Environment
Report: E&P Sites Hazardous To Members Of Public, Especially Children
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a study of explosions at oil and gas production sites across the U.S., identifying 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 members of the public and injured 25 others under age 25, and is calling for new public protection measures at the sites.
Oil Spill Results In Upgrade Of Parks For Gulf Coast City
Port Arthur, TX parks will soon get upgrades as part of a settlement the General Land Office has reached over the Eagle Otomes spill, which put nearly 397,000 gallons of crude into the Port Arthur Ship Channel.
BP Wins Approval For Deepwater Well In Gulf
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has approved a drilling permit, originally submitted by BP in January 2011, for a new well in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Take A BIG First Gas Pressure Cut To Protect Delivery System
Despite the higher gas pipeline pressures (up to 1,000 psi) and varying inlet pressures on peak days in recent years, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation believes the most effective pressure-reduction practice is to take a first cut from the supply pipeline in one big step while sizing for minimum contract pressure.
ExxonMobil Expects Montana Spill To Cost $135 Million
ExxonMobil said last month it expects its response to the July oil spill into the Yellowstone River in Montana will cost about $135 million. ExxonMobil said it has reached compensation agreements with more than 95% of property owners affected by the spill, which released about 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the river.
Successful water treatment begins at Marcellus Shale
A Pennsylvania regulation became law in August that will help prevent the discharge of incompletely treated frac water from natural gas drilling into area rivers. Altela Inc., a water treatment company based in Albuquerque, NM, has begun implementation of the solution to the frac water problem at a plant in Williamsport by treating 100,000 gallons a day of frac water to better than drinking water standards.
Green Completions For Shale Gas Come To Fore As Methane Emissions Reduction Tool
"Green completions." That appears to be a new watchword growing out of the shale gas boom. The issue of green completions came up Oct. 4 when members of President Obama's shale gas subcommittee went before the Senate Energy Committee.
Energy Exec Offers Bright Outlook For U.S. Energy
Breitling Oil and Gas Corp. was founded in Irving, TX in October 2004 as an independent exploration company willing to invest in state-of-the-art petroleum development throughout the United States, in particular Texas and Oklahoma.
Executives Confident Of Information Security Practices
PwC US has released a new report entitled, “Eye of the Storm,” which provides findings on information security for the oil and gas industry, based on survey responses from 143 senior industry executives. PwC found that despite data exploitation being up across the board, executives remain confident in their security practices as they have a set strategy in place.
Intelligent Control Room Management For Oil And Gas Pipeline Safety
Globally, mankind has more than 1,500,000 km of oil and gas pipelines – with more than 600,000 km in North America alone. These numbers are even higher when one adds pipelines transporting other hazardous gases and liquids. Though efficient and critical, these pipelines carry high costs for individual safety incidents. Around the world, pipeline safety and security are immediate concerns, both for industry and government.
Alyeska Pipeline Settles With DOT
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. has signed a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that resolves the notice of proposed safety order PHMSA issued Feb. 1.
The Keystone XL Imperative
I never thought the Keystone XL Pipeline project would be the climactic event in the environment vs. energy debate. Now as we approach the final decision, which rests in President Obama’s hands, I’ll bet that he never expected a proposed pipeline would be one of the defining moments of his administration.
The National Transportation Safety Boards Report on San Bruno: Implications for Pipeline Safety
On Sept. 26, 2011, the National Transportation Safety Board (Board or NTSB) released its final report on the Sept. 9, 2010 San Bruno, CA pipeline explosion. The incident occurred on a 30-inch diameter intrastate gas transmission line (Line 132) operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E). The explosion and fire destroyed or damaged 70 homes and killed 8 people.
Natural Gas Gains Favor With Power Generators
The rapid growth of Canada's oil sands is expected to dramatically increase its consumption of natural gas over the coming decade, a prospect that stands to help Alberta's gas industry but raise the country's emissions.
EPA Rule Would Stress Power, Gas Grids
The Environmental Protection Agency has released the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, an addendum to the Clean Air Act, with the goal of reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants.
Nations First Ethanol Unit Train-To-Pipeline Distribution System Planned
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the Tampa Port Authority (TPA) and CSX Corp. have formed a public-private partnership to bring ethanol into the Tampa market more efficiently and safely via the nation’s first ethanol unit train-to-pipeline distribution system.
Source-to-Site: DOE Policy Adopting Full-Fuel-Cycle Analysis
The Department of Energy announced a statement of policy adopting full-fuel-cycle (FFC) measures of energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions in the national impact analyses and environmental assessments in its Energy Conservation Standards Program.
