News
Illinois Oil Train Derailment Involved Safer Tank Cars
GALENA, Ill. (AP) — The two rail cars that split open and burst into flames during a western Illinois oil train derailment were retrofitted with protective shields to meet a higher safety standard than federal law requires, the railroad said. Thursday's accident in a rural area south of the city of Galena is the latest failure of the safer tank car model and raises more concerns that even tougher requirements are needed.
Study: Mariner East To Add $4.2 Billion To Pennsylvania Economy
Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East projects are expected to add up to $4.2 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy and create 300-400 permanent jobs, according to a study by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions, Inc. released Feb. 5. Commissioned by Sunoco Logistics, the economic forecast projected construction of the projects will generate $23 million in personal income tax in the state, as well bringing in $62 million in tax revenues from vendors, employees and related activities.
Opportunity Knocks For Natural Gas: Is Anybody Listening?
When QEP Resources Inc. CEO Charles “Chuck” Stanley roams the country giving speeches as the chairman of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) he hopes someone is listening because these times for natural gas are full of innovation and opportunity in his mind. A familiar theme for this gas industry veteran is summarized in the question: How do we make the most of this newfound opportunity?
Eastring Pipeline Eustreams Alternative Solution To South Stream Pipeline
Reuters reports Slovak gas pipeline operator Eustream is proposing a new pipeline be built to carry natural gas from western Europe to the Balkans, relieving the region of its almost total dependence on Russian supply.
Pipeline & Gas Journals 2015 Worldwide Construction Report
<em>P&GJ</em>’s 2015 survey figures indicate 100,114 miles of pipelines are planned and under construction worldwide. Of these, 57,201 represent projects in the planning design phase while 42,913 reflect pipelines in various stages of construction.
British Columbia Prohibits Oil Or Bitumen Transport Through LNG Pipelines
British Columbia has adopted a regulation to ensure pipelines built to support LNG facilities will not be permitted to transport oil or diluted bitumen. This follows concerns expressed in environmental assessments and by First Nations about the long-term pipeline use.
Pilgrim Pipeline Looking To Move Products, Crude In Hudson Valley Corridor
The Pilgrim Pipeline project has the potential to do more good for the Northeast than just bolstering the flow of refined products and crude between New York Harbor and Albany, NY - it could also remove 6 billion gallons of petroleum a year from barges on the Hudson River.
U.S.-China Carbon Pact: Promising Start Or Path To Nowhere?
In November, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the world by agreeing in principle to targets for carbon dioxide emissions in a symbolic effort to address climate change. This is a pact of historic magnitude that recognizes a need for the world’s two largest emitters – both longstanding antagonists – to reduce future release of greenhouse gas. But aside from a handshake and a promise, what will actually come from this mutual recognition?
Energy Forecast Predicts Rising Gas, Oil Demand As Global Middle Class Grows
ExxonMobil’s 2015 energy forecast posits natural gas as the fuel with the most demand growth between now and 2040, overtaking coal as the second most popular energy source with a 65% gain vs. its 2010 levels. By the end of the period, the report predicted more than 125 Bcf/d will be shipped by LNG or inter-regional pipeline.
In Turnaround, FERC Proposes to Allow Surcharges to Fund Modernization
In a departure from past policy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is considering allowing interstate pipelines to recoup the costs of complying with federal environmental and safety regulations.
OSHA Inks Alliance To Protect E&P Workers
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) signed a two-year alliance with the National Service, Transmission, Exploration & Production Safety Network and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities among workers in the exploration and production sector of the oil and gas industry.
Editor's Notebook: The Lessons Of History
You have to appreciate history, for it tells no lies and whether we like it or not, it tends to repeat itself. Last month I recalled how the Saudis ramped up production 30 years ago with the backing of the Reagan administration in order to wreck the Soviet economy though it also did long-term damage to the U.S. oil industry. With crude prices in the $55 range (as of Dec. 18), motorists are delighted but nerves are on edge in Texas and other regions where the economies depend on oil and gas production.
Battleground for Anti-Oil/Gas Efforts Increasingly Local
As the 2014 mid-term elections faded from view, one cogent footnote of the political power change was the significant shift in the money and manner of spending it in the national environmental movement. Even some of their harshest critics were noting a higher level of professionalism and use of legitimate spokespersons as they attempted to spend their growing cash infusion more strategically.
Black & Veatch Sees Growth Likely As Drilling Slows Down
Declining crude oil prices will likely lead to reduced production, but consultants at Black & Veatch expect natural gas to meet increasing demands, particularly as new projects begin to come online in the near future.
TIPRO: State Of Energy Report
The U.S. oil and gas industry employed 1,012,800 in 2013, an increase of 30,800 from the previous year. Job growth in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry continued to rise in the first quarter of 2014, adding an additional 12,400 jobs, for a total of 1,025,200.
Pipeline Engineering Quality Management System
I’ve only been working in the pipeline engineering business for a short time, but have noticed a disparity between how the quality systems of the two main portions of the business are structured. This, even though corporate quality and construction quality systems both follow the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001:2008 format of quality standards.
Saudis May Hold The High Card
Global oil demand will grow 1 MMbpd in 2014, or about 300,000 bpd more than the IEA’s latest forecast, according to ESAI Energy’s recently published Global Fuels Outlook. The report highlights discrepancies between ESAI Energy’s and the IEA’s forecasts for demand growth and provides an outlook on petroleum product markets – and spreads to crude – through 2016.
