Pipeline
Natural Gas Infrastructure Intelligence Report
In today’s commodity environment, being aware of ongoing decisions by producers and midstream players regarding planned projects is a critical component to understanding the future natural gas infrastructure landscape. Experienced analysts collect and interpret the information to deliver a streamlined approach for understanding and quantifying the influence of planned projects on the market. Up-to-date, reliable insight into these decisions reduces blind spots for traders so they can make more informed, longer-term decisions.
World News: Algeria Reforms Laws to Attract Foreign Investment
A Today in Energy brief from the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Algeria is reforming its laws to attract foreign investment in hydrocarbons. Algeria is the third-largest oil producer in Africa, after Nigeria and Angola, and the largest natural gas producer in Africa. However, production of both oil and natural gas has declined over the past decade.
California Oil Bill Defeated at Least for Time Being
A landmark energy bill in California was watered down after facing significant opposition from the oil and gas industry. The California legislature was considering a bill that would have slashed the state’s petroleum use by 50% by 2030, but the Democrats decided to drop the provision in order to keep the larger bill alive. After seeing the bill pass the State Senate earlier this year, the legislation ran up against a deadline this week for the end of session. However, with strong opposition from the oil and gas industry, the State Assembly could not gather enough votes.
Pipe Staged Ahead of Permits for ND Oil Pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Pipe is being staged in four states for a proposed $3.8 billion pipeline from western North Dakota to Illinois. The piles of pipe are being placed in anticipation of permits for the project by regulators in the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners is proposing the pipeline that would move about 450,000 bbls of North Dakota crude daily. Officials say it's the biggest-capacity pipeline proposed to date to move North Dakota crude.
Pakistan: Work on Delayed Gas Pipeline to Start in 2015
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's prime minister said Friday that Turkmenistan will begin construction on a much-delayed gas pipeline stretching from Central Asia to South Asia by the end of the year, a project that once completed is expected to help his energy-starved Islamic nation overcome the shortage of natural gas in the years to come.
Sunoco Logistics Holding Open Season for Mariner East 2 Expansion
Sunoco Logistics Partners has begun a binding open season for its Mariner East 2 Expansion Project, which will transport petroleum products, including natural gas liquids and condensate, from processing facilities built in the liquid-rich Marcellus and Utica shale areas to Sunoco Logistics’ Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the Delaware River. The open season offers service for ethane, propane, butane, C3+, natural gasoline and condensate. Refined product movements will be considered if there is sufficient interest. The prjoect is expected to begin operations in 2017.
Pipeline Reversals and Conversions: Case Studies, Best Practices
The boom in U.S. shale plays and Canadian oil sands has provided North America with a huge new source of petrochemical and energy-generation feedstock. For the most part, the results of this “shale boom” have been quite positive. But the sudden abundance of oil and natural gas is putting pressure on North America’s existing pipeline infrastructure, which simply cannot cope with this additional demand. This pressure is compounded by the fact that most of this new oil and gas production is happening in regions not currently served by the existing pipeline infrastructure (Figure 1).
Crude Oil Swaps with Mexico Could Provide Economic, Environmental Benefits
U.S.-Mexico crude oil swaps approved last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security will likely involve exchanges of U.S. light sweet crude for Mexican heavy sour crude that is already being exported to the United States.
Editor's Notebook: Cheap Energy Brings Jobs Where There Were None
OK, I’m a sucker for natural gas. Maybe I’ve learned something these past 25 years that George Mitchell tried to explain: natural gas is the fuel of the future and can revitalize America. After I read this story off the Reuters news wire, can you blame me?
Cleanup of 2013 North Dakota Oil Spill Slowed by Lack of Natural Gas
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A state regulator said cleanup of a massive 2013 oil spill in northwestern North Dakota is being slowed due to the lack of natural gas needed to power equipment at the site. State environmental scientist Bill Suess said workers will be at the site near Tioga at least another two years baking oil from the soil using a process called thermal desorption.
Saudi Arabia Maintained Crude Market Share in Asia in First Half of 2015
In the first half of 2015, Saudi Arabia exported on average 4.4 MMbpd of crude oil to seven major trading partners in Asia, making up more than half of Saudi Arabia's total crude oil exports over that period. Even as global crude oil prices fell in 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia increased production and kept its export levels high, enabling it to maintain its market share in these countries. However, long-term trends within Saudi Arabia's energy sector may reduce its global crude oil market share.
