Pipeline
Apache Resists Unsolicited Takeover Bid
Apache Corporation, a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company, says it has fended off an unsolicited takeover bid, and will continue to defend against follow up attempts to buy out the company. Bloomberg reported the news, and thus far the bidder has not been identified. The company’s shares jumped on the news, up more than 10% during midday trading Monday. Apache is worth about $18 billion, so if a takeover were to occur, it would be the largest for an independent oil and gas company this year.
Study: Dispersants Failed to Help Oil Degrade in BP Spill
WASHINGTON — The chemical sprayed on the 2010 BP oil spill may not have helped crucial petroleum-munching microbes get rid of the slick, a new study suggested. And that leads to more questions about where much of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill went. If the new results are true, up to half the oil can't be accounted for, said the author of a new study on the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Willbros Wins 2 Projects in Atlantic Seaboard Area
Willbros Group announced its utility technology and development segment won two projects with a total contract value of about $29 million. One project is for the installation of 115KVA duct bank in a congested urban setting and is expected to be underway in January 2016, taking a year to complete. The second project is the for replacement of steel and plastic gas mains, and about 1,900 gas service connections, also in an urban setting, with work beginning first quarter of 2016 and finishing in 2017.
Analysis: Polarized Politics Dictated Obama Keystone Call
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's decision to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline has exposed an endlessly polarized Washington, and likely hardened its divides. Obama is now being praised to the skies by environmentalists and most Democrats, and denounced in apocalyptic terms by Republicans and the business community. And although environmental issues once produced bipartisan agreement in Congress, consensus on action to increase energy production or deal with climate change looks farther away than ever.
Latin America Forced to Face Growing Supply-Demand Gap
Latin America’s prominence on the world gas stage has increased over the last several years. Although it is well-endowed with natural gas resources, the region has struggled to find its footing as both a natural gas producer and consumer. Consequently, Latin America’s potential as a natural gas import province is the topic of increasingly animated debate.
North Dakota Losing Appeal Among Drillers, Refiners
The performance of <em>Blood & Oil,</em> a soap opera based on the North Dakota oil boom, is not going well. The show saw its episodes trimmed by ABC amid tepid viewer interest. But the real life Bakken is also suffering from a lack of interest, a development that doesn’t bode well for the oil-producing region. The Bakken had been a key part of the U.S. shale boom over the past half-decade. But production peaked at 1.22 MMbpd in December 2014. Since then production has bounced around, with month-to-month fluctuations, but is slightly down from that high point reached almost a year ago.
Natural Gas Market Dynamics in the Northeast
Natural gas markets have gone topsy-turvy. Until recently, prices around the country were generally pretty similar, with gas costing a bit more in the Northeast, far from where it was produced on the Gulf of Mexico coast. But that reality has changed dramatically in the last few years.
1,000 Barrels of Crude Spill from Pipeline in Rural Oklahoma
BILLINGS, Okla. (AP) — A Tulsa-based pipeline company says about 1,000 barrels of crude oil has spilled from a pipeline in rural Oklahoma. Bruce Heine, a spokesman for Magellan Midstream Partners, said in an email Friday the oil was released about 6 p.m. Thursday from a Magellan pipeline that stretches from Enid to Ponca City. He said the spill occurred in a rural area near Billings and no injuries occurred.
ROSEN Rolls Out Mobile Pipeline Diagnostics Units
ROSEN rolled out its much-anticipated R3 Service – which stands for responsive, rapid and reliable – before a large gathering of inquisitive industry executives and operators Oct. 28 in Houston. At the center of the new service is a fleet of high-end mobile diagnostics units capable of carrying all the diagnostic equipment necessary to sites throughout the United States.
Killing Keystone XL, Obama Says Pipeline Not in US Interests
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama rejected an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline Friday after 7 years of federal review, declaring the proposed project wouldn't serve U.S. national interests and would have undercut America's global leadership on climate change.
Laney Finds Pushing Pipe Has Its Advantages
Laney Directional Drilling, which last year used Direct Pipe technology to make an underground pipeline crossing through wetlands in the Northeast feasible, explained the process to attendees at a symposium on Oct. 14 in Houston. Direct Pipe is a single-pass process that uses a steerable tunnel-boring “pipe thruster” to push pipe into place, while at the same time filling the void as it progresses. The process, according to Laney, is highly advantageous when crossing levees and environmentally sensitive areas.
With a Chill in the Air, Thoughts in New England Turn to Heating Bills
As winter approaches, the hot topic of conversation in the Northeast once again becomes the looming frigid temperatures and accompanying burdensome cost of heating homes and offices along with powering manufacturing plants. With this in mind, the Access Northeast project developers plan to upgrade existing pipeline facilities and market area storage assets in New England to deliver – on peak days – up to 1 Bcf/d of natural gas for electric-generation markets.
State Dept. Rejects TransCanada Request for Keystone Delay
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it is continuing a review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite a request by the project's developer to suspend the review. If granted, a delay could have put off a decision on the high-profile project until the next president takes office in 2017. President Barack Obama has yet to say whether he would approve or reject the pipeline, but the Democrats running for president have all said they oppose it while Republican candidates support it.
AP Exclusive: CA Governor Had State Workers Research Oil on His Family's Ranch
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown last year directed state oil and gas regulators to research, map and report back on any mining and oil drilling potential and history at the Brown family's private land in Northern California.
Combating Noise in Gas Pipeline Transmission
Pipelines have been established for many years as the simplest and most economical way to transport high quantities of natural gas over long distances, moving gas from new shale fields and other production sources to LNG stations, local utilities, industrial plants and natural gas–fired electric power plants. Natural gas pipelines only consume an average of 2-3% of the gas’s potential energy to overcome frictional losses along the route, making them more cost-effective than the use of road or rail transport.
