March 2016, Vol. 243, No. 3

In these times when we as a society and as an industry are surrounded by blatant insults, public tantrums and overdone political correctness, it’s refreshing to know there is a company that’s doing something the right way. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has not always done things the right way. It’s ..

Last year marked the first time on record that the average capacity factor of natural gas combined-cycle plants exceeded that of coal steam plants. The power industry has been running natural gas combined-cycle generating units at much higher rates than just 10 years ago, while the utilization of th..

“Who will stand up for Alberta’s persecuted billionaire community?” the headline of a popular political blog site sarcastically blared after the story broke last month about how wealthy Calgary entrepreneur N. Murray Edwards had apparently relocated his residence to London for tax reasons...

During the past five years U.S. crude oil pipeline mileage has grown by 22% for an increase of 12,000 miles – or to think of it another way, about the distance covered in two round-trips between Seattle, WA and Tampa, FL. “In the time the Keystone XL pipeline was under review, we built the equivale..

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is expected to sue this week to stop Halliburton from acquiring Baker Hughes, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the lawsuit had not yet been announced. Halliburton and Baker Hughes hel..

UK-listed BP and China’s CNPC aren’t exactly strangers, already jointly developing Iraq’s Rumaila oilfield, but BP’s new shale gas deal with CNPC is the British company’s first foray into China – and it’s a major strategic move that gauges which way the winds are blowing in today’s energy sector. L..

Carbon dioxide (CO2) corrosion modeling software is used by asset owners, contractors and consultants in the oil and gas industry to predict the CO2 corrosion rate at both the design and operation phases of pipelines and well tubing. Prediction results from a dozen CO2 corrosion models are known to ..

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A natural gas well blowout last year that crippled a major energy supply for Southern California could lead to blackouts in the region over as many as 14 days this summer, energy officials said Tuesday. State agencies that studied the impact of the partial shutdown of the Aliso..

Due to great chemistry and metallurgical innovations of the steel industry, higher strength steels have made significant strides, in specified minimum yield strength (SMYS), wall thickness control, toughness and weight per foot. However, one significant factor in these great improvements was no con..

With the advent of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and Clean Water Act of 1972, environmental quality, protection and enhancement have been at the forefront of proposed pipeline activities for nearly a half century. Considerable effort and coordination goes into planning pipeline proj..

Crestwood Equity Partners entered into long-term commercial agreements with BlueStone Natural Resources II to gather and process natural gas across its Alliance, Lake Arlington and Cowtown systems in the Barnett Shale. Crestwood will provide services to BlueStone for 10 years under a fixed-fee and ..

Experience and expertise are important on all construction projects, especially when safely and successfully pushing the limits of an emerging technology. Michels Corporation combined the two by using the Direct Pipe methodology to complete a 4,038-foot installation of a 48-inch natural gas pipe in ..

A CNG decompression process, Vortex PRS-CNG, developed by Universal Vortex, Inc. (UVI), allows for complete elimination of high-pressure gas preheat and raises the pressure-regulated gas temperature without applying any external man-made energy. The technology places no limitation on CNG flow rate a..

Everyone is familiar with oil giant ExxonMobil, so it should be no surprise that investors have kept XOM shares under pressure as oil prices hover near lows that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. What many investors do not realize though is that Exxon is more than just an oil company – th..

Computer-modeling technology has developed over a number of years and is now widely used to verify the performance of cathodic protection (CP) systems used in combination with coatings to manage the corrosion risk to underground assets. Modeling can be used to verify the protection provided by the ..

The global pipeline coatings and application services market is worth about $5.5 billion a year, according to Noru Tsali at Ami Consulting. Current market conditions are stormy, owing to low oil prices that depress demand for new pipelines, terrorist activities in Libya, Nigeria and Iraq, financial ..

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A judge has recommended that state regulators reject a $621-million pipeline to carry natural gas to Southern California. Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric want to build a 63-mile pipeline and pass on the cost to customers. Karl J. Bemesderfer, an..

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait’s OPEC governor is saying members of the oil cartel and other producing countries likely will reach a deal later this month to freeze production as crude prices sit below $40 a barrel. The state-run Kuwait News Agency quoted Nawal al-Fuzai on Tuesday as saying that oil m..

Special to Pipeline & Gas Journal Wood Mackenzie’s latest review of the Global LNG industry concludes that the market was characterized by weak Asian demand in 2015, with a year-on-year decline of 2%. As a result, many LNG players shifted their focus to developing markets and employing new regasifi..

Over past decades there have been significant studies in various parts of the world on the cost of corrosion and how it affects a country’s economy. The often-cited 2002 study, “Corrosion Costs and Preventive Strategies in the United States,”1 revealed that the total annual estimated direct cost of ..

While the oil and gas industry has suffered fewer major cybersecurity breaches than other industries to date, many minor incidents have occurred and it’s only a matter of time before a major oil and gas company will appear in the headlines along with companies such as Target. Global consultancy DNV..

