Natural Gas

Sunbury Pipeline Receives FERC Approval

UGI Sunbury, a subsidiary of UGI Energy Services, received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate the 35-mile-long Sunbury Pipeline in central Pennsylvania. The pipeline, comprised of 20-inch steel pipeline and..

Halliburton, Baker Hughes Look to Future After Merger Scuttled

DALLAS (AP) — Halliburton and Baker Hughes, whose planned merger is the latest big deal to be shot down by antitrust regulators, now must pick up the pieces and shore up their companies during a severe slump in oil and gas drilling. The two Houston companies are key components of the U.S. energy-ex..

Bakken Formation the Source of Global Uptick in Air Pollution

WASHINGTON (AP) — An oil and natural gas field in the western United States is largely responsible for a global uptick of the air pollutant ethane, according to a new study. The team led by researchers at the University of Michigan found that fossil fuel production at the Bakken Formation in North ..

US Rig Count Drops 11 this Week to 420, Another All-Time Low

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped by 11 this week to 420, again reaching an-time low amid depressed energy industry prices. A year ago, 905 rigs were active. Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday 332 rigs sought oil an..

Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes, Burns Man at Nearby Home

A natural gas explosion at a Pennsylvania pipeline complex sent flames hundreds of feet into the air on Friday and burned a nearby home, injuring the man who lived there, officials said. The state Department of Environmental Protection said the blast was traced to a 36-inch pipeline, which exploded..

Natural Gas Net Imports in 2015 at Lowest Level Since 1986

U.S natural gas net imports fell to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015, continuing a decline that began in 2007, when net imports of natural gas exceeded 10 Bcf/d. While both U.S. natural gas consumption and production have increased in recent years, natural gas production has grown slig..

Jacobs Wins Contract for Tuxpan-Tula Project in Mexico

Jacobs Engineering Group received a contract for detailed engineering of facilities associated with the Tuxpan-Tula Pipeline Project in Mexico. As subcontractor for pipeline facilities, Jacobs is providing engineering, procurement and field engineering support for the installation of a compressor s..

SOKY Energy Completes Acquisition Of Natural Gas Operations

Southern Kentucky (SOKY) Energy completed the purchase of natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines in South Central Kentucky from Houston-based Atmos Gathering Company for an undisclosed price.  SOKY Energy has also acquired over 100 producing gas wells connected to the pipeline network from..

American Midstream Acquires Gulf of Mexico Gas Gathering Interest

American Midstream Partners bought a 66.7% interest in the 100-mile Okeanos pipeline, a gas gathering system located in the Gulf of Mexico, from an affiliate of the partnership’s general partner. The acquisition complements the company’s existing offshore infrastructure and strengthens its in offsho..

Methane Studies Guide Provides Fact-based Insight for Policy Decisions, Natural Gas Leaders Say

Leaders of the Natural Gas Council (NGC) today released an independent, objective and fact-based guide to more than 70 different analyses of methane emissions from natural gas systems. The report, ‘Finding the Facts on Methane Emissions: A Guide to the Literature,’was authored by ICF International a..

Canada Expects Lower Natural Gas Exports to US, Higher LNG Exports Elsewhere

In its recent publication, Canada’s Energy Future (CEF), Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) projects that both Canada’s natural gas production and its domestic natural gas consumption will increase through the next decade. Exports of natural gas by pipeline to the United States are expected to con..

Plains All American, Cheniere Agree on Long-Term Storage Deal

Plains All American Pipeline subsidiary Pine Prairie Energy Center and Cheniere Energy Partners entered into a 10-year firm storage service agreement with Cheniere subsidiary Sabine Pass Liquefaction. Under the plan, Pine Prairie will provide 8 Bcf of natural gas storage capacity to Cheniere, begin..

Strong El Niño Helps Reduce U.S. Winter Heating Demand

  Above-normal temperatures during the 2015-16 winter were a key factor in lowering heating demand and winter fuel expenditures. Compared with the 2014-15 winter, propane and heating oil demand decreased by 16% and 45%, respectively, and residential electricity demand decreased by 6%. The 2015-16..

Gas Utility Customers: Safety, Reliability Best Way to Keep Them Satisfied

When it comes to satisfaction among business customers of gas utilities, one-in-four considers “safety and reliability” to be the most significant factor, according to a new study by marketing information firm J.D. Power. Other categories gaining responses as top priorities by respondents to the 11..

Despite Rejected Permit, Partners ‘Committed’ to Constitution Pipeline

Constitution Pipeline Company officials said Monday they remain steadfastly committed to pursuing the federally approved energy infrastructure project, despite the recent decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to deny a critical permit for the 124-mile Const..

