Natural Gas

Government

Change of Class Location Draws Opposition Citizen organizations and state regulators are opposing interstate pipeline efforts to convince federal regulators to provide an alternative to the class location system, which requires pipelines to take steps when there is population growth around a pipeli..

Projects

Valley Crossing Pipeline to Mexico Gains FERC Extension The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) awarded Enbridge subsidiary Valley Crossing Pipeline six additional months to connect its natural gas pipeline to its counterpart in Mexico, moving the deadline to April 23. The 168-mile pipelin..

Global News

Natural Gas Utilities Testing Demand Response Programs Demand Response (DR) programs have become a fairly common method of reducing electricity demand during summer peak periods, and now the approach is being tried by natural gas utilities – most recently due to concerns about limited pipeline capa..

Columbia Gas’ Merrimack Valley Accident: Fallout Just Starting

Federal and state agencies immediately jumped into action to uncover causes and preventative lessons that might be learned from the fatal September explosions, but other investigations could have implications for pipeline operations far beyond Massachusetts.

Retiring Stavropoulos Leaves PG&E a Safer Utility

Eight years after joining PG&E in the wake of the San Bruno explosion, Nick Stavropoulos retired as an industry role model for restoring a sense of pride at the giant San Francisco utility.

Cordillerano Pipeline Extension will be Delivered in March 2019

Growing natural gas demand in Argentina has led its Ministry of Energy to expedite expansion of the Patagonian System and the Rio Senger and Las Armas compressor plants.

Tunisia Pushes Forward with New Pipeline

Tunisia is positioning itself to be North Africa’s next gas producing and processing hub as the country anticipates the soon-to-be completion and commissioning of the Southern Tunisian Gas Pipeline.

Replacement Projects Still Boosting Infrastructure Work

A large volume of work remains in the United States for multibillion-dollar infrastructure replacement programs, with many now underway and more destined to follow. In this summary report, P&GJ provides an overview of the current widespread activity.

APGA Chairman to Focus on Safety and Consumer Education

P&GJ talks about industry priorities and challenges with Owen Reeves, 2018-2019 chairman of the American Public Gas Association (APGA), which represents more than 70% of all publicly owned natural gas utilities in the United States.

Phillips 66 Sets $1.6 Billion Midstream Budget for 2019

Phillips 66 announced that it has set a $2.3 billion capital budget for 2019 and will direct the bulk of that spending to midstream growth projects.

Bulgaria to Seek Binding Bids for TurkStream Link by Jan 16

Bulgaria's state gas network operator plans to launch a binding open season this month for a 300-mile link that would transport mainly Russian gas from the TurkStream pipeline to central Europe.

Gas Service Mostly Restored after September Explosions

Columbia Gas said natural gas service has been restored for 96 percent of customers who were affected by the September explosions in Massachusetts

Williams Completes Sale of Several Gulf Coast Pipeline Systems

Williams announced the sale of certain pipeline systems located in the Gulf Coast area to Easton Energy for $177 million in cash. The 31-mile Texas Belle Pipeline, which transports natural gas liquids from Mont Belvieu to the Houston Ship Channel, is included in this transaction.

Eni's Indonesia Gas Project to Start Up in 2021: Deputy Minister

Indonesia's deputy energy minister said Eni aims to start output of natural gas in 2021 from its offshore Merakes project, which includes construction of subsea systems and pipelines.

Binding Open Season Launched for Mariner East Pipeline

Energy Transfer announced its Sunoco Pipeline subsidiary launched a binding open season to solicit shipper commitments for NGL transport through its Mariner East Pipeline system, which is nearing completion.

Firms Approve Pipeline to Supply Norwegian gas to Poland

Polish and Danish gas grid operators Gaz-System and Energinet agreed to finance construction of the Baltic Pipe project, a 560-mile pipeline transporting Norwegian gas to Poland via Denmark.

Bulgaria OKs Pipeline Linking Russian gas to Central Europe

Bulgaria will go ahead with construction of a $1.59 billion pipeline to Turkey that enables Gazprom to transport natural gas from the TurkStream pipeline to Europe, bypassing Ukraine to the south.

Energy Transfer Defends Mariner East 2 Plan in Pennsylvania

Energy Transfer representatives went to Pennsylvania's capital today for a hearing before utility regulators to defend the company's plan to put the Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipe into service by year end.

Energy Transfer, Sunoco Pipelines Rack Up Violations: Analysis

Energy Transfer LP and its Sunoco pipeline subsidiary have racked up more than 800 state and federal permit violations while racing to build two of the nation's largest natural gas pipelines, according to a Reuters analysis.

Pipeline Repairs Halt Iran gas Exports to Iraq

Gas exports from Iran to Iraq were halted late on Tuesday for several days, as Iranian authorities work to repair damages caused to the pipeline during a recent earthquake.

Permian Pipeline Constraints Push Waha gas to 25 Cents

Next-day natural gas prices for Tuesday at the Waha hub in the Permian basin in Texas tumbled almost 80 percent to their lowest on record because of limits on the amount of gas that can move out of the region by pipeline.

Newcomer Wins Major Gazprom Pipe Contract, to Market's Surprise

Russia's ZTZ said it has won a contract to sell half a million tons of pipes next year to Gazprom for construction of part of the Power of Siberia pipeline.

Malaysia Completes Repairs to key Sabah Sarawak Gas Pipeline

Malaysia's Petronas said production at the Kebabangan gas field is expected to return to full capacity by August 2019 after integrity testing is completed on the repaired pipeline, which is undergoing integrity testing.

U.S. Approves Part of TransCanada WB XPress for Service

U.S. federal energy regulators on Wednesday approved a request by TransCanada Corp's Columbia Gas Transmission unit to put the eastern facilities of its $900 million WB XPress natural gas pipeline into service in West Virginia and Virginia.

Finland Eyes Imports of Piped Norwegian Gas via Poland, Baltics

Finland could receive gas from Norway via a network of pipelines being planned through the Baltic countries and Poland, as part of an effort to reduce its dependency on gas imports from Russia.

Trio of Regions Drive U.S. Natural Gas Production Growth

Gross production of natural gas in the United States has generally been increasing for more than a decade and in recent months it has been more than 10% higher, driven by production in the Appalachian Basin, Permian Basin and Haynesville Shale.

Permian Basin — Where Midstream Infrastructure Needs Take on Outsized Importance

An updated examination of the Permian midstream reveals extraordinary growth projections for the one-of-a-kind petroleum basin with robust buildout continuing for years to come,

Gas Remains Key to UK Energy

Gas is a key element of the U.K.’s energy mix, but the closure of Centrica’s Rough long-term storage facility last year reduced U.K. gas storage to only 14 days of capacity, compared with 87 in France, 69 in Germany and 59 in Italy.

Transco’s Atlantic Sunrise Expansion Adds Marcellus Takeaway Capacity

Long before pipeline constraints launched the race to add Permian Basin capacity, soaring natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica basins outpaced the infrastructure required to move it to market. Operators responded with a flurry of pipeline projects, and one of the most important of them - Atlantic Sunrise - has commenced full operations.

Improving Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Transmission, Storage

Interstate natural gas transmission companies are committed to minimizing methane emissions. This article explains methane emission sources for the transmission and storage sector and the basis for emissions commitments that INGAA members have voluntarily adopted.