This year’s Gas Processors Association (GPA) Convention saw United Gas Derivatives Company (UGDC) of Egypt win the GPA’s award for safe international operations for a company with more than 500,000 work hours.

“We made this achievement through a concerted effort to focus on key performance indicators such as safety conversations, safety observations and manager walkthroughs,” said Ibrahim Ahmed, UGDC’s Chairman and Managing Director. “We place quarterly targets on these three areas and track them on a monthly basis.”

Regency Energy Partners LP acquired Nexus Gas Holdings LLC from Centre Partners Management LLC, a New York-based private equity firm, for $85 million. Nexus and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nexus Gas Holdings LLC, provides natural gas gathering, dehydration and compression services to the midstream sector in east Texas and northern Louisiana.

A challenge to Barnett shale development is sufficient gas take-away infrastructure. Pipeline companies such as Energy Transfer Partners LP, Crosstex Energy Inc. and Quicksilver Gas Services can’t move fast enough.

The Barnett shale, first discovered in 1981, holds an estimated 26 trillion cubic feet of gas resources, stretching from the Dallas area to the north, west and south, covering some 8,000 square miles in 17 counties. Its boundaries are still expanding.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has raised its 2008 capital budget by roughly $400 million. The company now anticipates its 2008 capital expenditures to be between $4.9 billion to $5.1 billion. The extra capital is expected to increase the company’s production estimates and reserve bookings.

Regency Energy Partners LP announced that James W. Hunt, it retiring chairman of the board, president and CEO, will be replaced by Byron R. Kelley, effective April 1.

The company’s board of directors said they sought Kelley, who previously served as senior vice president and group president of pipeline and field services at CenterPoint Energy, because of his track record for helping organizations grow.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP’s MarkWest Pioneer LLC wholly-owned subsidiary began a binding open season from March 20 through April 21 to solicit shipper commitments for firm year-round transportation service on its proposed Arkoma Connector Pipeline.

Partners LP and Hiland Holdings GP LP began a search for a new CFO following the resignation of Ken Maples as CFO, vice president – finance, secretary, and director of Hiland Partners LP and Hiland Holdings GP LP, effective April 4, 2008.

Moody’s Investors Services affirmed Enterprise Operating LLC’s Baa3 senior unsecured rating and changed its outlook to stable from negative. Enterprise Operating LLC, the primary operating subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPP), issues most of EPP’s debt.

Frac spreads in Mont Belvieu benefited from a drop in feedstock prices. Ethane and iso-butane both saw margins rise 3% at the hub. In Conway, the margin for iso-butane rose 5%, but ethane’s frac spread margin dropped 1%.