August 2012, Vol. 239 No. 8

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, August 2012, Vol. 239 No. 8.

An unfortunate fact of life I quickly learned growing up in eastern Pennsylvania in the 1960s was the lack of decent paying industrial jobs.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA--World Gas Conference 2012 attracted more than 5,000 people from natural gas-related businesses around the world. P&GJ asked a number of them to discuss their goals, concerns and their top priorities. Upstream, midstream, downstream or Nord Stream, one thing they agreed on: this is the time to be in natural gas.

Operators of U.S. liquid pipelines last month reaffirmed their commitment to safety through adoption of eight pipeline safety principles by the Board of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL), the national trade association for operators of oil, natural gas liquid and carbon dioxide pipelines.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA—One of the biggest topics of conversation at the World Gas Conference was the potential for shale gas resources in China. While major producers such as Royal Dutch Shell are optimistic and others are at best uncertain, a new study released here by Wood Mackenzie indicates that China will indeed become a major importer of natural gas by 2030.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA--A poll of delegates at the World Gas Conference indicated that industry professionals are confident Asia is well-placed to support continuing growth in gas consumption through the provision of the infrastructure it needs. A total of 71% of participants thought that the region has the technical foundation to develop the systems needed to support an increased dependence on gas, while 29% of participants felt that it does not.

Flow assurance is about ensuring safe and economical transport of raw or processed multiphase mixtures of gas, oil and water from reservoir to reception facilities (Figure 1). As hydrocarbon production now increasingly comes from aging and remote reservoirs, marginal or deep water fields -- all with long pipelines transporting commingled fluids under extreme conditions -- the need for flow assurance is more crucial than ever.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA--These are heady times in the natural gas business, as the thousands who attended World Gas Conference 2012 in June will vouch. But conditions worldwide vary for a number of reasons, some overt, others not so obvious. That’s when it’s helpful to turn to someone with a global acumen like Peter Oosterveer for an accurate perspective of natural gas in the year 2012 and beyond.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA--<strong>Delegates Confident In Asia’s Gas Infrastructure</strong> Delegates at the World Gas Conference endorsed Asia’s ability to deliver the infrastructure necessary to cater to its rapid growth in gas, according to a poll conducted by GL Noble Denton.

Caused by improper crimping of the steel sheet in the production process, roof topping is a geometric anomaly that occurs along the longitudinal seam weld of the pipe. These incorrectly crimped sheets then result in a deviation from the perfectly circular geometry of the pipeline. The implications of roof topping for pipeline integrity are severe. They include risk of failure during hydro-testing or fatigue failure during pipeline operation.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA--World gas demand grew from 2,939 Bcm in 2006 to 3,303 Bcm in 2010. This historic growth was by no means uniform: for example, Asia and the Middle East recorded the most impressive gains, whereas European consumption declined, according to a report released by Nexant Ltd., a London-based energy consulting company.

Demand for natural gas as a transportation fuel in the United States is seen as growing as is fueling infrastructure to deliver it, and why not? The price of natural gas is low, the fuel is plentiful, and the pollution impact is minimal. On the surface it appears to be the brewing of a perfect storm for consumers and natural gas industry stakeholders.

Vehicles fueled by liquid natural gas (LNG) are poised to penetrate heavy duty trucking due to low natural gas prices resulting from the United States’ unconventional gas boom, according to a new IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates report. Unlike light-duty vehicles (LDVs), the economics are favorable to both vehicle owners and LNG suppliers, the report says.

Let us take a look at Iraq’s re-emergence as a major oil producer and examine why international companies wanting to benefit have to commit. It is hard to come up with a better symbol of Iraq’s resurgent oil and gas sector than the candidacy of the nation’s Thamir Ghadhban to head the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). After decades on the sidelines, Ghadhban is one of four hopefuls to take the reins of OPEC.

The July 10, 2012 preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the major oil leak from an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan in July 2010 faults the company's operational and training procedures in numerous instances.

P&GJ’s latest international pipeline survey indicates 97,763 miles of pipelines are in various stages of construction and planned.

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA-During his keynote address, Peter Voser, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell, declared that “at no time in the history of our industry has natural gas been poised to play a more important role in the global energy picture. The natural gas revolution is THE most significant energy development in decades.”

Whether U.S. energy independence is real or a mirage, the industry is getting closer to what one could call “energy independence”. Common belief is energy independence will bring many benefits such as better foreign trade balances, less support for countries not friendly to the U.S., more secure energy supplies, and most important, lower energy prices, especially for crude oil which is the raw material for transportation fuels.

DCP Midstream Partners, LP completed its $63 million acquisition of the Crossroads system from Penn Virginia Resource Partners, L.P. Crossroads, located in the southeastern portion of Harrison county in East Texas, includes an 80 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant, eight miles of gas gathering pipe, 20 miles of NGL pipeline and a 50% ownership in an 11-mile residue gas pipeline.

Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. has launched a pilot program to begin converting drilling rigs to liquefied natural gas (LNG), displacing the diesel used to power equipment at the well site.

Exterran Holdings was awarded a contract by Williams Partners for the design, fabrication and installation of natural gas facilities in West Virginia.

Obama administration officials said they are preparing to open additional areas of the Arctic Ocean to oil and gas exploration.

Reports from the U.S. Department of Energy indicate that natural gas production is beginning to exceed the nation's storage capacity, threatening another price declines over the next few months.

Defending a proposed $1.7 billion tax break for a planned petrochemical refinery in western Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said the facility would be a major step toward rebuilding the state's manufacturing sector.