Compression Report: Safety Emphasis Wins Exterran NSC Kudo
In the oil and gas industry, there is not and never will be a priority higher than the safety of a company’s employees. Go to any industry conference and you’ll see how seriously the topic of safety is taken. It bears repeating: safety is job one. Exterran, a Houston-based compression company, realizes that an effective safety program always starts from the top. Brad Childers, Exterran’s president and CEO, clearly understands that as does the National Safety Council (NSC) which earlier this year singled out Childers as one of just nine CEOs in the United States who do “get it.”
Lack of Alternatives Sees EU Sign New Russian Gas Deals
Several recent gas deals will tie Russia and Germany closer together. Russia’s Gazprom announced an agreement on asset swaps with European partners including OMV, BASF, E.ON and Royal Dutch Shell. The deals will kick start the Nord Stream gas pipeline expansion and also give Gazprom a greater presence in Europe, while giving several European companies assets inside Russia. For example, Austrian-based OMV will receive a 24.98% in two fields in Russia in exchange for the “participating interest in OMV.”
Waterside Energy Looks to Expand Project on Columbia River
LONGVIEW, WA (AP) — A Houston-based energy company has unveiled plans to expand its proposed energy project along the Columbia River in Longview. In addition to an $800 million proposed oil refinery, Waterside Energy said it wants to build a $450 million liquefied petroleum gas on private property. The <strong>Daily News</strong> reported that about one train a day would bring propane and butane from Canada and North Dakota to the terminal. The facility could receive up to 75,000 bpd.
Southcross Begins Open Season on Propane Pipeline System
Southcross Energy Partners launched a binding open season to solicit commitments for its recently completed 20,000 bpd propane pipeline system connecting the company's Bonnie View Fractionator to the Corpus Christi. TX area for delivery to end-use customers.
Compression Report: Trade Keeps Sharp Eye on Changing Market
It’s a topic the general public doesn’t know much about, but there would be no natural gas pipelines – hence no natural gas – without compressors. Today compression is a main topic of conversation in the industry for many reasons, environment – which includes siting, noise and emissions control – economics, and engineering/construction challenges. As the natural gas industry continues to expand and change direction, more pipelines will be built in the next few years, all dependent on compression.
Strategy Report Points to Improved Safety, Smart Pigs
With liquids pipeline incidents down by half since 1999, even as their use to transport crude oil pipeline has increased, there is little doubt among experts about what has led to this success on the safety front – preventive maintenance and integrity management programs.
Ex-Exxon Executive Discusses Lauch of 'Clean' Oil Sands Project
After decades of exhaustive attempts to overcome the dirty reputation of oil sands, we finally have an environmentally-friendly and low cost method to tap into these vast resources in the state of Utah – good news both for Mother Nature and all oil and gas investors. MCW Energy Group’s CEO, former Exxon president of the Arabian Gulf region, R. Gerald Bailey, talks about his hunt for an innovative technology that simultaneously makes money and cleans up the environment, and the race to capitalize on Utah’s vast oil sands resources.
2H Offshore Awarded Contracts for Stampede Development in Gulf
2H Offshore, an Acteon company, was awarded two separate contracts, one by Hess Corp. and a second by Enbridge Energy Co., to verify the design, fabrication and installation phases of the Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) for the Stampede field development in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is operated by Hess.
Canadas Oilfield Service Sector Battered by Low Prices
In some ways the numbers don’t look that bad. For a group of 25 diversified, publicly traded Canadian oilfield service (OFS) companies, combined revenue of nearly $9 billion in the first six months of 2015 was only 22.1% lower than $11.53 billion for the same period in 2014. With oil prices down 50 percent for the first half of 2015, a revenue decline of 22.1% looks misleadingly attractive.
Big Cities Scramble in Preparation for Possible Oil Train Disaster
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — They rumble past schools, homes and businesses in dozens of cities around the country — 100-car trains loaded with crude oil from the Upper Midwest. While railroads have long carried hazardous materials through congested urban areas, cities are now scrambling to formulate emergency plans and to train firefighters amid the latest safety threat: a fiftyfold increase in crude shipments that critics say has put millions of people living or working near the tracks at heightened risk of derailment, fire and explosion.
