimed at capitalising on high energy barrels per day (bpd). It posted net income of
prices and pursuing strategic options, Reuters $227.6mn and adjusted net income of $125.0mn.
reported, citing anonymous sources familiar The company has long-term net debt of more
with the matter. than $603mn as of the end of the third quarter.
Ranger was formed after Penn Virginia’s High commodity prices have encouraged
acquisition of Lonestar Resources US. The both public companies and private equi-
shale producer operates in the Eagle Ford play ty-backed firms to consider strategic sales, fol-
in South Texas. It has hired an advisor and has lowed by or a reinvestment in their core assets,
started marketing itself, according to the report. or an outright sale. This is true for smaller com-
The day the potential deal was reported, panies in plays such as the Eagle Ford. Indeed,
Ranger’s shares rose more than 5%, giving the the region has seen other deal activity in the last
company a market value of around $1.9bn. The few months.
company had gained around 58% so far in 2022, Just over three weeks ago, Marathon Oil
prior to the report that it was considering a sale. agreed to acquire the Eagle Ford shale assets
Consultancy Rystad Energy estimates that of Ensign Natural Resources for $3bn in cash.
Ranger’s upstream assets are worth $2.0-2.2bn. The assets – in the core of the play – will nearly
Ranger did not comment on the story. double Marathon’s Eagle Ford position. They
In the third quarter, Ranger said it had total are located adjacent to Marathon’s existing Eagle
sales volumes of more than 42,600 barrels of oil Ford wells.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 47 24•November•2022