Safety
PHMSA and Advisory Group Finalizing New Safety Program
A Voluntary Information Sharing (VIS) advisory group, working with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), voted to recommend a new, industry-wide safety reporting program in which employees, in a “no-fear” environment, would report pipeline operational and infrastructure risks and hazards. Reports would be “de-identified” and centralized. The goal is that potential problems would be found and corrected before they worsened, possibly becoming emergency situations.
Storage Tanks Explode at Venezuela Heavy Oil Project
Two storage tanks have exploded at the Petro San Felix heavy-crude upgrading project in eastern Venezuela, according to an oil industry source and a legislator.
Panhandle Eastern Capacity Reduced by Missouri Pipeline Blast
Energy Transfer said it has reduced mainline capacity on its Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line system after a fiery rupture downstream of its Centralia Compressor Station. The blast caused no serious injuries, but power to several homes was interrupted, authorities said.
Pipeline Management Office Proves Beneficial to Pipeline Digs
The Digs Project Management Office (PMO) is often referred to as the “Big PMO” because of its sheer volume of work and its potential effect to the pipeline assets and its stakeholders.
Ensuring LNG Liquefaction Facilities’ System Tightness
By Nirmal Surendran Menon, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), New Zealand System “tightness testing” is the last stage before inerting (the introduction of a non-combustible gas into a closed system) and the introduction of hydrocarbon and is a vital safety step in the start-up sequence..
Combined Flaws Represent Key Danger to Pipelines
Sergey Zubin, chief engineer of Transneft Diascan, discusses the importance of detecting “combined flaws,” or those that occur in close proximity on the pipeline, with Pipeline & Gas Journal.
Advanced Analytics Can Help Boost Pipeline Performance
Leveraging existing operational data as well as new data sources available as part of a digital transformation can provide great opportunities to significantly improve performance through better asset reliability, efficiency and safety performance.
CEPA Seeks Common Ground on Bill C-69
Canada’s energy transmission pipeline companies are clear on what amendments they would like to see, and we ask the Canadian government to take the time to get this right.
Missouri Leak Prompts Closure of Parts of 2 Oil Pipelines
An oil leak near St. Louis prompted the closure of parts of two pipelines as crews work to determine the source, company officials and Missouri regulators said.
San Francisco Gas Explosion Shoots Fire that Burns Buildings
A gas explosion in a San Francisco neighborhood shot flames into the air for hours Wednesday and burned five buildings, sending panicked residents and workers fleeing into the streets. It took utility crews more than two hours to put out the fire after private construction workers cut a natural gas line, igniting the towering flames.
4 Activists Arrested Attempting to Shut Down Oil Pipeline
Four climate-change activists from the Catholic Worker movement were arrested in an attempt to shut down an Enbridge's Line 4 oil pipeline in north-central Minnesota.
Subsea Bayesian Networks – Integrity and Risk Assessments
If high levels of safety and environmental protection in the subsea oil and gas sector are to be maintained, then understanding the risks involved is more important than ever. But it has never been more difficult necessary to optimize IMR activities than it is now.
Mexico's Fuel Thieves Undeterred by Deadly Blast
Days after a fireball erupted near the Mexican town of Tlahuelilpan, killing at least 117 people pilfering gasoline from a pipeline, the area's fuel bandits were back in business.
Addressing Legal Risk Through SAFETY Act
Legal Perspectives By Eric Hutchins, Principal, H2 Legal, P.C., and Ted Murphy, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth On the morning of Aug. 15, 2012, most Saudi Aramco employees were home celebrating Ramadan. Suddenly, the few remaining at work noticed problems with their computers. Screens flickered, a..
Death Toll Reaches 94 in Mexico Fuel Pipeline Fire Horror
People in the town where a gasoline explosion killed at least 94 people say the section of pipeline that gushed fuel has been a habitual gathering site for thieves, repeatedly damaged and patched like a trusty pair of jeans.
Thieves Siphon Whole Pipelines; Mexico to Ship Gas on Trains
Fuel thieves in Mexico have grown so bold they are drilling illegal taps under warehouses in big cities and siphoning off the entire contents of pipelines, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. He cited one pipeline carrying gasoline that thieves had drilled into so many times they had siphoned all the fuel in the duct.
PG&E Board Chair Sees Chapter 11 as ‘Only Viable Option’
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said this week it will file for bankruptcy, raising concern that rates for electricity and gas will rise and victims of California wildfires who are suing the nation’s largest utility won’t get all the money they may be owed.
Lawmakers Urge US Agency to Bolster Pipeline Cybersecurity
Two Democratic lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security to better protect U.S. oil and gas pipelines from cyber-attacks, after a report they requested detailed a lack of federal oversight of the critical conduits.
Government
Change of Class Location Draws Opposition Citizen organizations and state regulators are opposing interstate pipeline efforts to convince federal regulators to provide an alternative to the class location system, which requires pipelines to take steps when there is population growth around a pipeli..
Assuring Integrity of Polyethylene Gas Pipeline Systems
To maximize benefits, gas transporters continue to push polyethylene pipe design with more demanding applications, larger diameters and higher operating pressures. The risk of rapid crack progression and variables affecting performance must be considered when increasing the diameter and wall thickness of PE pipe.
Columbia Gas’ Merrimack Valley Accident: Fallout Just Starting
Federal and state agencies immediately jumped into action to uncover causes and preventative lessons that might be learned from the fatal September explosions, but other investigations could have implications for pipeline operations far beyond Massachusetts.
Retiring Stavropoulos Leaves PG&E a Safer Utility
Eight years after joining PG&E in the wake of the San Bruno explosion, Nick Stavropoulos retired as an industry role model for restoring a sense of pride at the giant San Francisco utility.
Human-Centric Approach to Improving Pipeline NDE Reliability
Non-destructive evaluation is essential to assure long-term integrity of existing pipelines, and human performance is a key element of the NDE process. This article summarizes an effort to identify human performance factors that influence NDE measurements and reliability.
The Future Arrives: Virtual Reality Safety Training
Companies such as Peoples Gas & North Shore Gas Company have begun to explore virtual reality platforms to supplement traditional gas meter safety and inspection training.
Feds Open Criminal Probe into Natural Gas Explosions
Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into the natural gas explosions and fires that rocked three communities north of Boston in September.
Evacuation Lifted after California Gas Pipeline Scare
Emergency crews extinguished a fire burning dangerously close to a Chevron underground natural gas pipeline Thursday and lifted an evacuation order that had forced some 4,000 residents from their homes the night before.
Firefighters Sue SoCal Gas over Aliso Canyon Leak
Firefighters who worked in and around the site of a massive natural gas leak have sued Southern California Gas Co., alleging the utility knowingly let them be exposed to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.
Nigeria Pipeline Explodes, Killing 19; Oil Thieves Suspected Cause
A Nigerian official says at least 19 people are dead after a leaking oil pipeline exploded in the southeast, while villagers say the toll is higher.
Canada Pipeline Blast Risks Washington Natural Gas Shortage
A pipeline explosion in British Columbia risks cutting off the flow of Canadian natural gas to Washington State, and companies are urging customers to conserve.
Gas Line Rupture Prompts Evacuation in British Columbia
A natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured in a rural area north of Prince George in the Canadian province of British Columbia, prompting precautionary evacuations, pipeline owner and operator Enbridge said.
- 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
