Natural Gas
Shell And Apache to Start Fracking in Egypt This Month
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..
DTE Gas Begins Pipeline Infrastructure in Michigan
DTE Gas will invest $1.4 billion in its Michigan natural gas pipeline infrastructure over the next five years to maintain the safety and reliability of its system. Plans call for DTE to modernize its cast-iron and steel main pipelines with more durable material. New service lines to homes and busine..
High Production, Low Prices Mean Little Change in Natural Gas Storage Capacity
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..
Feds Deny Permit for Liquefied Gas Port, Pipeline
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..
Constitution Pipeline Project Delayed for Lack of NY Permit
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..
Williams Partners to Begin Construction on Hillabee Expansion in May 2016
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..
Court Decision Threatens Midstream Sector
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..
$6 Billion Pipeline To Provide Natural Gas To This Emerging Market
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..
Natural Gas Prices Could Plunge Below $1 Here
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..
Growth in Domestic Natural Gas Production Leads to Development of LNG Export Terminals
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..
Why Oil Booms and Busts Happen
What if I told you that there was a period in history where oil demand declined by 5 MMbpd and non-OPEC supply increased by 5 MMbpd, yet oil price rallied more than 50%? Would you believe me? If your answer is yes, then you guessed right. This was the period from 1979 to 1985; it was a period duri..
Wall Street Won’t Give Up on Its Energy Bets
The oil and gas industry is suffering through its worst cycle in a generation, with most companies losing money at today’s prices. Debt is piling up and the losses are starting to become a concern for lenders. Shareholders are getting burned by plummeting share prices. Yet, major investors are stil..
Study: California Leak Was Top Methane Release in US History
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A natural gas leak that sickened Los Angeles residents and forced thousands from their homes was the largest known release of climate-changing methane in U.S. history, scientists reported Thursday. The 16-week blowout from a well at a Southern California Gas Co. storage facility ..
Milestone LNG Export Shipment Set to Leave US for Brazil
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The first international shipment of liquefied natural gas in decades from the Lower 48 states is poised to leave for Brazil from Louisiana. Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. announced Wednesday that a ship bound for Brazil was being loaded with LNG at its Sabine Pass facility in sout..
SoCalGas Facility Must Pass Tougher Tests to Operate Again
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gas storage facility that spewed methane uncontrollably for almost four months, driving thousands of families from their homes, won’t resume operations until it has undergone tougher tests than ever required before, a process that will take months and perhaps even longer. T..
Saudi Oil Minister Says Market Should Handle Low Prices
HOUSTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s oil minister says production cuts to boost oil prices won’t work, and that instead the market should be allowed to work even if that forces some operators out of business. Ali Al-Naimi said Tuesday that production cuts by big, low-cost producers like Saudi Arabia wou..
Pacific Northwest Could Become Hub for Methanol Production
SEATTLE (AP) — The Pacific Northwest could become a major hub for methanol production if three proposed refineries are built along the Columbia River and Puget Sound. A China-backed consortium, Northwest Innovation Works, has proposed two plants in Washington and a third in Oregon to convert natu..
American Midstream Holding Open Season for Magnolia Interstate Extension
American Midstream began a non-binding open season for a proposed 45-mile extension of the Magnolia Intrastate pipeline to transport up to 500,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas for delivery to a major interstate pipeline beginning in 2019. The open season ends April 11. The proposed Magnolia Ex..
Lawmakers Mull Moratorium on SoCalGas Storage Facility
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are considering legislation that would prevent a utility from resuming full operations at a facility that had a massive natural gas leak for nearly four months. The bill requiring testing of wells at the Southern California Gas Co. facility near Los ..
Biggest Natural Gas Discovery Of 2016 Just Got Bigger
International natural gas is shaping up as one of 2016’s most interesting spots in energy, given that prices in many world markets are still running high, even as valuations for E&Ps subside. And one of those markets is in Southeast Asia — where the year’s most interesting natural gas drilling dis..