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Fuel lines stretched for more than a kilometer (half-mile) on Friday in Nigeria’s capital because of a fuel shortage in sub-Saharan Africa’s top oil-producing country. Drivers in Abuja groaned and shouted in frustration when one station closed because it was apparently out o..

Singapore, once a preferred hub for oil and gas exploration companies, is losing its world class status as four of the world’s top multinational subsea contractors announce plans to shift the bulk of their operations to neighboring Malaysia where cheaper operational costs will help them survive low ..

Oil prices plunged to their lowest levels in a month on April 4, falling back from recent highs to the mid-$30s per barrel. Oil traded down on the sinking prospect of an outcome from the Doha summit April 17, where several key OPEC countries will meet with Russia to discuss the pending production f..

HOUSTON (AP) — Amanda Salazar watched for a year as colleagues at the Houston-based oil rig manufacturer where she worked lost jobs, victims of the latest oil bust. She realized it was time for a change before she too got a pink slip. So Salazar left her job as a software trainer with National Oi..

Even today, a lot of people laugh when you talk about putting a pig in a pipeline. And it takes a good 15 minutes to explain what they do and what they look like! There are an estimated 18-20 manufactures of pipeline pigs, most residing in the United States, with an estimated annual global market s..

Spectra Energy said its indirect subsidiary, Westcoast Energy Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its ownership interests in Spectra Energy’s Canadian NGL business to Plains Midstream Canada ULC, a large-scale, operator, for a cash purchase price of about C$200 million plus customa..

FREEMAN, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada estimates that about 16,800 gallons of oil leaked into a field in South Dakota as part of a spill that has shut the Keystone pipeline down while officials investigate. The company says it reported the 400-barrel estimate Thursday to the National Response Centre an..

FREEMAN, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. says the Keystone pipeline will likely remain shut down for the rest of the week while officials investigate an apparent oil spill in southeastern South Dakota. Oil was discovered on a 300-square-foot area in a ditch near a Freeman-area pump station. About 1..

With sustained weakness in crude prices and oil rigs at the lowest level since the economic crisis of 2008, production in the United States is set to see significant year-over-year declines. U.S. production for the year peaked at 9.6 MMbpd in April and declined to 9.2 MMbpd by December. Industry re..

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation’s history. The settlement, first announced in July, in..

Wholesale natural gas and power prices in the Northeast United States remained relatively low this winter, absent the large spikes that have occurred during recent winters. A combination of increased deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the region, a fuel adequacy winter reliability progra..

Charlie Riedl was named executive director of the Center for LNG (CLNG), a trade association representing LNG producers, shippers, terminal operators and developers. The boards of CLNG and the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) approved and implemented CLNG’s merger with NGSA where Riedl will als..

Cross Country Pipeline Supply Co., Inc. has made three acquisitions that diversify its interests and continue its pattern of growth. The businesses acquired are: N2, a Midland, TX-based provider of nitrogen generation and other integrity testing services to pipeline contractors and operators in the ..

Retha Laird Williams, 91, died Jan. 11 in Conroe, TX. She was the mother of Tambra Shell, wife of Gary Shell, CFO of PE BEN USA Inc. Williams leaves Kenneth Williams, Gerald Williams and three grandchildren. Services were held in Summit, MS; interment at Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Smithdale..

Enable Midstream Partners’ Board of Directors named John Laws executive vice president, CFO and Treasurer. Laws succeeds former CFO Rod Sailor who assumed the role of president and CEO. TMK IPSCO said Chairman Piotr Galitzine will assume the additional role of CEO. David S. Mitch has stepped down a..

It is not unprecedented for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to investigate potential overcharging at pipelines, as it announced it was doing in January. But it doesn’t happen frequently, just three other times since 2009. The agency announced Jan. 21 that it will initiate Natural Ga..

Reaction to the PHMSA’s proposed rule (NPRM) to tighten liquid pipeline safety regulations has run along predictable lines. The pipelines think the proposal is too expansive and expensive. The environmental community and some notable safety experts believe the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety..

The Alberta Energy Regulator said Apache could be slapped with a penalty of up to $2.5 million for a spill in northwestern Alberta two years ago. In that incident, contaminated water spilled about 40 km from Whitecourt, affecting a nearby creek. Apache has been charged on five counts under the Pipel..

Dominion Resources Inc. is buying Questar Corp. for $4.4 billion, the latest in a move of power producers seeking to acquire more natural gas distribution assets. The deal was announced Feb. 1 and follows Duke Energy’s effort to buy Piedmont Natural Gas Co for $4.9 billion, and Southern Co.’s $8 bil..

Emera Inc., a Canadian-based energy holding company reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the acquisition of TECO Energy Inc., The acquisition was announced Sept. 4, and TECO shareholders approved the acquisition Dec. 3. The US$10.4 billion acquisition includes assumption o..

Europe is set to be the key destination for LNG gas supplies from the U.S. as prices have fallen in Asia, the world’s biggest consumer of the fuel, according to global energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The U.S. is forecast to ship about 55% of its total LNG production, or 32 mmta, to Europe by 2020..