Permian Basin is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving as production levels continue to soar, according to a report by GlobalData. Companies involved in the basin have been richly rewarded up until this point, and can anticipate even greater productivity in the future.

Allan Taylor of Mustang Engineering was elected president of the Pipeliners Association of Houston during the group’s June meeting.

Ryckman Creek Resources, LLC, wholly owned subsidiary of Peregrine Midstream Partners LLC, began gas injections at its high-deliverability, multi-cycle (HDMC) Ryckman Creek Gas Storage Facility in southwestern Wyoming near the Opal Hub.

Houston-based Swift  Energy Co. has a long-term agreement for natural gas gathering and processing services for its LaSalle County, TX natural gas production with Eagle Ford Gathering LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. and Copano Energy, L.L.C. Swift will have up to 40 MMcf/d of firm capacity available on the system by the fourth quarter.

Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada Corp., said a new line to carry oil sands crude to Canada's Atlantic coast could also serve markets in Europe and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

Ziff Energy has released a report which provides an analysis of the 2011 U.S. and Canadian gas reserve replacement rates, gas reserves, and focuses on reserves booking in today’s low-price environment.

An explosion at a BP natural gas site in western Colorado June 25 killed one person and wounded two others.

ABB won a contract to supply automation and safety systems, electrical equipment and related services for a new gas compression station that will serve the natural gas pipeline that runs across northern Turkey.

Abu Dhabi started exporting its first crude from a pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz on July 16, shipping the fuel from the neighboring sheikhdom of Fujairah to a refinery in Pakistan, according to Bloomberg.

The STATS Group, has completed an 18-month design, manufacturing and installation project to enable the tie-in of a fifth pipeline on Statoil’s Troll A Platform.

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, a decade-old gas transit project, may soon add China to the mix in a move that has surprised Washington lawmakers.

Spectra Energy Corp. received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to proceed with construction on the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project, a 20-mile expansion of its Texas Eastern Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission interstate pipeline systems.

Fugro Seacore (FSCL) has just completed the jacket installation works on the North Rankin B platform in Australia. Fugro Seacore designed, built and operated two large pile top drills for Heerema Marine Contractors for jacket installation work of the platform substructure.

The reduced demand from Gazprom, one of Russia’s largest pipe buyers, is a disappointment to pipe plants that invested heavily in new technology to position themselves as its suppliers of choice. Gazprom reached a record last year, buying 2.2 million tons of big-diameter pipes.

Iranian officials said a 25-km pipeline to transfer oil products to Afghanistan is now being assessed and will likely be implemented in the near future once the the study is completed.

Kazakhstan's Legislature has passed a bill requiring any new trunk oil or gas pipelines built on the territory of the Central Asian state be majority-owned by the state. The legislation will mean that the state will have at least 51% in any new pipelines.

Kinder Morgan Pony Express Pipeline and Banner Transportation Company launched a joint open season to solicit shipper interest for crude oil transportation service on their combined facilities which include a 330-mile Banner Pipeline originating in the Bakken oil production area near Baker, MT and terminating near Guernsey, WY.

Kinder Morgan is proposing the Sasabe Lateral project in southeastern Arizona, which would include constructing a 36-inch lateral pipeline and facilities to provide an initial 160 MMcf/d of capacity from a point of interconnection with Kinder Morgan's existing pipeline system west of Tucson.

Magellan Midstream Partners and Occidental Petroleum held an open season to assess customer interest to transport crude oil from Colorado City, TX to the Houston area.

Gulfport Energy Corp. completed definitive agreements with MarkWest Utica EMG L.L.C. to construct and operate gas gathering pipelines and processing facilities associated with Gulfport's development of its Utica Shale acreage in eastern Ohio.

Tarahumara Pipeline, S.de R.L. de C.V, a subsidiary of Grupo Fermaca, has been selected in a public auction by the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) to build and operate the natural gas pipeline for the northern region of Mexico in the state of Chihuahua.

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that the agency will lead the effort to help expedite federal permitting for a 1,000-mile pipeline modernization project by NiSource, Inc. that will produce thousands of jobs, enhance safety and increase energy capacity.

A failure to work with the community could undermine Papua New Guinea's $16 billion liquefied natural gas project, the key element of which is a massive pipeline.

Enterprise Products Partners’ Phase I Eagle Ford crude oil system recently began accepting deliveries and commissioning the pipeline and delivery stations.

Independent Risk Management Systems B.V. (IRM Systems) announced that pipeline operator BBL Company awarded the company a contract to produce a concept proposal that will provide a thorough assessment of the organization’s current pipeline repair contingency plans and preparedness.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, and Third District Congressman Jeff Duncan have all spoken out in support of legislation which will open the South Carolina coast to oil and gas drilling.

Qatargas Operating Company Limited (has signed a new long-term LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with the largest Japanese LNG buyer, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO).

Sunoco Pipeline L.P. has concluded an open season for the Permian Express Phase I project to deliver 150,000 bpd of West Texas crude to Gulf Coast markets.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners announced that shippers have signed binding 20-year contracts for 510,000 bpd of capacity in support of expanding the pipeline system.

TransCanada Corp. has received a contract from Shell Canada Ltd. to build and operate a pipeline expected to cost C$3.85 billion that will transport natural gas to a planned LNG export facility near Kitimat, BC.

Williams Partners held a non-binding open season from May 30 to June 28 for an expansion of its Transco interstate pipeline to provide incremental firm natural gas transportation capacity to markets in northern Georgia and Alabama by 2016.

New products and services for the pipeline industry, from Structural Integrity, Step-Ko, Trenchers and Equipment, ESAB, Master Bond and more.