February 2009 Vol. 236 No. 2

According to new employment and business forecast figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America, an estimated two-thirds of the nation’s non-residential construction companies plan to cut payroll.

Worldwide demand for plastic pipe is forecast to increase 4.6 percent annually through 2012 to 8.2 billion meters, or 18.2 million metric tons.

Few commodities illustrate the macroeconomic realities of supply and demand as well as oil or natural gas. Even OPEC, which controls nearly 40% of the world's oil supply, unhappily finds itself on the tail that is wagged by demand.

In the winter of 2002-2003, Venezuela found itself in the grip of the largest and longest strike in Latin American history. Lasting from Dec. 2 until Feb. 2, the strike paralyzed the oil industry through work stoppages and acts of sabotage.

Despite a troubled economy that is causing problems in many segments of construction, 2008 ended strong for most members of the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA).

The Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3) provides many advantages over conventional protocols in a wide range of natural gas applications including the monitoring and control of pipelines, gathering systems and distribution systems. Here are some key reasons why one should consider applying DNP3 for communications with pipeline remote devices. (subhed)What Is DNP3?

With oil prices hovering near $40 a barrel in January 2009, the temptation will exist for energy companies to cut spending. One of the first areas that is likely to be impacted by spending cuts is technology, and, by extension, efforts to bolster information security are at risk. Security issues continue to be of prime importance and should not be sacrificed in light of lower oil prices.

The Southern Gas Association (SGA) holds an annual conference at which many subjects are discussed involving gas transmission and distribution operations.

The year 2008 represented significant accomplishments for the Power and Communications Contractors Association (PCCA) and its members, reports association president Ron Tagliapietra, senior vice president at Michels Corp.

This article shares experiences we have gained working with several customers to geo-code leak and pipe inspection reports and associate them with the pipe segment in the GIS that best matches the address location and other attributes of the report.

The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has established a joint venture with refiner Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group to construct and operate a new crude oil pipeline.

The new administration in Washington will mean changes at the Federal Communications Commission which will likely have a significant effect on oil and gas operators involved in the specialized field of energy telecommunications. Yet that is just one of the issues that concerns operators.

The Vactor HydroSurge high-performance cleaning nozzle handles a variety of large pipe cleaning and maintenance applications.