Warren Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, is partnering with Multifuels, L.P. to build a midstream pipeline platform based in Houston. As part of the transaction, Multifuels, L.P. is contributing an existing natural gas pipeline that supplies a utility service area in Texas, and W..

When Sen. Marco Rubio, in a recent Republican presidential debate, argued that American colleges weren’t equipping their students for the job market, he said, “The world needs less philosophers and more welders.” That remark, picked up by the Wall Street Journal, was music to the ears of Kyle Reaga..

Solomon Natural Gas Services has released its “North American LNG Exports to 2022 report. The report examines the rapidly expanding global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market and forecasts exports to 2022 with a focus on the main gas demand regions within Asia and the competition for growing LNG supp..

ESAI Energy has released a new study, Balancing Act: China’s Oil Demand and Energy Mix to 2030 that takes an in-depth look at China’s oil demand trends to 2030, projecting energy mix and demand for 13 oil and alternative fuel products. The study shows in detail that the pace of oil demand from 2015-..

Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick has met representatives from the Mexican Energy and Finance Ministries to review best practices and regulations governing the state’s shale industry. Mexico is reviewing terms of an auction for shale reserves in the Burgos basin located near the Texas bor..

The United States has nearly 503 MMbbls of commercial crude oil stockpiled, the Energy Information Administration said last month. It’s the highest level of supply for this time of the year in at least 80 years. The inventories are the latest sign that the oil boom is still alive and kicking. U.S. o..

Williams Cos. said its Williams Partners affiliate cut its planned investment expenditures by about one third from previous estimates to $2.1 billion amid tough energy market conditions. Shares of Williams have erased over half their value in the past 12 months. The company said the move is a resul..

Chevron’s Australian subsidiaries have signed a non-binding Heads of Agreement (HoA) with ENN LNG Trading Company Limited (ENN) for delivery of LNG to China from the Chevron-operated Gorgon natural gas project in Australia. When the deal is finalized, ENN is expected to receive up to 0.5 million met..

Enbridge Inc. announced a $538 million acquisition of Tupper Main and Tupper West gas plants and associated pipelines in northeastern B.C. from the Canadian subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corp. “This acquisition fits extremely well with Enbridge’s low-risk value proposition and supports our key priority ..

With recoverable oil reserve estimates of approximately 750 MMbbl in Uganda and Kenya respectively, and with government share of the reserves expected to be about 30-50%, the potential impact on economic development in these countries could be great. However, new infrastructure, including an export ..

Gazprom doesn’t plan a “price war” against U.S. exports of LNG to its profitable European market, a company official said Feb, according to the Wall Street Journal. U.S. LNG sellers will find it hard to compete in Europe with Russian gas under current market conditions, Gazprom’s deputy chairman Ale..

Unitel Technologies, Inc. has been selected by Korea Gas Technology Corporation (KOGAS-Tech) to conduct the front end engineering and design (FEED) program to commercialize a small-scale LNG business opportunity. KOGAS is the world’s largest importer of LNG. According to Chul-Ho Lee, director of the..

In mid-December, a vessel with the first-ever delivery of LNG cargo arrived at the Polish LNG receiving terminal in Świnoujście. The cargo was supplied by Qatargas Operating Company Limited.  Polish Oil & Gas (PGNiG) provided its assistance as an intermediary in LNG delivery according to the agreeme..

QS Energy, Inc., a developer of integrated technology solutions for the energy industry, recently completed a value-engineering program designed to improve the efficacy and efficiency of its AOT™ (Applied Oil Technology) crude oil viscosity reduction hardware. The program began mid-2015 with analys..

Flint Hills Resources (FHR) is moving forward with a project to build its first ethanol terminal in Texas. Construction began in January and the terminal is expected to be operational by December. The new terminal will include a rail spur, two storage tanks, a truck-loading rack, water storage and a..

Florida Southeast Connection, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc., received a Certificate of Public Need and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate a proposed pipeline to transport natural gas to South Florida.  The approval provide..

Cutbank Ridge Partnership selected Fluor to execute engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for Saturn 15-27 Phase 2 Sweet Gas Plant Project near Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The project is part of the Cutbank Ridge Partnership Program to develop natural gas and natural gas li..

NGL Energy Partners’ subsidiary, NGL Energy Partners LP, will conducting another open season for its 20-inch pipeline that originates at Lucerne/Riverside, CO and will deliver at least two grades of crude oil from the DJ Basin into NGL’s facilities at Cushing, OK. Grand Mesa expects the open season ..

Howard Midstream Energy Partners’ subsidiary, Dos Aguilas, LLC, plan to permit, construct and operate the Dos Águilas project, an open-access system of refined products terminals and pipelines spanning from Corpus Christi to northern Mexico. The 287-mile Dos Águilas project will offer direct and se..

Kinder Morgan subsidiaries awarded a contract for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup of its Elba Island LNG export facility to IHI E&C. Located near Savannah, GA, the $2 billion project will consist of 10 trains using Shell proprietary technology.  The new units will ..

