August 2014, Vol. 241, No. 8

Advertisers from the print edition of <em>Pipeline & Gas Journal</em>, August 2014, Vol. 241 No. 8.

I’ve never been to North Dakota; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone from that state. Now, one of the great oil discoveries of recent years, the immense Bakken Shale, has put the upper Plains state on the map for all to see.

Training of new employees is required for all businesses. For some jobs it may consist of an awareness followed by a gradual increase in duties and responsibilities or a complete boot camp approach in which one is educated on basic concepts and policies before taking on responsibility.

There is a trend in Enterprise SCADA toward larger systems controlling more assets from a single location within the pipeline company. As additional control systems are required for new assets, expansion of existing assets or projects to replace legacy systems, it is natural to want to leverage or expand an existing successful SCADA infrastructure.

That Houston is the hub of the oil and gas industry has been evident for decades. What is less obvious, though, are some of the unusual advantages the 600-square-mile Gulf Coast city has established that will keep its position of dominance secure for years to come.

Each time there is a fallout between Russia and Ukraine, urgent calls are made for the European Union to free itself from Russian gas. The reality is that the EU is in a better state than it has been for two decades.

Innovation is the idea formed by the thoughts of pipeline managers and the rigorous discipline exemplified within each individual pipeline company and contractor. Immediate challenges faced every day allow companies to transform each new challenge to inspire innovation in microspaces between each pipeline organization.

Iraq has a long and varied history of oil exploration and development, and its proven reserve base is largely unmatched outside of the Middle East. However, regional conflicts throughout history have disrupted exploration drilling and resulted in extensive damage and neglect to infrastructure, ensuring current oil production is considerably lower than its potential.

Japan’s government approved its new, but unpopular, energy policy in April by reinstating nuclear power as an “important base-load power source.”

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers continued to show no love to sellers at the Gastech Conference and Exhibition held in South Korea recently.

In a meeting held in Houston on April 22-23, NAESB’s Gas-Electric Harmonization (GEH) Forum continued its efforts to forge a consensus of natural gas and electric industry stakeholders in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on gas-electric coordination announced by FERC on March 20. (Docket No. RM14-2-000, available at http://tinyurl.com/mleskru.)

The world is walking a tightrope of oil supply and demand. Today, supply exceeds demand by a very small amount. This difference is small enough that a major disruption in supply can further tip the balance in the direction of demand.

Pipeline systems are an extremely safe method of transporting hydrocarbons. However, like any engineering structure, failure remains a possibility, which could result in serious consequences for the surrounding population and environment.

<em>P&GJ</em>’s 2014 international pipeline survey indicates 65,746 miles of pipeline are in various stages of construction or planned. Of these, 33,801 miles account for projects in the planning and engineering phase, while 31,945 miles are in various stages of construction.

Both Pemex and CFE are promoting new pipeline projects at a fast pace in advance of the most significant energy reform in Mexico in a half-century. The projects are to follow the old rules of government procurement: these state-owned enterprises (SEO) offer the credit rating of the Mexican government to serve as a bankable, long-term service agreement.

Recent events in West Virginia have shown that our water supply is in jeopardy of contamination from leaks or overfills of storage and processing tanks (Figure 1) at chemical, petroleum and water/wastewater facilities.

The conclusion of a decade-long negotiation between Russia and China was announced May 21 during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Shanghai. The $400 billion natural gas supply contract between Russia’s Gazprom and China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) entails 38 billion cubic meters (Bcm) or 1.34 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of Russian gas supply annually to China for 30 years via a new pipeline.

“…the United States has become ‘a job magnet’ for manufacturing, which is really the first time in decades this has happened...” --Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

Like most stories about Texas, the one that’s being written in the Eagle Ford shale is full of big dreams, big dollars, and big results. The play itself is huge, covering an area of 20,000 square miles, it spans 25 south-central Texas counties and is roughly the size of Croatia. Capital expenditures there by energy companies are sky-high, reaching $28 billion through the end of 2013, if predictions by global consultants Wood Mackenzie held true.

U.S. crude oil production has been growing significantly in Oklahoma, North Dakota, Montana and Texas. Prior to completion of TransCanada’s Gulf Coast Pipeline, producers did not have access to enough pipeline capacity to move this production to the large refining market along the Gulf Coast. The 485-mile, 36-inch Gulf Coast Pipeline that begins in Cushing, OK and extends south to Nederland, TX addresses this constraint, as will the company’s 48-mile Houston Lateral pipeline project.

The Ukraine-Russia crisis has Congress rushing to consider monumental changes to accelerate exports of LNG that will permanently and negatively affect the U.S. natural gas market, due to high OPEC cartel crude oil-linked LNG prices, driving export demand.

