Operations

United States Grand Jury Accuses Amplify Energy of Negligence in Oil Spill

A federal grand jury has accused Amplify Energy and two of its subsidiaries of illegally and negligently discharging oil during a pipeline break in California in October.

Proper Cleaning and Storage of Pipeline Pigs

Proper storage and maintenance are important to ensure the optimal performance and condition of urethane pigs.

Pipeline Blast Reported at Iran Gas Refinery, No Casualties

A gas condensate pipeline at a gas refinery in southwestern Iran exploded on Thursday after being hit by an excavator, Iranian news agencies reported.

Advancing Design for Pipeline Slug Catchers

Slug catchers are used at the terminus of large gas condensate transmission pipelines to catch large slugs of liquid, to hold these slugs temporarily, and to allow them to follow into downstream equipment and facilities at a rate at which the liquid can be properly handled.

Safer Operations with Geospatial Analytics

Geospatial analytics has come a long way from its inception in the early 80s. Today’s high-resolution satellites can survey each square foot of the entire earth’s surface and can do so daily.

Plastic Pipe Continuing to Play Key Role in Energy Industry

Much of today’s energy piping infrastructure is made of polyethylene, polyamide, and spoolable composite piping. More and more new piping systems are made from plastic pipe, but there is a lot of work to be done on the renewable energy front.

DIMP-Related Pipe Replacement Work Continues in Full Force US

While the amount of work to replace cast-iron and bare-steel pipe has declined in volume since the implementation of the Gas Distribution Integrity Management Program in 2009, there is still plenty of construction left to be done.

Produced Water: Path to Economic, Environmental Gains

Mostly groundwater naturally occurring deep in oil and gas reservoirs, produced water also can include water previously injected into the formation during well treatment or secondary recovery to increase production.

Implementation Struggles of PHMSA’s Fatigue Mitigation Regulations

Fatigue is one of a controller’s greatest threats. Despite restrictions that have transpired for monitoring and mitigating controller fatigue in the past decade, fatigue is not a new worry within the oil and gas industry.

Assistive Technologies Set to Transform Pipeline Projects

Increased attention is being focused on minimizing or removing human presence in extreme environments by using remote operations and assistive technologies for monitoring and decision support.

US to Release Oil from Reserves; OPEC+ Rebuffs Call for More Crude

The United States said on Tuesday it would release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain to cool prices after OPEC+ producers repeatedly ignored calls for more crude.

Pennsylvania Fines Energy Transfer $2 Million for 2018 NatGas Pipe Blast

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a nearly $2 million settlement with a unit of Energy Transfer LP for a pipeline explosion and fire at its Revolution natural gas pipe in Western Pennsylvania in 2018.

Blast Hits Oil Pipeline in Southern Iran, No Casualties – TV

An oil pipeline in southern Iran exploded on Wednesday, Iran's state TV reported on Wednesday, citing aging infrastructure as the reason for the blast.

Russian Gas Flows to Germany via Yamal Pipeline Unchanged

Russian gas continued flowing via the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Germany at Thursday levels, preliminary data from German network operator Gascade showed, below volumes seen earlier in the week when Gazprom started to increase supplies to refill its storage.

Tight Deadlines, Imminent Concerns Result from Security Directives

The federal Transportation Security Administration is moving quickly to ramp up the ability of utilities and pipelines to defend themselves against future cyberattacks.

A Guide to New Robotics, Drone Technologies for Pipelines

Today, the pipeline industry can buy a wide range of technologies for automating, managing, monitoring, repairing and improving safety of pipeline infrastructure and operations.

Highway Traffic and the Effect on Pipelines

Ruptures of natural gas pipelines in right-of-ways of roadways are less common, but when they occur, the devastation can be far more extensive than the more common ruptures.

PRCI Collaborates with PHMSA to Enhance Underground Storage Safety and Integrity

Pipeline Research Council International has been awarded a research project from the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

US Unveils Crackdown on Methane from Oil and Gas Industry

The Biden administration unveiled a plan to slash emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from oil and gas operations, drawing cautious support from both environmental groups and drillers.

Petroperu Warns of Possible Fires at Pumping Station Occupied by Protesters

Petroperu warned on Monday that protesters who seized a pumping station of an oil pipeline a month ago risked causing fires and explosions at the facility, located in an Amazon jungle region of the country.

Pipeline Rupture Halts Gas Flows from Bulgaria to Serbia

Bulgaria's gas network operator Bulgartransgaz halted the transport of natural gas to Serbia and Hungary early Monday following a pipeline rupture in the gas network near the northeastern village of Vetrino.

Leveraging 2 Kinds of Wisdom to Support Asset Integrity

For most pipeline integrity and risk assessment programs, there are two main sources of information, including measurement-driven data that is fed into computational risk assessment tools and information obtained from human observation or perception.

Shell Expects Ida-Hit Offshore Facility to Restart in November

Shell expects an offshore transfer facility, which was shut due to damage from Hurricane Ida, to be operational in the first half of November, restarting production of a popular Gulf of Mexico crude grade earlier than expected.

Enbridge Briefly Shut Down Line 5 After Protesters Tampered with Pipeline

Enbridge Inc. shut down its Line 5 oil pipeline for several hours on Tuesday after protesters trespassed onto a facility in Michigan and tampered with the pipeline, an Enbridge spokesman said on Wednesday.

Berkshire Hathaway Maryland Cove Point LNG Export Plant Exits Outage

During the three weeks that Cove Point was shut, the amount of pipeline gas flowing to U.S. export plants fell to around 10.1 bcfd from about 10.5 bcfd during the prior 30 days.

3-D Metal Loss Profiles from MFL Data

The responsible methodologically inherent MFL principal of ambiguity can be overcome: the groundbreaking Deep Field Analysis approach calculates 3-D profiles from MFL with high repeatability.

Isolation Enables Operator to Replace, Pressure Test Pipeline

T.D. Williamson completed its first SmartPlug isolation in offshore Nigeria, working for a major operator through its local partner, Strides Energy & Maritime.

U.S. Awards $98 Million in Grants to Support Pipeline Safety Efforts

PHMSA announced it is awarding $98.8 million in grants to states, territories, and tribes to help enhance pipeline and hazardous materials safety programs at the community level for 11 different safety programs.

Baker Hughes and Primus Line Collaborate to Rehabilitate and Repurpose Existing Pipelines

Baker Hughes signed a memorandum of understanding with Primus Line to collaborate on non-metallic pipe applications to rehabilitate and repurpose existing pressure pipelines.

Russia's Gazprom Completes Maintenance at Gas Pipeline to China

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday it has completed planned maintenance at the Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline to China.