Kinder Morgan has not met the conditions set by British Columbia for expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, according to findings the B.C. environment minister submitted to Canada’s National Energy Board. The original Trans Mountain Pipeline was built in 1953 and continues to operate. Expansion ..

Magellan Midstream Partners and TransMontaigne Partners announced they are assessing the development of a new refined products pipeline in South Texas. In a joint announcement, the two companies said the project would include construction of a 150-mile, 16-inch pipeline capable of transporting 150,..

Chief Oil & Gas LLC, one of the customers supporting Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC‘s proposed Atlantic Sunrise pipeline, said Marcellus producers are in desperate need and urged FERC to “promptly approve” the project. “The Atlantic Sunrise project is a critical pathway to connect Marcellus..

McDermott International, Inc. was awarded a subsea umbilical and flowline installation contract by Anadarko in support of its Phase II development of the Caesar/Tonga field in the Gulf of Mexico. Caesar/Tonga Phase II will be developed as a subsea tieback to the Anadarko-operated Constitution spar ..

Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC and Consolidated Edison, Inc. announced their intent to deliver natural gas to industrial and consumer end-use markets located in the growing demand areas of the Northeast. The 20-year transportation agreement with ConEd is for 250,000 Dth/d of firm capacity on proposed..

Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC received authorization from FERC to proceed with limited tree felling activities along its pipeline right-of-way in Pennsylvania. The authorization is a significant milestone and major step forward for the pipeline designed to transport enough natural gas to serve ..

  Sabal Trail Transmission, a joint venture of Spectra Energy Partners, NextEra Energy, and Duke Energy, received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate the Sabal Trail interstate natural gas pipeline project. ..

The North Dakota Public Service Commission approved the siting permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been under review for over a year. The pipeline is to be built by Dakota Access LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners. The 1,134-mile, 30-inch pipeline will connect the Bakken and ..

Australia’s Subsea Engineering Associates Pty Ltd. (SEA) was awarded design, procurement and construction management for the Baltic Gas Project in the Polish sector of the Baltic Sea for Baltic Gas Sp. The scope of work includes over 110 km of subsea pipelines, HDD shore crossings, pre- and post-la..

TransCanada plans to connect with Magellan Midstream Partners’ oil pipelines that serve refineries in the Houston area – a connection that could potentially supply oil shipped on TransCanada’s international Keystone system. The $50 million project calls for a 9-mile, 24-inch pipeline linking the ter..

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — An ambitious project to build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India has received $200 million in new investment. Under an agreement signed Thursday in the Turkmen capital, the investment comes from Turkmenistan’s state gas compan..

John Davies, CEO and chairman of California-based Davies Public Affairs, warms to challenges, and that’s good news for the beleaguered energy industry which needs an eloquent and forceful advocate who can speak to the public. Davies has been active throughout the U.S. as a speaker at numerous confer..

Special to Pipeline & Gas Journal Today, even more than in the past, utilities are lamenting the rigidity and costs of running and maintaining their legacy IT solutions, putting CIOs in the spotlight. Utility CIOs are facing significant challenges in determining where to make the most effective bud..

Caterpillar, in collaboration with PipeLine Machinery International, Inc. (PLM) and a group of industry leading companies, is now offering the Pipeline Safety Leadership Program, a first-of-its-kind training course produced specifically for pipeliners. With a focus on personal accountability for saf..

Oil and gas pipelines crisscross the nation beneath critical infrastructure, such as highways, railroads and waterways, as well as passing through population centers. Because over half of U.S. pipelines date to the 1950s and 1960s, corrosion prevention and related repairs are increasingly important ..

Special to Pipeline & Gas Journal Volvo pipelayers were used on both sides of the border to allow gas to flow from France to Belgium for the first time. As well as responding to increasing demand for gas in Belgium’s West Flanders region, the new pipeline will feed gas to northwest Europe. Located..

After staging a 50 percent rally between February and March, oil prices have bounced around, moving up or down on a given day depending on the news cycle. The persistent glut and rising storage levels weigh on crude prices, but falling production levels provide some reason for optimism. On March 29..

There has been a major deal announced this week in one of the world’s most critical developing natural gas regions: Eastern Africa. That area has been the site of a number of major natural gas discoveries recently, particularly in the offshore of Mozambique — with spots like Kenya and Tanzania also..

Argentina offers one of the few places on earth where oil companies are not suffering from the full force of the collapse in prices. Argentina regulates oil prices, a policy originally intended to insulate the public from the whims of the market, protecting people from triple-digit crude prices. Bu..

HOUSTON (AP) — A Venezuelan national living in Florida and four other people have pleaded guilty to federal charges for a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in contracts between U.S.-based energy firms and Venezuela’s state-run oil company, prosecutors said Wednesday. Officials responsibl..

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A pipeline buried under three New England states that carried foreign crude oil from the Port of Portland to refineries in Montreal for 75 years has been mothballed. The oil has stopped flowing. The 236-mile-long pipeline was built to provide for the safe transport of crude o..