Clean Up of Mississippi River to Begin after Tow Boat Collision Spills Oil
COLUMBUS, Ky. (AP) — Clean up crews planned to go into the Mississippi River on Friday in Kentucky after a collision between two tow boats caused an oil spill that prompted the closure of that part of the river. The collision Wednesday evening near Columbus, KY, damaged at least one barge carrying clarified slurry oil. The cargo tank ruptured, causing thousands of gallons of oil to spill into the river, the U.S. Coast Guard said. No injuries were reported. The river was closed Thursday from mile-markers 938 to 922, Petty Officer Lora Ratliff said.
Not Everyone Is Happy About Egypts Latest Gas Discovery
The Nile has been the source of life for the people of Egypt for all of recorded history. A blue stripe down the spine of Egypt’s desert terrain, one of the earliest civilizations known to man grew and prospered for centuries along its banks. But long before the first pharaoh, the Nile was laying the groundwork for a resource that would provide for her people today, one layer of organic material at a time.
Fluor Wins Front-End Contract for Ohio Petrochemical Complex
PTT Global Chemical Public Company (PTTGC) selected a Fluor-led team to perform front-end engineering and design work for its proposed petrochemical complex in Belmont County, OH. The team includes Fluor, Technip and SK E&C. The project will encompass an ethane cracker and derivatives units by leveraging the availability of feedstock from gas taken from the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in the region to create chemical products. Front-end activities are expected to be completed in 2016.
FERC Gives Green Light for Dominions Clarington Project
Dominion Transmission Inc. received FERC approval for its Clarington project under a request filed in June 2014. Upon completion, the project will enable Dominion to provide an additional 250,000 Dth/d of firm transportation capacity, which has been contracted for by Consol Energy, under a 15-year precedent agreement. The project involves construction of two new 10,000-hop compressors at the Mullet Compressor Station in Monroe County, OH and an additional 6,000 hp of compression at the Burch Ridge Compressor Station in Marshall County, WV.
Sempra Wins Gas Transportation Contract in Mexico
Sempra Energy’s Mexican unit Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova), through its subsidiary Gasoducto de Aguaprieta S. de R. L. de C.V., has been awarded a natural gas transportation contract in Chihuahua by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The project includes a header facility with a capacity of 3 Bcf/d of natural gas and a 14-mile pipeline with a capacity of 1,135 MMcf/d. The pipeline will provide gas to the Norte III Combined Cycle Power Generation Plant and will interconnect with Gasoductos de Chihuahua, Tarahumara and Samalayuca-Sásabe pipelines.
Royal Flush? West Texas Fracking Company Uses Toilet Water to Cut Cost
It is no secret that fracking companies across the United States have been turning over every rock in the supply chain looking for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. That’s what the business requires in a downturn. But now Pioneer Natural Resources seems to be going a step further in the name of price cuts and efficiency. The firm is finding an efficient, if somewhat unconventional, source of water for use in its fracking operations – the neighbors’ toilets.
EIA Says Effects of Removing Crude Export Limits Depend on Price, Resource Assumptions
A new study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the potential implications of allowing more crude oil exports finds that effects on domestic crude oil production are key to determining the other effects of a policy change. Gasoline prices would be either unchanged or slightly reduced. Trade in crude oil and petroleum products would also be affected.
In the News: Crude Oil Prices Poised to Drop Further
Since the oil price collapse, global oil production has risen, not fallen. Since the fateful Nov. 27, 2014 OPEC meeting, aggregate production from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Iraq is up 2 MMbop/d – far more than demand. November is also when the U.S. inadvertently became the swing oil producer. Prices have not yet fallen far enough or for long enough for an appreciable U.S. supply adjustment to occur. It may not be far off, especially if oil prices fall further with new Iranian supplies, says a study from IHS Energy that notes:
Shell President Says Exploratory Drilling off Alaska Going Well
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The president of Shell Oil Co. said exploratory drilling off Alaska's northwest coast is going well despite stormy weather last week that caused the company to halt operations for a few days. And in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press Marvin Odum said he expects further protests against the company's plans for Arctic drilling like the ones in Seattle and Portland where activists in kayaks tried to block Shell vessels.
- 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
