Business & Markets
Sandpiper Startup Delayed Until 2019
Enbridge Energy Partners plans to push back start-up dates for its proposed Sandpiper pipeline and a replacement for its existing Line 3 pipeline until 2019, because of a court-ordered environmental review. The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in August that Sandpiper requires a full environmental ..
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..
PHMSA: Pipe Corrosion Led to Santa Barbara Oil Spill
LOS ANGELES (AP) — External corrosion on an oil pipeline was the root cause of a leak that spilled more than 140,000 gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara coast in May, federal regulators reported. The spill occurred after pumps on the Plains All American Pipeline were shut down and restarted, se..
Iran Balks at Doha Proposal, Won't Freeze Oil Output Levels
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Wednesday snubbed a proposal agreed to by four influential oil producers to cap their crude output if others do the same, with a senior Oil Ministry official saying Tehran has no intention of freezing oil output levels. Mahdi Asali, Iran’s OPEC envoy, said his country ..
Pipeline Opponents Ask Iowa Board to Consider New US Oil Exports
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Opponents of a proposed pipeline project in Iowa want the state utilities board to take additional evidence that crude oil produced in the United States is now being shipped overseas, which would bolster their argument that North Dakota oil to be shipped through the so-called..
Iran Exports 1st Oil Shipment to Europe since Nuclear Deal
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran says it has exported its first crude oil shipment to Europe since it reached a landmark nuclear deal with world powers, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday. IRNA quoted Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi as saying the shipment was the first in five years and m..
Ultrasonic Metering, Creative Insulation Engineering, Aid LNG Plant
A major East Coast storage facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG) had a flow metering challenge on one line. The problem was directly related to the temperature of the product. LNG is liquefied to concentrate its volume for shipping and, as a result, the temperature of the liquid drops to a cryog..
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..
Production Rates in Tight Oil Formations Still Rising
Tight oil production in the United States increased from 2007 through April 2015, based on estimates in EIA’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), and accounted for more than half of total U.S. oil production in 2015. Tight oil growth has been driven by increasing initial production rates from tight..
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..
Medallion Pipeline Launches Binding Open Season
IRVING, TX – Medallion Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Medallion Midstream , is soliciting long-term commitments from shippers for firm transportation capacity on the third major expansion of Medallion’s existing 320-mile crude oil pipeline system. The Howard Lateral would provide 45,000 bpd of b..
Summit Starts Up Crude Pipeline Systems in Bakken Shale
THE WOODLANDS, TX – Summit Midstream Partners has begun operating the Stampede Lateral crude oil transmission pipeline in North Dakota and is in the final stages of completing the nearby Little Muddy crude oil transmission pipeline, which includes an interconnect with Enbridge’s North Dakota Pipeli..
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..
US Rig Count Down by 48 for Week to 571
HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States declined by 48 this week to 571. The Houston firm said Friday 467 rigs sought oil and 104 explored for natural gas amid depressed energy prices. A year ago, 1,..
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..
EIA: High Inventories Push Crude Prices to Lowest Levels in 13 Years
Several factors have played a part in pushing U.S. crude oil prices below $30 per barrel , including high inventory levels of crude oil, uncertainty about global economic growth, volatility in equity and non-energy commodity markets, and the potential for additional crude oil supply to enter the mar..
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..
Dominion Continues Coal-to-Gas Switch with $4.4 Billion Deal
Dominion Resources Inc., the power utility based in Richmond, VA, is the latest U.S. utility to expand its operations, reaching out west by offering to buy the gas company Questar Corp. of Salt Lake City, for about $4.4 billion in cash. Dominion announced the offer on Monday, the same day it ..
Where There Is Oil, There Will Be Pipelines
“An Industry in Transition: Where There is Oil & Gas There Will Be Pipelines” was presented Monday night by Pipeline & Gas Journal Editor Jeff Share to members of the Pipelines Association Association. Is this a crazy world or what? Would anyone disagree that it takes a strong stomach and nerv..
Storage Site Leak Raises Environmental, Reliability Concerns
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) detected a major leak Oct. 23 at Aliso Canyon, an underground natural gas storage facility located 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The Aliso Canyon storage facility, which has 115 wells, is the second-largest natural gas storage field in the western Unit..
Congress Cautiously Looks at Passing 1st Energy Bill since 2007
The U.S. Senate will kick off deliberations over a potentially bipartisan energy bill this week. Reaching consensus on energy legislation has been notoriously difficult, but the Republican lead on energy in the U.S. Senate believes that they could push something through for the first time in almost..
CenterPoint Announces Possible Sale of Enable Midstream Partners
Natural gas and electric utility CenterPoint Energy said on Monday it will consider “strategic options” for its pipeline company, Enable Midstream Partners, including a spinoff or sale. “We believe that now is the right time to explore options for unlocking the value of our strategic investment, re..
Dominion Resources Buying Questar for $4.4 Billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Dominion Resources will spend approximately $4.4 billion to acquire Questar in a big reach to the West for the East Coast energy company. Dominion is a power producer in the mid-Atlantic region. Questar is in the Rockies and a principal source of gas supply to Western states. The..
TransCanada Amends Filing for Energy East Pipeline
TransCanada filed an amendment to its existing application with the National Energy Board (NEB) to adjust the proposed route, scope and capital cost of the Energy East pipeline project based on extensive landowner, environmental, community and customer input. The original Energy East proposal calle..
Lake Charles LNG Project Receives FERC Approval
The BG Group’s Lake Charles, LA, LNG export project has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This was the key remaining regulatory consent for the Lake Charles LNG project, which BG Group is developing with Energy Transfer Equity LP and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. Ene..
- Trump Aims to Revive 1,200-Mile Keystone XL Pipeline Despite Major Challenges
- ONEOK Agrees to Sell Interstate Gas Pipelines to DT Midstream for $1.2 Billion
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- Boardwalk Approves 110-Mile, 1.16 Bcf/d Mississippi Kosci Junction Pipeline Project
- Kinder Morgan Approves $1.4 Billion Mississippi Crossing Project to Boost Southeast Gas Supply
- Tullow Oil on Track to Deliver $600 Million Free Cash Flow Over Next 2 Years
- GOP Lawmakers Slam New York for Blocking $500 Million Pipeline Project
- Enbridge Should Rethink Old, Troubled Line 5 Pipeline, IEEFA Says
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- Polish Pipeline Operator Offers Firm Capacity to Transport Gas to Ukraine in 2025