Mountaineer NGL Storage Open Season Underway

On April 11, 2016, Mountaineer NGL Storage, LLC began its non-binding open season for up to 1.6 million barrels of initial storage capacity with more than 25,000 bbls per day of load-in and load-out. The Mountaineer NGL Storage Project will provide storage services to a growing number of gas proces..

ExxonMobil Begins Production at Point Thomson Project

ExxonMobil has started production at its Point Thomson project, the first company-operated project on Alaska’s North Slope. Central pad facilities are designed to initially produce about 5,000 bpd of condensate and 100 MMscf/d of recycled gas. The recycled gas is re-injected for future recovery. At..

Kinder Morgan Suspends Plans for NED in New England

Kinder Morgan canceled its $3.1 billion Northeast Direct pipeline project, which was scheduled to bring gas to Boston and the New England area starting in 2018. In July, Kinder Morgan’s board authorized subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) to move forward with the project’s “market path” segment..

Floridian Natural Gas Storage Announces Non-Binding Open Season for Firm Gas Storage Service

Floridian Natural Gas Storage Company, LLC (FGS) is soliciting non-binding bid proposals from interested parties for a firm liquefaction, storage, and redelivery by vaporization service to a new delivery point through an interconnect with Florida Gas Transmission Company (FGT) at a location at or ne..

AGA Hails Senate Energy Bill for “Strategic Use of Our Nation’s Natural Resources”

The American Gas Association (AGA) today praised the U.S. Senate for passing the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012) which contains several provisions that would benefit natural gas customers throughout the nation, including a provision to increase energy efficiency in federal buildings. “The..

Noble Considers Selling 15 % of Leviathan Gas Field

Though a game-changing gas discovery for Israel and for the discoverer, Texas-based Noble Energy, the giant Leviathan offshore gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean has been one bureaucratic headache after another. Now reports are surfacing that the company is seeking to reduce exposure by selling ..

US Energy Production Increases for 6th Consecutive Year

Total U.S. energy production increased for the sixth consecutive year. According to data in EIA’s most recent Monthly Energy Review, energy production reached a record 89 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), equivalent to 91% of total U.S. energy consumption. Liquid fuels production drove the in..

Emerson to Upgrade Mexico’s Gas Pipeline Infrastructure

Mexican oil and gas giant Pemex and ENGIE, a French energy company, have selected Emerson to help upgrade and expand Mexico’s gas pipeline infrastructure. The $8.9 million project is part of Mexico’s energy reform initiative. Because existing natural gas availability is expected to fall short of dem..

Subsea 7 Awarded Contract Off Egypt

Subsea 7 S.A. is working under a contract from BP, and partner DEA (Deutsche Erdoel AG), to development of the Giza, Fayoum and Raven subsea fields offshore Alexandria, Egypt. This is the second phase of the West Nile Delta project, where the field development will be at depths of up to 800 meters. ..

After 7-Year Run, Sequent Tops Tenaska Among Capacity Traders

Sequent Energy Management became the first capacity trader in seven years to beat out Tenaska in Capacity Center’s annual Top 20 report, as seven companies dropped out of the 2015 rankings altogether. Houston-based Sequent, a subsidiary of AGL Resources, traded an average daily equivalent capacity ..

Exxon Mobil Outlook Sees Oil and Gas Still Dominating in 2040

Despite upheavals in energy markets, the end of Iran’s sanctions, and the decline in oil prices, supermajor Exxon Mobil expects the global energy environment 25 years from now to remain largely as it is today. In other words, oil and natural gas will remain dominant. In fact, the company’s Outlook ..

New Opportunities Arise with Demand in Mexico

In the southern United States, Texas finds itself awash with gas while Mexico, its southern neighbor, has seen a decline of 24% in its domestic natural gas production since 2010 and is unable to meet rising domestic demand, according to a recent presentation by Kenneth S. Culotta, of the Houston ene..

PSE&G Accelerates Pace of Replacement Program

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, recently got the go-ahead to speed up its gas pipeline infrastructure modernization efforts through a supplemental program to replace 38,000 service lines. New Jersey regulators approved a PSE&G plan to replace 400 miles..

BLM Proposal Would Stimulate Pipeline Construction

New proposed limits on flaring and venting of natural gas from wells on federal lands could be a boon to the pipeline construction industry. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed new limits in February to reduce atmospheric emissions of methane. Kyle Danish, a partner at Van Ness Feldman, ex..

Fluor Consortium Completes Gas Gathering System in Brazil

Fluor Corp.’s consortium has met substantial completion on the Gavião Branco facility in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, turning it over to Parnaíba Gás Natural (PGN), Brazil’s leading private gas exploration and production company. The consortium performed basic and detailed engineering, procuremen..