OPEC-member Angola, which is dependent on oil for 95 percent of its export revenues, is facing an urgent cash flow problem, and the only way out is external help as the dominoes start to fall. Angola has sought financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to weather the crisis engulfing..

PARIS (AP) — Monaco’s government says it’s investigating how an alleged vast oil corruption scandal involving a Monaco-based company long went unnoticed, even though the principality has opened up its financial sector and cracked down on tax dodging. Monaco police carried out several raids and deta..

Australia’s Gorgon project, one of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in the world, shipped its first cargo last week to Japan. Located on Barrow Island off the coast of northwestern Australia, the project includes a domestic natural gas plant, a carbon dioxide injection project, and a..

Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, the most indebted oil company in the world, could soon lose its status as the top operator in some of the country’s most prolific offshore oil assets. Petrobras is reeling from a wide-reaching corruption scandal and it is drowning in a mountain of debt t..

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, reported a record quarterly loss of $10.2 billion Monday due to a large reduction in the value of some assets amid lower oil prices. Petrobras has been at the center of a sprawling corruption scandal that has ensnared some of Brazil’s..

The spot price of wholesale gasoline in Los Angeles fell as low as 66 cents per gallon (¢/gal) on February 18, the lowest spot gasoline price in the nation and something that has only occurred on 24 days in the past 10 years. From February 12 to February 23, the Los Angeles spot price for California..

Although total U.S. crude oil imports in 2015 continued to be lower than levels reached during the mid-2000s, imports from the United States’ top foreign oil supplier—Canada—were the highest on record, according to annual trade data from EIA’s Petroleum Supply Monthly. Canada provided 4 out of every..

Canada has been particularly hit hard during the downturn in oil prices. A major oil-producing country, Canada rode the commodity wave upwards over the past decade, but has suffered from the downturn. The economy briefly dipped into a recession in 2015. Even after growth resumed, Canada’s GDP slowe..

DALLAS (AP) — Exxon is interested in acquisitions while oil prices are low, but CEO Rex Tillerson says sellers have unrealistic price expectations. Tillerson said Wednesday that Exxon Mobil Corp. is in financial position to pursue acquisitions or change its spending plans depending on what happens ..

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Aubrey McClendon, the former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp., was indicted Tuesday on a charge of conspiring to rig bids to buy oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma. The Department of Justice said in a statement that McClendon is suspected of orchestratin..

SAN RAMON, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today announced it has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and condensate at the Gorgon Project on Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia. The first LNG cargo is expected to be shipped next week. Chevron..

NEW YORK (AP) — Chevron is cutting its spending budget by nearly 40 percent for 2017 and 2018 as it deals with plunging oil prices, a bigger cut in spending than it previously expected. The oil and gas company said that it expects to spend between $17 billion and $22 billion on drilling and other p..

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says an unknown amount of crude oil has spilled into a bayou in southern Louisiana. The Coast Guard said in a statement Monday night it received a report around 8 p.m. that a tank along the edge of Bayou Teche near Charenton was being filled with crude oil wh..

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A proposed 124-mile pipeline to deliver low-cost gas from Pennsylvania’s shale gas fields to New York and New England has been delayed for lack of a state water quality permit. Constitution Pipeline Company says Thursday it’s changing its projected start of service from the four..

A federal bankruptcy judge ruled that Sabine Oil & Gas could withdraw from its contract obligations with pipeline companies to ship a certain volume of oil and gas through their pipelines. The court decision may seem arcane, but it could have major ramifications for both producers and midstream com..

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An industry-funded study warns of dire consequences if pending rules to prevent another catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico go into effect, but critics questioned that claim. The dire economic analysis was done by Wood Mackenzie, a business research firm, and commissione..

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai-based Dodsal Group says it has discovered 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits in Tanzania’s Ruvu Basin Coast Region valued at around $8 billion. The conglomerate says it had initially estimated that the gas deposits held 2.17 trillion cubic feet, but mor..

The profitability of oil and natural gas development activity depends on both the prices realized by producers and the cost and productivity of newly developed wells. Overall trends in well development costs are generally less transparent than price and productivity trends, which are readily observa..

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a new partnership with 41 energy companies that have agreed to voluntarily reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations to help combat climate change. The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the Natural Gas STAR Methane ..

Ethane production is expected to increase from 1.1 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015 to 1.4 million b/d in 2017, accounting for two-thirds of total U.S. hydrocarbon gas liquid (HGL) production growth. Ethane, a key feedstock for petrochemical manufacturing, is recovered from raw natural gas at n..

DALLAS (AP) — As advanced drilling technology opened untapped sources of oil and natural gas, it triggered fierce competition among energy companies to scoop up rights to drill on vast swaths of land across the country. The rush caused lease prices to skyrocket in the most promising fields. In a fe..

