August 2010 Vol. 237 No. 8

Advertisers from the print edition, August 2010, Vol. 237 No. 8.

CRC-Evans Pipeline International announced July 30 that CRC-Evans has been acquired by Stanley Black & Decker for $445 million in cash. The companies expect that the acquisition should enhance CRC-Evans’ global growth strategy and its services to customers worldwide. R&D and technology leadership will continue to be emphasized, and Stanley Black and Decker’s resources should enable CRC-Evans to achieve even higher performance standards.

Dice Holdings, Inc., a provider of field-specific career websites, announced August 12 that it has acquired Rigzone, a content, data, advertising and career services provider in the oil and gas market.

Matthew R. Simmons, founder of the Ocean Energy Research Institute in Rockland, Maine, passed away suddenly on August 8.

Parker Drilling recently selected UniversalPegasus International as its Automation and Electrical Engineering Provider for several projects in the developing Arctic oil and gas fields.

Question: Which is the worst comment ever uttered in response to a blowout? <ul> <li>"I'm amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds." Fred Hartley, CEO, Union Oil, Santa Barbara oil spill 1969. (His actual statement, according to Union Oil, was: "I am always tremendously impressed at the publicity that the death of birds receives versus the loss of people in our country in this day and age."</li>

The first German airborne technology for detecting very small natural gas pipeline leakages in built-up or rural areas was recently tested and certified by the DVGW, the German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water.

<em>Editor’s Note</em>: Since April, the focus of the energy industry, the business community and the world at large has been the evolving crisis in the Gulf Mexico. With the crisis nearing a critical juncture, it is an opportune time to assess global perspectives on how this disaster will impact the energy industry in the years to come. Pipeline & Gas Journal assembled a panel of experts from Hill & Knowlton, one of the world’s leading public relations and reputation management firms, to provide their thoughts on the fallout.

Being subject to appropriate inspections, pipelines and piping/pipework offer an almost unlimited service life. Strength and actual service capabilities must be assessed at regular intervals. Especially for thin-walled pipes made of high-strength steel, it is of particular importance to conduct regular inspections and examinations to detect any flaws and defects before they actually start to cause problems. Here, ultrasonic and magnetic flux leakage (MFL) pigs have been established as proven and suitable tools for inspection applications.

Promigas is the only transmission company responsible for transporting natural gas to the majority of towns on the Colombian Atlantic Coast in South America. The natural gas is received from several production companies connected to Promigas’ pipeline transmission system, such as Chevron, Pacific Rubiales, Geoproduction and Solana.

An intelligent inline inspection run including XYZ mapping provides valuable input in various assessment methodologies and the automated integration of the accurate pipeline centerline with its physical properties into a central pipeline integrity management software allows for a cost-effective and time-saving enhancement of the accuracy and reliability of the assessments results.

When pipeline construction and gas drilling projects are late, the consequences can be much more serious than just cost overruns and contractual penalties. For the operator/owner of the infrastructure, every week that a project runs late is a week of lost revenues and profits. For the contractor, the longer the project takes to complete, the fewer resources are available to pursue new work. Missing deadlines also undermines the contractor’s credibility with customers and lessens the possibility of winning future work.

Around the world, almost 30% of oil and gas transmission pipelines are not suitable for inspection using conventional inline inspection (ILI) tools. In fact, many of these lines were built before intelligent pigging had even been invented. The challenges facing “unpiggable” pipelines are often associated with reduced bore valves, miter bends or changes in diameter. PII Pipeline Solutions has identified this as an opportunity to combine its pipeline inspection experience with the requirement of pipeline operating companies to develop technologies to inspect these challenging pipelines.

<em>P&GJ</em>’s mid-year international/offshore report shows planned pipeline miles remain higher than actual pipeline construction mileage. Figures show the international sector accounts for 81,752 miles of crude oil, natural gas and refined products pipelines under construction and planned. Of these, 50,355 miles represent pipelines in the feasibility and front end engineering design phase while 31,215 miles account for pipelines in various phases of construction.

Roughly 280 delegates braved the weather and travel to attend the 56th annual meeting held at the Sheraton in St. John’s Newfoundland. There were representatives present from 16 regular and 46 associate member firms, plus the pipeline craft unions and various guests including several past presidents. At the end of 2009 the association had 34 regular members and 66 associates.

Pigs have been squealing in pipelines for decades. A lot has changed, however, since the first modern-day pipeline pigs were introduced in the early 1940s. Many would cite the development in recent years of smart pigs, also called inline inspection (ILI) tools, as the biggest change. These pigs, which use sensors and computers to accurately inspect and analyze pipeline conditions and problems, do represent a vital improvement in the technology.

In 2010, the Pigging Products & Services Association (PPSA) celebrates its 20th anniversary. Based in the UK, PPSA was founded in 1990 to promote the knowledge of pigging and its related products and services by providing a channel of communication between the members themselves and with users and other interested parties. Its members are comprised of companies that manufacture or market pigging products or services, companies connected with the industry or individuals with an interest pigging products or services.

The quantity of equipment associated with upstream natural gas or oil gathering networks represents an inspection and maintenance challenge equivalent to a moderately sized refinery, but complicated by being dispersed over a large geographic area. A gas or oil gathering system consisting of a thousand well sites would be expected to include about 50 small processing and transmission facilities, up to a thousand pipeline segments and one or more large processing facilities or terminals.