Michels, Precision Pipeline Awarded Contracts for Dakota Access Pipeline
Dakota Access Pipeline, LLC has awarded Michels Pipeline Construction, a Division of Michels Corporation, and Precision Pipeline, LLC construction contracts for multiple segments along the 1,134-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. Once completed, the project will transport light sweet crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, IL where shippers will be able to access multiple markets, including Midwest, East Coast and Gulf Coast regions.
Keystone Backers Look to Obama's Successor to Make the Call
WASHINGTON (AP) — The company pleading for permission to build the Keystone XL pipeline looked beyond President Barack Obama on Tuesday in apparent hopes a future Republican president would green-light the project. But the administration signaled it was in no mood to hand off the decision to the winner of the 2016 election.
Why Carbon Capture, Storage not Taken Off Yet
For all of the talk about green energy one fact still remains clear: fossil fuels are going to continue to be used in enormous quantities for decades to come. From China and India to the United States and Canada, the world is flooded with growing markets looking for new sources of fossil fuels and developed markets coming up with new ways to extract those fossil fuels. India, for instance, is on track to double its use of coal as a main source of energy over the next 20 years.
ILI Offers Technology that Will Continue to Advance
There are about 3.5 million kilometers of oil and gas pipelines worldwide needing regular cleaning, inspection and maintenance, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA).
TransCanada Asks US to Suspend Pipeline Application Review
TORONTO (AP) — After waiting seven years for a decision, the company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas has asked the U.S. State Department to suspend its review of the project. The move comes as the Obama administration increasingly appeared likely to reject the pipeline permit application. TransCanada said Monday it had sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting that the State Department suspend its review of the pipeline application. Until recently, it would have been unimaginable for the Calgary, Alberta-based company to ask for a delay.
US Propane Exports Increasing, Reaching More Distant Markets
As U.S. propane production has increased and domestic demand has remained relatively flat, the United States has transitioned from being a net propane importer to a net exporter. Facilitated by rapid expansion in the capacity to export domestic supply, propane exports from the United States are changing traditional propane trade patterns across the globe.
Vallourec to Supply 14,000 Tons of Pipe for Deepwater Project
Vallourec has deliveries totaling 14,000 tons of premium tubes in the scope of a contract with Hess Corp. for the Stampede project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Stampede is a deepwater subsea development located in the Green Canyon Block area, 115 miles south of Fourchon, LA.
In the News: California Tightens Responses to Future Energy Spills
Just months after a pipeline rupture dumped 20,000 gallons of oil into the ocean on Oct. 8 near Santa Barbara, CA, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a package of bills aimed at preventing and better responding to future spills. Brown said he signed the bills “in order to more fully protect our inland and coastal communities and environments from the harm of oil spills.”
Midstream Segment Boosts 3rd Quarter Deal Activity, According to PwC US
HOUSTON – Megadeals in the midstream segment dominated U.S. oil and gas deal value despite a slow-down in capital markets in the third quarter of 2015, according to PwC US. In total, there were 14 midstream deals accounting for $63.5 billion in the third quarter of 2015, or 70% of overall deal value.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline to Build $5 Billion Natural Gas System
Four major U.S. companies – Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources – formed Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC to build a $5 billion interstate natural gas pipeline. The 564-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) will be capable of delivering up to 1.5 MMbcf/d of gas that will be used to generate electricity, heat homes and run local businesses in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
Nepal Turns to China for Fuel after India Restricts Supply
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Fuel-starved Nepal has signed an agreement with China to import gasoline, diesel and cooking gas, effectively ending a monopoly on supply from India, which has restricted fuel convoys as a result of political protests in the Himalayan nation. The decision to import Chinese oil amid severe shortages has brought China a step closer to Nepal, which traditionally is more influenced by India in the south. The two Asian giants have been jostling for influence in landlocked Nepal.
Mexico Gains Final Permission for US Crude Oil Imports
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. has given Mexico final permission to import about 75,000 barrels of light crude per day from north of the border. In return, Mexico will send heavier crude to U.S. Gulf coast refineries. The permit applies for one year. Mexico's state-owned Pemex oil company said Wednesday the arrangement will allow better logistics and refinery use, and reduce transport costs. Mexico is a major crude oil exporter, but sometimes is squeezed to produce refined products like gasoline. In August, the U.S. lifted a decades-old ban on crude oil exports.
Why Does Firewood Cost so Much? Fracking's Part of It
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Northeasterners who are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for firewood this season can add a new scapegoat to the roster of usual market forces: fracking. Yep, a timber industry representative in New Hampshire said those hydraulic fracturing well sites in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation to suck natural gas out of the ground are using construction "mats" made of hardwood logs — think of the corduroy roads seen in sepia-toned photographs from the 1800s — to get heavy equipment over mucky ground, wetlands or soft soils.
Is Oil Trending? How Twitter Influences Oil Price Volatility
Crude oil prices don't care what's #trending. Just as negativity lingers, volatility breeds more volatility. Wild periods repeat and feed upon themselves. In the global marketplace, dramatic swings in Asia can spread to the West with ferocity.
United Arab Emirates Plans to Increase Crude Oil, Natural Gas Production
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the world's sixth-largest oil producer in 2014, and the second-largest producer of petroleum and other liquids inOPEC, behind only Saudi Arabia. Because the prospects for further oil discoveries in the UAE are low, the UAE is relying on the application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in mature oil fields to increase production.
- 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. 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