Notebook: Now for the Good News
I’m doing research for presentations I’ve been asked to give before some groups in coming months, including Pipeliners Association of Houston and the Tennessee Gas Association. Obviously everyone knows about the chaos that “The Great Unwinding” is causing as the price of crude continues its historic..
Williams Partners Expanding Transco System for LNG Markets
Williams Partners has executed long-term contracts with two shippers for Gulf Connector, a 475,000 dekatherm per day expansion of the Transco pipeline system to connect U.S. natural gas supplies with global LNG markets. Gulf Connector will deliver gas for the Cheniere Energy Corpus Christi liquefac..
Cliff Meidl’s Personal Mission: Your Safety
It is near impossible to find a better representative speaking for the underground construction industry than Cliff Meidl, a kayaker whose heroic triumph over adversity brought him such acclaim that he was nominated to lead Team USA at the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Meidl is..
Natural Gas Use for Power Generation Higher this Winter
So far this winter, natural gas consumption in the electric power sector (gas burn) has been higher than in any previous winter. According to Bentek Energy, gas burn in the electric power sector has averaged 25 Bcf/d so far this winter (Nov. 1-Feb. 8), up 17% from last year’s average of 21.4 Bcf/d d..
Fluor Awarded Sweet Gas Plant Project in Canada
Fluor Corporation has been chosen by the Cutbank Ridge Partnership to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for Saturn 15-27, Phase 2 Sweet Gas Plant Project near Dawson Creek, B.C.. Fluor booked the undisclosed contract value in the fourth quarter of 2015. The project..
FERC Approves Sabal Trail’s $3.2 Billion Gas Pipeline
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the US has issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Sabal Trail Transmission’s $3.2 billion interstate natural gas pipeline project. Sabal Trail Transmission is a joint venture between Spectra Energy Partners, NextEra Energy and ..
Does Aligning Cybersecurity, Process Safety Approaches Reduce Risk?
Cyber-attacks are more hostile and frequent than ever. We’ve all heard news stories about how intellectual property and private information have been stolen by hackers. When this happens, it can be costly in some cases and embarrassing in others. However, for industrial operations, the stakes are mu..
Energy Loans Likely to Cause Further Losses for Big Banks
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s six largest banks have hit an oil slick. They have tens of billions of dollars of exposure to risky energy loans that won’t all be paid back because low oil prices have sapped the profits of oil companies. The value of those loans will have to be written down even fur..
Canada’s Energy Industry, Part I: Changing Times, Shifting Opportunities
To feel the winds of change from the global crash of crude oil prices in 2015, go no farther away than Canada, the world’s fifth-largest energy-producing nation. On the verge of a transformation before the commodity price nosedive, the U.S. northern neighbor is even more unsettled as global and Nor..
Los Angeles DA Charges Utility with Crimes for Gas Leak
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors filed misdemeanor criminal charges Tuesday against a utility for failing to immediately report a natural gas leak that has been gushing nonstop for nearly 15 weeks. District Attorney Jackie Lacey said the charges aren’t a solution to the problem, but Sou..
- Williams' $1 Billion Gas Pipeline Blocked by U.S. Appeals Court, Derailing Five-State Project
- Texas Waha Hub Gas Prices Plunge to Record Lows, Hit Negative Territory
- Williams Begins Louisiana Pipeline Construction Despite Ongoing Legal Dispute with Energy Transfer
- U.S. Buys Nearly 5 Million Barrels of Oil for Emergency Stockpile
- U.S. Appeals Court Strikes Down Controversial Biden Pipeline Safety Rules
- Report: Houston Region Poised to Become a Global Clean Hydrogen Hub
- Exxon Mobil to Start Gas Reserve Seismic Surveys in Greece
- LaPorte, Texas, Issues Shelter in Place After Altivia Plant Leaks Toxic Gas
- Texas Startup Endeavors Again to Build First Major U.S. Oil Refinery Since 1977
- Mid-Year Global Forecast: Midstream Responding to Demand from LNG Projects