Editor's Notebook: Dinner-Table Politics
It’s just a few days before Thanksgiving, so let’s talk turkey and football. The Keystone pipeline has never really been about energy. It’s been a political football almost since the day TransCanada proposed a pipeline to bring Canadian oil sands product to Gulf Coast refineries.
Global Demand For Polyethylene To Reach 99.6 Million Tons In 2018
Global demand for polyethylene resins – HDPE, LLDPE and LDPE – will rise 4% per year to 99.6 million metric tons in 2018, valued at $164 billion. Gains will match overall world economic growth, fueled by an acceleration in consumer spending and manufacturing activity.
How LDCs Performed During Nations Coldest Winter In 29 Years
America’s natural gas utilities work with federal and state regulators to build and maintain a 21st century infrastructure capable of safely and reliably delivering natural gas to homes and business throughout the United States.
McElroy Celebrates 60 Years In Thermoplastic Piping
Hard work is said to result in living the American dream. This ethos is one of the reasons McElroy has been a viable company for 60 years, but it’s just one part of the equation that made McElroy the world’s leading manufacturer of butt fusion machines for thermoplastic pipe.
NGL Energy To Develop Crude Oil Transloading Facility
NGL Energy is planning a crude oil transloading facility to handle unit trains west of Albuquerque, NM in the San Juan Basin.
Reducing Market Barriers Seen As Key To Chinas Gas Pipe Dream
China’s domestic natural gas production is expected to rise from 120 Bcm to 172 Bcm in 2018. In parallel, the nation is pressing ahead with drilling for unconventional gas and expects to reach its target output of 30 Bcm in 2020.
Mexico Meets The New Reality With Energy Reform
The decision of the Mexican government to reform its vaunted energy industry is one of the most important development in the energy sector since the shale revolution, at least for companies in North America. The focal point of Mexico’s energy industry has been Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the state-owned oil company that until just a few years ago ranked as one of the world’s top crude oil producers.
U.S. Oil And Gas Production Continues To Rise
<em>Pipeline & Gas Journal</em>’s 34th Annual 500 Report provides the industry’s most inclusive statistical review of U.S. energy pipeline systems. Once again, the report ranks the nation’s top gas distribution, liquids and gas transmission systems. The gas distribution rankings are based on number of customers, while transmission companies are ranked by mileage. Each liquids pipeline company ranking is based on yearly crude deliveries.
Editor's Notebook: Low Prices, High Spirits
Fact No. 1: China has cornered the market on solar power panels. Fact No. 2: Indonesia has cornered the market on wind turbine parts. Fact No. 3: Natural gas, and to a growing extent crude oil, are American-made products. Fact No. 4: Natural gas and crude oil are fueling an industrial renaissance in the United States. I can keep on going but unless you’ve been living in a cave somewhere you know by now that the U.S. is undergoing a major transformation of its industrial and manufacturing base thanks to abundant, cheap and most importantly, reliable supplies of natural gas and crude oil. There remain several important issues still to be resolved such as LNG and crude oil exports, fracking disclosures, emissions controls and improved safety standards for transporters.
Stagnant 2013 Economy Shows Gas Consumption Up In North America And China But Nowhere Else
Natural gas consumption growth was down in 2013 everywhere but in North America, reflecting the major differential between North American natural gas prices and those in the rest of the world. Although the global economy remained lackluster, there was overall growth in energy consumption worldwide, with higher than average consumption growth in OECD countries and lagging averages in the developing world.
Peak Crude Production Requires New Transport For Capacity, Variety
Booming U.S. crude oil production, especially in areas that were not already big producing locations with good takeaway pipeline capacity, have made it necessary to find new ways of transporting the growing production coming from development of shale reservoirs.
INGAA Foundation, ICF Release Data Underpinning Pipeline Study
The INGAA Foundation Inc. and ICF International are making available analytical data supporting the Foundation’s North American Midstream Infrastructure Through 2035: Capitalizing On Our Energy Abundance report, (see <em>P&GJ</em> <a href="http://www.pipelineandgasjournal.com/study-estimates-us-and-canadian-midstream-investments-30-billion-year">May 2014, Pg. 30</a> for an excerpt from the report).
Natural Gas Serves Small, But Growing, Portion Of Chinas Total Energy Demand
A recent U.S. Energy Information Administration report indices that China relies heavily on domestic coal (and to a lesser extent oil) to meet rising energy consumption. To reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, the Chinese government is attempting to replace some of the country's coal and oil use with natural gas.
- Texas Waha Hub Gas Prices Plunge to Record Lows, Hit Negative Territory
- Williams Seeks Emergency Certificate to Operate $1 Billion Mid-Atlantic Gas Pipeline After Court Reversal
- Texas Oil Pipelines Near Max Capacity, Threatening Future Export Limits
- Energy Transfer Subsidiary Selects KTJV for Lake Charles LNG Export Project
- FERC Sides with Williams in Texas-Louisiana Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- Saudi Arabia Looking to Expand Pipeline to Reduce Oil Exports via Gulf
- Report: Houston Region Poised to Become a Global Clean Hydrogen Hub
- Texas Startup Endeavors Again to Build First Major U.S. Oil Refinery Since 1977
- Alaska Greenlights Enstar’s $57 Million Pipeline to Boost LNG Imports
- Texas Waha Hub Gas Prices Plunge to Record Lows, Hit Negative Territory