Welding and fabrication generate lots of heat, dust and fumes that carry hazardous substances. If air quality is not controlled, these often carcinogenic and toxic substances can lead to serious illness. Obviously, suitable systems to air quality at acceptable levels are needed.

Pipeline safety is back on the congressional agenda, in part because of a recent Department of Transportation Inspector General's report, in part because of PHMSA'S failure to finish rulemakings mandated by the 2011 pipeline safety bill. PHMSA's foot-dragging has irritated the industry and the major pipeline safety advocacy group equally.

The 26th World Gas Conference is coming to Paris, France June 1-5, 2015. The International Gas Union (IGU) coordination committee is accepting abstract submissions for inclusion in the official conference program until Sept 1.

Bechtel delivered and installed all of the modules for the LNG production train at the GLNG facility on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia.

Enbridge Inc. announced that pursuant to the Joint Review Panel's (JRP) recommendation, the Northern Gateway Project has received Governor in Council (GIC) approval by the Canadian federal government. The JRP's recommendation was subject to 209 conditions.

A leaking oil pipeline caught fire in the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian on July 1, forcing the evacuation of nearly 20,000 residents. According to press reports, the pipeline was damaged by construction work, allowing oil to flow into a sewage pipe, and catch fire. No deaths or injuries were reported. However, China National Petroleum Corp. reported 20,000 nearby residents had to be evacuated.

Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of TransCanada PipeLines Limited, proposes to develop a natural gas pipeline from northeast British Columbia to the west coast of British Columbia to serve export markets.

Energy Transfer Partners’ Board of Directors has approved building the 1,100-mile Bakken Pipeline to transport crude supply from strategic receipt points in the Bakken/Three Forks production area in North Dakota to Patoka, IL where the Bakken Pipeline will interconnect with the company’s existing 30-inch Trunkline Pipeline, which is being converted from natural gas to crude transportation service.

The sixth edition of pipeline repair and rehabilitation conference series from Clarion and Tiratsoo Technical Conferences, Fixing Pipeline Problems, will again be held in Berlin Oct. 21-24, 2014 at the Estel Hotel.

Inter Pipeline Ltd. plans a $100 million expansion of its Mid-Saskatchewan pipeline system. The project involves construction of over 50 km of mainline pipe, 40 km of pipeline laterals and associated pumping and metering facilities.

Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. will expand its South Texas crude oil pipeline system by installing an additional 24-mile pipeline in San Patricio County. The new pipeline will have an expected initial capacity of 200,000 bpd.

Global Partners LP has entered into an agreement with Meadowlark Midstream Company LLC whereby Meadowlark will build, own and operate new a crude oil transportation system.

Peru has awarded the Brazilian builder Odebrecht and Spanish gas grid operator Enagás the construction and subsequent operation and maintenance contract of the Peruvian South Pipeline Project. The 1,000-km pipeline will run from the Peruvian jungle to the southern coastal city of Moquegua.

A consortium that includes Brazil’s Odebrecht was awarded a $935 million contract by Mexico’s oil giant PEMEX to construct a portion of the Phase 2 north section of the Los Ramones pipeline.

EQT Corp. and NextEra US Gas Assets, held a non-binding open season for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project which would connect Marcellus and Utica natural gas supply to markets in the Southeast. The companies signed a letter of intent to form a joint venture to construct and own the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and Enbridge Inc. recently announced that the 512-mile loop of the Seaway Pipeline system from Cushing, OK to the Jones Creek storage and terminal facility near Freeport, TX was mechanically complete. The 30-inch Seaway Loop Pipeline is expected to more than double the capacity of the Seaway system to 850,000 bpd.

At a Natural Gas Europe and IPM conference in Vienna, Serbia, Hungary and Bulgaria agreed on a forum to coordinate energy policies to increase prosperity.

Steelhead LNG Corp. and the Huu-ay-aht First Nations (HFN) have signed an Opportunity Development Agreement that will see them work together to explore developing an LNG project on HFN-owned land at Sarita Bay, 10 km north of Anacla at the southern end of Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island.

Technip, in a consortium with PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk (WIKA), was awarded an onshore lump sum contract by PT Pertamina EP for the Matindok Gas Development project in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

UGI Energy Services announced a further expansion of its Auburn Gathering System in Pennsylvania with construction of a 9-mile, 24-inch pipeline from Susquehanna County to the Manning Compressor Station in Wyoming County, along with additional compression to be installed at Manning.

New products and services from Smith Flow Control, Shurtape, Caterpillar, Tritex NDT, STATS, Pergam, Hyundai, Emerson Process, WFMS and more.