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) – Federal regulators denied permits Friday for a liquefied natural gas terminal in the southern Oregon coastal town of Coos Bay. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the 25-page ruling, saying the Jordan Cove Energy Project would hurt landowners, The World reported. T..

Chevron Corporation today announced that its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gorgon Project has departed Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia. The cargo will be delivered to one of Chevron’s foundation buyers, Chubu Electric Power, for delivery into..

NUIQSUT, Alaska (AP) — Rising from the edgeless, wind-scoured, snow-covered tundra on Alaska’s North Slope lies a million-pound drilling rig pulling the first commercial oil from a reserve set aside nearly a century ago. ConocoPhillips is the first oil company to draw crude from the National Petrol..

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials moved Thursday to strengthen safety rules for the nation’s 300,000-mile network of natural gas transmission pipelines in response to numerous fiery accidents, including a 2010 California explosion that killed eight people and injured more than 50. The Departmen..

The first export shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the Lower 48 states on February 24 is a milestone reflecting a decade of natural gas production growth that has put the United States in a new position in worldwide energy trade. With the rapid growth of supply from shale gas reso..

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government is selling off oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico during a sale Wednesday, but environmentalists opposed to fossil fuels development on public lands plan to protest. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is offering about 45 million acres for explorat..

Houston-based Harvest Pipeline Company affiliate Arrowhead Offshore Pipeline launched a binding open season for its Point Comfort Pipeline Project. Once complete, the project will permit Arrowhead to offer transportation of crude petroleum from Jackson County, TX to the Port of Calhoun in Calhoun C..

High levels of natural gas production and relatively low natural gas prices are affecting markets for seasonal natural gas storage, including the value of additional storage capacity. For the second year in a row, no new natural gas storage facilities were added, and the slight changes, both positiv..

Medallion Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Medallion Midstream, said it successfully closed a binding open season for its proposed crude oil pipeline extension, the Howard Lateral.  The open season began Feb. 9. Medallion executed a long-term transportation service agreement that provides a capaci..

Even though hydraulic fracturing has been in use for more than six decades, it has only recently been used to produce a significant portion of crude oil in the United States. This technique, often used in combination with horizontal drilling, has allowed the United States to increase its oil product..

The IEA struck a more bullish note in its latest monthly report, pointing to “signs that prices might have bottomed out.” The Paris-based energy agency found a variety of reasons to think that the oil markets are turning a corner, including: supply outages in Iraq, Nigeria, and the UAE; the decline..

ABERDEEN, Scotland (AP) — It’s Thursday night and the Spider’s Web pub is packed with beefy guys in windproof jackets and massive backpacks. The exhausted oil rig workers pile their bags against the wall, play pool or just slump in the leather seats, knocking back pints of beer. But despite the dri..

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major reversal, the Obama administration said Tuesday it will not allow oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell made the announcement on Twitter, declaring that the administration’s next five-year offshore drilling plan “protects the Atlantic for f..

DES MOINES (AP) — State utility regulators have deemed that construction can begin on the Bakken oil pipeline in Iowa as soon as federal permits are obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and two other plans are filed. The Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously this past week to issue the o..

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The last state permit needed for a pipeline that will carry a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to Illinois was approved Thursday by Iowa utilities regulators, who also gave the Texas-based company authority to use eminent domain for land that property..

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State regulators have rejected a Texas-based company’s request to expedite a permit to build the so-called Bakken oil pipeline through 18 counties in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Utilities Board issued an order Friday refusing to grant the motion..

Iran is expected to raise the April Official Selling Price (OSP) of its flagship light crude oil to Asia to 25 cents above the Saudi’s similarly graded Arab light. This is the highest premium since 2011 and is an increase of 30 cents over the previous month. Iran will likely price its light crude a..

Brief but extremely interesting note from China this week. Suggesting that an unparalleled opportunity in the energy space may be coming available here. That’s in the Chinese oil and natural gas industries. Where it appears the government may be about to open up former government-only sectors to ou..

France’s Total SA is searching for an “elephant” oil field off the coast of Uruguay. Uruguay does not have much of an offshore oil industry. But the Pelotas Basin, where Total is focusing, is starting to garner more interest. It borders Brazil and there is speculation that both countries have large..

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait’s state oil company says it has discovered a new oil and gas field in the Western part of the country. Kuwait Oil Company said in a statement to the country’s state news agency Thursday that preliminary tests suggest the new field in the al-Jathatheel region will provide a..

DETROIT (AP) — Two members of Congress want the Obama administration to put the brakes on a move to allow piping of crude oil beneath the St. Clair River through lines that are nearly a century old. Houston-based Plains LPG is applying to move the oil through two pipelines that run from Marysville,..

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — OPEC member states and other major oil producers plan to meet next month to discuss a freeze in oil output levels, Qatar’s top energy official said Wednesday. The gathering, which will build on earlier talks that included major suppliers Russia and Saudi Arabia, r..

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s government oil commission says the country’s proven reserves of oil and gas dropped by a startling 21 percent in 2015. The commission said Thursday that combined oil and gas reserves amounted to 10.24 billion barrels of crude equivalent at the end of 2015, compared to 13..

