Operations
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.
FERC OKs Part of Gulf XPress Pipeline for Service
FERC has approved a request by TransCanada Corp's Columbia unit to put part of the company's $600 million Gulf XPress natural gas pipeline into service in Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Bakken Shale: North Dakota's Growth Engine
The Bakken Shale play has catapulted sparsely populated North Dakota to the No. 2 oil-producing state behind Texas, eclipsing historically oil-rich states such as Alaska and California.
Section of Keystone Pipeline Shut Down after Leak
TransCanada Corp said a stretch of its Keystone crude oil pipeline from Nebraska to Illinois remained shut down on Monday after a leak was discovered last week near St. Louis, Missouri.
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.
Global News
Eni’s Indonesia Gas Project may Start Up in 2021 Indonesia’s deputy energy minister said Eni aims to start output of natural gas in 2021 from its offshore Merakes project, which includes construction of subsea systems and pipelines to transport production to a floating production unit (FPU) appro..
Solutions to Liability Risks from Decommissioned Pipelines
One solution to protect pipeline companies from potential risks of their decommissioned pipelines comes from re-applying technology that proven in another sector entirely – the world of hard-rock mining.
Remote, Real-Time Monitoring Prevents Potential Problems
With utilities adding more and more residential and commercial endpoints to their distribution systems, the need to prevent and detect leaks has never been more challenging – or more critical. Thankfully, advanced technologies have emerged that allow utilities to harness new capabilities such as data analytics and remote monitoring to stay on top of leaks and address them before they create significant safety issues.
Growing Role of Digitalization in Pipeline Integrity Management
Digitalization is playing a bigger role in pipeline integrity management – in particular, relating to the threat of internal corrosion.
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..
Compressor Stations Doing the Difficult Work
An updated look at the the scope, functionality and variations of compressor stations and their essential role in the transmission of natural gas from production fields and re-gasification ports to end customers around the world.
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.
SoCalGas Asks Customers to Reduce Use, Cites Limits on Pipelines
Southern California’s gas utility extended its request for consumers to reduce natural gas use through the weekend, to avoid straining the system as cold weather lingers over the area.
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.
EAG
The EAG VOC Plus analyzer measures total VOCs from stationary sources with real-time continuous logging and multiple measurement ranges.
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..
Global News
Natural Gas Utilities Testing Demand Response Programs Demand Response (DR) programs have become a fairly common method of reducing electricity demand during summer peak periods, and now the approach is being tried by natural gas utilities – most recently due to concerns about limited pipeline capa..
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.
7 Most Important Questions to Ask a Fabricator
The process you use to select a fabricator can make or break your project. Here are some questions every company should ask before they choose a fabricator.
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.
- Phillips 66 to Shut LA Oil Refinery, Ending Major Gasoline Output Amid Supply Concerns
- Trump Aims to Revive 1,200-Mile Keystone XL Pipeline Despite Major Challenges
- FERC Sides with Williams in Texas-Louisiana Pipeline Dispute with Energy Transfer
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Pipeline Permits
- 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
- Another Major U.S. Oil Refinery Shutting Down as Lyondell Confirms Houston Closure
- Chevron CEO Wirth Under Fire as Hess Deal Delay Drags Down Stock Performance