National Interest Determination On Keystone XL May Be Delayed, Improper Influence Alleged
A group of 13 senators and representatives of U.S. Congress requested a delay Oct. 26 in the national interest decision needed from the U.S. State Department over the Keystone XL pipeline--the controversial 1,661-mile tar sands pipeline TransCanada wants to build in stages from Hardisty, Alberta to Houston and Port Arthur in the Gulf Coast region--saying TransCanada may have improperly influenced the state department's selection of the company that performed the environmental impact survey.
Considering Asbestos And Old Pipelines
Asbestos coating on pipelines is not a popular topic with most pipeline companies. In fact they don’t even like to use the “A” word when describing the coating. Asbestos is a proven, effective, and durable means of protecting steel pipe from corrosion and the elements. For the most part, asbestos might be up to 50% percent of the felt wrapping around a length of line pipe with some tar type outer wrapping. Overall, this might mean there is as much as 25% asbestos in the complete coating.
$1M Prize Awarded For Oil Cleanup Technology
After the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, a philanthropist and nonprofit organization joined forces to introduce a contest to improve ocean water oil spill cleanup techniques. On Oct. 11 the winners were awarded their prizes: the first prize recipients earned a $1 million purse for technology that in tests was able to recover oil from the sea surface at a rate of 4670 gallons per minute and 89% efficiency, almost twice the rate targeted by the contest's organizers and three times the highest rate previously achieved under controlled conditions.
Even Old Pipelines Useful For 2012 London Olympics
As London prepares for the Olympics, facilities have been designed and constructed to be as energy efficient as possible. As an example, the Olympic Stadium’s roof truss was made out of unwanted gas pipelines.
HDD Solves Crude Line Replacement Across St. Clair River
Enbridge sprang into action after confirming a minor anomaly on its 30-inch Line 6B crude oil pipeline where it crosses under the St. Clair River spanning from Marysville, MI to St. Clair Township, Ontario.
INGAA Prefers House Pipeline Safety Bill; EPA Air Emission Proposal Would Affect Pipeline Compressors
The House pipeline safety bill introduced in July is similar in many ways to the Senate bill which the Commerce Committee passed in May. But there are differences, with the House bill, called the Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011, being the preferred option in the view of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).
Members Of Natural Gas Industry Investigate Safety Models
In an effort to learn continually from other operators and to improve North America’s pipeline system safety, the American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, together with the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, have initiated a comprehensive study to explore safety models and procedures utilized by other industry sectors in an effort to deliver natural gas and pipeline-transported liquids more safely and reliably.
How Weather Reporting Affects Petroleum Prices
It has already been an historic year in 2011 for weather disasters. The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is reporting that the economic cost from these events already surpasses $32 billion and the height of hurricane season is approaching. Typically, the year-to-date total is near $6 billion. The damages come from a combination of major weather events including severe weather outbreaks, winter storms and flooding.
Corrosiveness Of Oil Sands Crude An Unproven Science
While recent oil spills has added to debate over the safety of shipping Canada’s oil sands crude through pipelines, there is little hard evidence that the oil is more corrosive than conventional crude, according to a report by Reuters which interviewed various scientists and regulators.
Toward Better Pipeline Data Governance
<em>“If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing.” </em>– W. Edwards Deming On April 18 at the National Pipeline Safety Forum, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Debbie Hersman posed the following question to a panel of industry representatives:
NTSB faults PG&E and government oversight in San Bruno explosion
On August 30 the five-member National Transportation Safety Board announced that its nearly year-long investigation into the San Bruno pipeline explosion has determined that Pacific Gas & Electric's lax approach to pipeline safety and inadequate oversight from the California utility commission and PHMSA were the ultimate cause of the most devastating pipeline accident in a decade.
The Long Road For Natural Gas Vehicles
Natural gas has made only small inroads in the world's transportation market, where the fuels of choice remain those refined from crude oil. The global market for cars and trucks powered by natural gas has been growing, however, and the technology improving, spurred by tax incentives, high gasoline and diesel prices, and a blossoming green movement.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Study Examines Low-flow Safety Issues
A study done for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. concludes that the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) can be operated safely down to 350,000 bpd if measures are taken to prevent ice and wax buildup and corrosion, problems that accompany low flow.
- Phillips 66 to Shut LA Oil Refinery, Ending Major Gasoline Output Amid Supply Concerns
- FERC Sides with Williams in Texas-Louisiana Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- ConocoPhillips Eyes Sale of $1 Billion Permian Assets Amid Marathon Acquisition
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- Malaysia’s Oil Exports to China Surge Amid Broader Import Decline
- U.S. LNG Export Growth Faces Uncertainty as Trump’s Tariff Proposal Looms, Analysts Say
- Marathon Oil to Lay Off Over 500 Texas Workers Ahead of ConocoPhillips Merger
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