Monterra Energy today announced its plan to build a refined products pipeline to improve efficiency and competition in Central Mexico. Monterra is an independent midstream company that has an equity commitment from KKR, a leading global investment firm, and specializes in the development and acquisi..

Natural gas prices in the United States dropped to their lowest levels since 1998 on March 1, with Henry Hub spot prices falling to $1.57 per million Btu (MMBtu). Low oil prices are stealing the media show, but the natural gas sector is also facing a historic downturn. Less attention is understanda..

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Tens of thousands of Nigerian fishermen and farmers are suing multinational oil giant Shell in two new lawsuits filed Wednesday in a British High Court, alleging that decades of uncleaned oil spills have destroyed their lives. London law firm Leigh Day & Co. is representing th..

The oil majors failed to replace all of the oil and gas reserves that they burned through in 2015, a worrying sign for the industry’s future. The Wall Street Journal reported that the seven largest oil and gas companies only replaced about 75 percent of the reserves on average that they produced la..

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Aubrey McClendon, a natural gas industry titan, was killed in a fiery single-vehicle crash in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, a day after he was indicted on a charge of conspiring to rig bids to buy oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma. Police Sgt. Ashley Peters said 56..

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Purchase agreements have been signed for virtually all of the natural gas that would be delivered to the Southeast by the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the lead energy company behind the $5 billion project said Tuesday. Diane Leopold, president of Dominion E..

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar’s oil minister says 12 countries have agreed so far to participate in a meeting it’s hosting next month to discuss a freeze in oil output levels. Qatar announced earlier this month it would be the venue for between OPEC and non-OPEC producers on April 17 to discuss the prod..

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia says it is close to an international deal with OPEC countries to cap oil production, and that a final decision will be made at a meeting this month. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar floated an output cap last month with the aim of boosting oil prices, but it was condit..

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s energy minister says Iran would consider joining a global deal to cap oil production only after it restores its output back to levels it enjoyed before international sanctions. Alexander Novak made the statement Monday after talks in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart. Russ..

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli and American energy companies expressed disappointment on Monday over Israel’s Supreme Court decision that struck down a government deal that would have given them the rights to begin pumping natural gas from offshore deposits. David Stover, the chairman of Houston-based No..

Egypt is close to joining the club of unconventional gas producers after Shell and Apache announced their local joint venture was ready to start work on a pilot project in the Western Desert, involving hydraulic fracturing, by the end of this month. For Shell, this project represents an expansion o..

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. will split up the assets of their joint U.S. venture, which will see the kingdom’s state-owned producer take full ownership of America’s biggest oil refinery, the companies announced late Wednesday. The Port Arthur, ..

In 2000, Canadian miner Goldcorp changed its fortunes through a unique strategy: giving away its proprietary technical data. Dubbed the “Goldcorp Challenge”, the firm made all of its geological information available to the public. And offered $575,000 in prize money to geologists who could use the ..

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in central Mexico say thieves built a camouflaged truck to transport fuel stolen from government pipelines. Police found a tunnel built by pipeline thieves in the same state of Guanajuato last week. The discoveries show the sophistication of thieves who drill taps int..

Columbia Pipeline Group announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by TransCanada in a deal estimated at $13 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016. Following completion of the transaction, TransCanada will own the general partner of Columb..

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. has resumed sending oil through the Keystone Pipeline after a weeklong shutdown prompted by a leak and oil spill in southeastern South Dakota. The pipeline came back online Sunday, but with a reduced pressure. The company says it is continuing cleanup and ..

TransCanada has been chosen to build, own and operate the Tula-Villa de Reyes pipeline in Mexico. Construction is supported by a 25-year natural gas transportation service contract for 886 MMcf/d with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico’s state-owned power company. TransCanada expect..

Just over three months after the authorities lifted the four-decade ban on crude oil exports, the U.S. has actually exported less this year than it did over the same period the year before, when the ban was still in place. According to Clipper Data market intelligence cited by the Financial Times, ..

Total U.S. petroleum product exports continued to increase in 2015, up 467,000 barrels per day (b/d) from 2014 to 4.3 million b/d, driven by increased exports of distillate fuel, motor gasoline, and propane. Mexico and the region encompassing both Central and South America continued to be major reci..

U.S. production of hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL)—a group of products including ethane, propane, butanes, and natural gasoline—is expected to increase from 3.86 million barrels per day in 2015 to 4.33 million b/d in 2017, according to EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). HGLs are produced at both ..

After many years of decline, production of petroleum and other liquids in the United Kingdom (U.K.) increased by about 100,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2015. The largest contribution to this increase came from fields that were brought online in the second half of 2014. Significant increases also cam..

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Obama administration on Thursday canceled a disputed oil and gas lease just outside Glacier National Park that is on land considered sacred to the Blackfoot tribes of the U.S. and Canada. The move came after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon criticized the government over ..

