Editor's Notebook
Editor’s Notebook: Nord Stream Questions Grow Murkier
(P&GJ) — While the investigation into who deliberately blew up Nord Stream continues, the operator of the previously functional first line appears to be taking a serious look at how it will seal and empty the pipeline before more damage occurs.
Editor’s Notebook: California’s Pipeline, CCUS Quandary
(P&GJ) — California, in laying out a bold clean air initiative, has placed a great deal of emphasis on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in an effort to start removing the same amount of carbon from the air as what the state emits by 2045.
Editor’s Notebook: Getting the CO2 Out
(P&GJ) — Navigator Heartland Greenway has voluntarily withdrawn its application for a certificate of authority to build a 250-mile portion of its CO2 pipeline through a part of western Illinois, but the company said it plans to refile soon.
Coastal GasLink’s Year of Milestones
(P&GJ) — As 2022 drew to a close, news came that one of the more complex pipelines projects ever seen in North America, the Coastal Gaslink project, had eclipsed the 80% completion mark in British Columbia. The project, in combination with the Kitimat LNG plant, is the largest Canadian infrastructure investment since the 1950s when the St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed.
Editor’s Notebook: Big Early Win for Northwest Capacity
(P&GJ) — The venerable Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline system, which runs from the Canadian border to California, appears headed toward an important regulatory victory in the effort to increase its capacity by about 150 MMcf/d.
Editor’s Notebook: The Digital Future Is Now
(P&GJ) — For the past 163 years, Pipeline & Gas Journal has arrived in our readers’ mailboxes each month without fail. This, however, the December issue, will be our final printed edition of the magazine. Rest assured, though, we are not going away – not by a long shot.
Editor’s Notebook: Sabotage at the Highest Level?
(P&GJ) — Amid the finger-pointing and alternative conclusions that come with just about everything involving the energy sector these days, one hard fact has emerged concerning the Nord Stream: Someone deliberately blew four holes in its pipelines during a three-day period.
Editor’s Notebook: Line 5’s Legal Saga Continues
(P&GJ) — With Enbridge’s Line 5 recently prevailing when a judge ruled against the state of Michigan’s lawsuit to shut down the petroleum pipeline, which runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the pipeline operator now finds itself in the odd position of being backed by the invocation of an international treaty for the second time.
Manchin’s ‘Deal’ Revisited
(P&GJ) — On the surface, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia’s surprise deal with the Democratic leadership of Congress, which would potentially clear the way for the 94% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline to finally be completed, appeared to be a major win for midstream.
For Producers, It’s that Time
(P&GJ) — Oddly enough, the very source of the boom that put some wind behind the sails of the energy industry over the past decade and a half – the Shale Revolution – has become, to a large extent, a snag for production growth.
US Midstream and the Russia Factor
With much of the world shunning Russian energy as prices surge, the resulting systematic upheaval in dynamics has the potential to alter oil and gas supply trends and trade partnerships for years to come.
Biden’s ‘Big Project’ Environmental Reviews
With the Biden administration bringing back a stricter review process for pipeline and other major infrastructure projects, it seemed like a good time to look at the origin of the policy and what the change will entail.
Another Pothole in the Road
With its new policy declaring that greenhouse gas and “environmental justice” must be taken into account during the approval process for natural gas pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has outdone itself in further muddying the road forward for future projects.
Trans Mountain by the Numbers
With Canada’s announcement that the government will no longer fund the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, many who criticized the country’s purchase of the project in the first place are now wondering if it should be completed at all, regardless of who pays for it.
So Close, Yet So Far
Once again, a U.S. appeals court has tossed out permits granted by federal agencies that would have allowed the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cross a 3.5-mile section of the Jefferson National Forest.
Necessity Meets Innovation
There has been a major oil leak in progress off the coast of Louisiana for 17 years now, and I’d be willing to bet most people, even those in the industry, don’t know about it.
A True Chilling Effect
When the Supreme Court refused to stay a lower court decision that vacated a federal permit allowing Spire’s STL pipeline to operate, it opened a door that could threaten natural gas supplies to residents during St. Louis’ notoriously bitter winter.
CEPA Exiting After Nearly 3 Decades
The decision by the Board of Directors to shut down its offices as of Dec. 31 comes as a tough blow for midstream companies, though all things considered the move was not especially surprising.
Line 3’s Long, Strange Trip Nears Terminus?
The Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision to let stand a regulatory ruling that allows Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge’s nearly completed Line 3 project to move forward comes while Canadian midstream companies are overdue for some good news.
Northern Demand not Isolated
Say what you will about the state of the industry, customers are still clamoring for natural gas in their homes and businesses, and with that need for expansion comes new pipeline projects.
Midstream Wins a Big One
The U.S. Supreme Court, in what some people including me would consider at least a minor surprise, upheld PennEast Pipeline’s authority to use eminent domain to acquire access to state property.
A Question of Not ‘If’ but ‘When’
The cyberattack on Colonial Pipelines served as the ultimate exclamation point on that pesky declaration pipeline companies had been hearing for years: Your information systems need to be better protected from malicious software.
West Coast Greets ‘Cleaner’ Pipe Conversion
Between the California towns of Paramount and Carson, about 40 miles south of Los Angeles, a pipeline that once shipped crude oil from the former to the latter is another step closer to transporting hydrogen gas instead.
Beware of Pending FERC Shift
A recent vote of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may have come out favorably for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), but 3-2 wins like this for midstream companies will likely become a much rarer commodity this summer.
Great Freeze Revisited
I suppose if I just wanted to write a column that assigned the “villain” label to someone involved in the Great Texas Blackout of 2021, there would be plenty of worthy candidates from which to choose.
PennEast’s Hail Mary Legal Challenge
In what is being viewed as hopeful news from the Marcellus Shale region, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal by PennEast Pipeline Company to a ruling that prevents the company from seizing land in New Jersey through eminent domain.
Time to Look Ahead (and Back)
When projects start being advanced again a familiar foe will be lying in wait – that being the ever-vigilant anti-pipeline coalition.
Happ(ier) Days Are Here Again?
Despite recent hard times, there is reason to believe relatively good news is around the corner for the midstream sector.
Biden’s Upside: It Could Have Been Worse
The prospect of a new U.S. president has caused a fair amount of hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth among those in midstream and other energy sectors, but there is reason to believe the fallout caused by a new administration will not be all that severe.
Doubling Down on $5 Natural Gas
While there hasn't been a lot of good news on the midstream front lately, projected $5 natural gas by the fall of 2021 is a hopeful sign. And who can argue with the Farmer's Almanac weather forecast?
- PG&E Reduces Emissions from Gas Pipelines by More Than 20%
- Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project to Nearly Triple Current Capacity to 890,000 bpd
- Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, FCC to Build LNG Terminal Worth $1.1 Billion in Germany
- Canada Offers $26 Billion Green Tax Credits But Still Trails Behind US Incentives
- Pipeline Operator TC Energy Says Keystone Oil Spill Caused by Fatigue Crack
- Pipeline Operator TC Energy Says Keystone Oil Spill Caused by Fatigue Crack
- Permian In Spotlight as Energy Dealmaking Gathers Steam
- Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project to Nearly Triple Current Capacity to 890,000 bpd
- Colombia's Cano Limon-Covenas Pipeline Attacked for Ninth Time in 2023
- Chad Nationalizes Exxon’s 621-Mile Pipeline as Dispute Over Asset Sale Escalates