A new international standard for pipeline concrete coatings - ISO 21809-5:2010 - Petroleum and natural gas industries - External coatings for buried or submerged pipelines used in pipeline transportation systems - Part 5: External concrete coatings – was published on March 18, 2010, by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The BP Deepwater Horizon spill continues to have ramifications for pipeline safety even though neither gas nor oil pipelines had anything to do with the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Nonetheless, "BP" is an entry point for Congress and others to show renewed concern about potential environmental accidents from all sorts of energy activities.

<a href="http://pipelineandgasjournal.com/august-newsreel#hou">Pipeliners Association Names Mark Laney “Pipeliner of the Year”</a> <a href="http://pipelineandgasjournal.com/august-newsreel#hal">Hal Kvisle Retires As CEO Of TransCanada</a> <a href="http://pipelineandgasjournal.com/august-newsreel?page=2#rod">Rod West Named Chief Administrative Officer For Entergy </a> <a href="http://pipelineandgasjournal.com/august-newsreel?page=2#tex">Texas Railroad Commission Eying Plastic Pipe To Replace Steel</a>

The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) has issued a preliminary license for implantation of the Ethanol Pipeline Distribution System planned by PMCC Projetos de Transporte de Alcool S.A, a partnership between Petrobras, Mitsui & Co.LTD and Camargo Correa S/A.

CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company (CEGT), an indirect, wholly owned interstate natural gas pipeline subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. held a non-binding, three-week open season to gauge market interest in additional expansion of its 1.9 Bcf/d 42-inch Carthage to Perryville (Line CP) pipeline.

China National Petroleum Corp. announced start of construction of a crude oil and a natural gas pipeline running from the Rakhine/Arakan coast offshore Myanmar to southwest China.

Holly Corp. and Sinclair Transportation report that construction will begin immediately on five of seven spreads on its UNEV pipeline, a 406-mile pipeline transporting refined products from Salt Lake City, UT to terminals in Cedar City, UT and Las Vegas, NV.

Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy, Inc. have entered into a 10-year firm transportation agreement with a major Barnett Shale producer for an additional 50 MMcf/d of natural gas on its North Texas gathering system.

Enbridge Inc. has entered into shipper commitments totaling 229,000 bpd of capacity on the Waupisoo Pipeline in Alberta, part of Enbridge's Regional Oil Sands System.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has announced construction and spending plans to expand its natural gas and NGL infrastructure in South Texas and Mont Belvieu to accommodate growing production volumes from the Eagle Ford Shale play.

Gasunie’s outgoing chief, Marcel Kramer, will lead Gazprom’s efforts to build the South Stream offshore pipeline to Europe. Gazprom previously hired former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to oversee another offshore pipeline, Nord Stream.

Global Industries, Ltd. has been awarded a contract by Pemex for pipeline work in the company’s Ku-Maloob-Zaap field in the Bay of Campeche.

Greece will undertake a diplomatic initiative in an effort to salvage the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis gas pipeline project which was scrapped by Bulgaria. The Greeks are concerned because Bulgaria plans to pull out of the project permanently.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP and Southcross Energy, LLC, with its affiliates announced plans to work together to provide infrastructure solutions to natural gas producers in the Eagle Ford Shale production area in South Texas.

One year after deciding to proceed with a gas pipeline project without India, Iran and Pakistan signed the last of a series of agreements committing Iran to supply gas to Pakistan from 2014.

Rolls-Royce has won a contract from PetroChina to provide gas turbine compressor systems for a new 820-km natural gas pipeline.

El Paso Corporation announced August 2 that the Ruby Pipeline Project has received FERC approval to proceed and begin construction.

Siemens Energy and ZAO Iskra-Avigaz have set up the new joint venture LLC Russian Turbo Machinery for the manufacturing of gas pipeline compressors in Perm, Russia.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an agreement covering terms for the supply of gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey and the transit of Azeri gas via Turkey to Europe, potentially paving the way for the first gas purchase and supply agreements for Shah Deniz phase-2 gas production.

Valero Energy Corp. will double the capacity of its North Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle area crude oil gathering system to accommodate increased crude production.

Dismantling decommissioned oil-drilling platforms, wells and pipelines requires precision demolition techniques. Gulf Coast specialty oil service contractor Proserv Offshore, a unit of Norwegian-based Proserv Group, has become known in the industry for using high-pressure, water-abrasive cutting technologies—also known as cold-cutting—to help remove a variety of oil and gas facilities.

Willbros Group Inc.’s Canadian unit, Willbros Canada, has been awarded the contract for construction of the Williams Energy Canada Boreal Pipeline.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co., the wholly owned natural gas transmission pipeline subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc., plans to expand its existing natural gas pipeline capacity by 33% in the Bakken production area in northwestern North Dakota.

The Board of Directors of Pipeline Research Council International, Inc., (PRCI), has selected Clifford M. Johnson to be its next president. Cliff Johnson comes to PRCI from NACE International, where he has held a variety of positions during his 13-year career. His most recent position was as NACE’s Director of Public Affairs where he led several of NACE’s legislative initiatives. Mr. Johnson will succeed George W. Tenley, Jr., who is retiring at the end of the year.