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped 14 this week to 450, another all-time low amid continuing energy industry price woes. A year ago, 1,028 rigs were active. Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday 362 rigs sought oil and ..

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped 4 this week to 476, a record low and another sign of continuing price woes in the oil and gas industry. A year ago, 1,069 rigs were active. Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday ..

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by 9 this week to 480, a record low and another sign of the continuing economic woes in the oil and gas industry. The number of rigs seeking oil was at 386 while 94 explored for natural gas, Houston-based oilfi..

WASHINGTON – The United States and Canada will require annual average midstream natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids midstream infrastructure investment of about $26 billion per year, or $546 billion (real 2015$) total over the 21-year period from 2015 to 2035, a new study found. The repo..

LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia suffered another credit ratings downgrade on Tuesday after Fitch lowered its view on the oil-rich kingdom in light of the fall in energy prices. In a note, Fitch said it was reducing its rating on Saudi Arabia by one notch to AA- from AA and warned that another downgrade ..

U.S. crude oil production from the Lower 48 states from new wells (drilled since the start of 2014) made up 48% of total U.S. crude oil production in 2015, up from 22% in 2007. Production from new wells has grown as advances in horizontal drilling and completion techniques led to growth in oil produ..

WGL Midstream, a WGL Holdings company, announced it exercised an option for an $89 million equity investment in the Stonewall Gas Gathering System, representing a 35% ownership stake. The system began operations in November and currently gathers 1 Bcf/d of natural gas daily from the Marcellus produ..

The major beneficiary of the 54 percent jump in oil prices from the lows of $26 per barrel is the U.S. shale oil industry, which will utilize this rise to ramp up production and repair balance sheets. But any move above $45 per barrel will likely reverse all this good luck: The drop in production wi..

In the geopolitical and oligopolistic global oil market, purely financial supply and demand has often been a secondary force, acting when it is allowed to act. It is the strategic behavior of the producing titans, not their talk or the slow-motion supply-demand balance, which has the real power to m..

Williams today announced the startup of its second offgas liquids extraction plant, a key asset in the company’s Canadian midstream and petchem complex. The new plant boosts domestic production of petchem feedstocks and significantly reduces emissions in the oil sands production process while recove..

TULSA, Okla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) expects to begin construction soon on its Hillabee Expansion Project, which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently approved. The project involves the expansion of Williams Partners’ Transco pipeline system to serve the..

DEWALT launched its 4½-inch, small Angle Grinders (DWE4222N, DWE4222, DWE4224). They are designed for applications in tight spaces such as grinding and beveling steel, grinding welds, cutting pipe and steel plate and concrete surface prep. Improvements include the Lanyard Ready™ Connection, brake sy..

The Model E2460 Tapping Machine from ENR General Machining Co. (ENR) provides a tapping size range of 24-60 inches with a Boring Bar Travel of 72, 120 and 140 inches. The machine has 6-inch 900# RTJ mounting flange as standard and is also available with a 600# RTJ front flange. The machine is hydrau..

Greene’s Energy Group, LLC was awarded a U.S. patent for its Closed Loop Separator, designed for high solids applications through reduced fluids velocity. This third-generation system is designed to increase safety by preventing the release of gas on location during well completion and intervention ..

Inline Services has new tracking equipment that can be used to monitor a pig’s location or movement throughout a pipeline. The pig-tracking equipment consists of receivers, geophones and transmitters. Receivers are used to reveal distinctive pulsing patterns of passing pigs. Geophones detect low sou..

Lincoln Electric is offering the Flextec® 350X welder and LN-25X wire feeder that uses a proprietary communications protocol to transfer operator voltage adjustments at the feeder to the power source hundreds of feet away using a common copper weld cable. No additional control cable is required. The..

McElroy has released the SmartFab™ 125, its first benchtop machine which offers a way to socket fuse pipe and fittings for polypropylene piping systems. The machine is portable and can be positioned on any flat surface for precise prefabrication on large assemblies. Features include inserts which ca..

Miller Electric Mfg. Co. has released its 116-page catalog showcasing everything from the Millermatic® 125 Hobby MIG and Millermatic® MIG Welder systems to welder generators, welding helmets and protective eyewear. Miller can provide specifications and comparisons on MIG welders, TIG welders and tor..

Rotork GO (gas-over-oil) actuators have been upgraded to provide a more compact and highly reliable solution for automating heavy-duty valve applications found in the gathering, pipeline transmission, compression, and storage of gas. The new generation of GO actuators is designed for service in hars..

Pipeline Trainer 1.0 has been released as part of Schneider Electric’s new SimSuite 7 framework. The SimSuite 7 offers three major area of improvement: Pipeline Trainer 1.0 responds to evolving technological needs of trainers by replacing the old text file method with a fully graphical, intuitive dr..

Technical Toolboxes has released RSTRENG+, a cloud-based program.  Benefits of this version are real-time updates that will be constant vs. the desktop version that is once or twice a year. This will be based on your IT group’s procedures, company polices and agreements. Highlights of RSTRENG+ inclu..