Houston-based Black Bear Sells Alabama Gas Gathering Assets

Black Bear Transmission LLC completed the divestiture of gas gathering assets owned by BBT Alabama LLC (BBT AL) to an undisclosed buyer, the Houston-based company said in a March 5 release.

BBT AL owns and operates a fee-based, natural gas gathering system that connects production in Alabama to regional long-haul pipelines. The asset sale consists of more than 240 miles of natural gas pipelines, 26 active metered locations and one active compressor station.

The terms of the transaction are not being disclosed, the company said.

“We are excited to complete this transaction,” Black Bear CEO Rene Casadaban said in a statement. “The sale of these assets allows us to continue our main focus on the transmission business, which serves long-term, demand-driven end-user markets, while continuing to provide safe and reliable service.”

This divestiture follows a similar sale by Black Bear of the Ozark Gas Gathering system last October.

Black Bear has been using divestitures to support its goal of expanding its natural gas transmission business that Casadaban referred to in his statement. Most recently, Black Bear added on to its natural gas transmission portfolio with the purchase of assets in the Southeast U.S. from Third Coast Midstream in September.

Scott Langston, senior vice president and chief commercial officer for Black Bear, called the BBT AL sale on March 5 another example of the company’s ability to quickly execute on the strategic rationalization of acquired assets.

“Similar to the Ozark Gas Gathering sale, this deal allows us to achieve operational cost savings while at the same time directing more internal resources towards our core natural gas transmission infrastructure,” Langston said in a statement.

“We appreciate all of the hard work from everybody involved to complete this sale.”

Following the BBT AL sale, Black Bear will own and operate 13 regulated natural gas pipelines stretching more than 2,100 miles, with total delivery capacity of more than 2.6 Bcf/d. The pipelines are connected to 18 major long-haul pipelines, ensuring reliable gas supply to customers across Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.