Regulation
Not If But When: CERAWeek On Cybersecurity
Oil and gas companies need to change their perspective on cybersecurity initiatives from one of incident-based response to a holistic approach more analogous to counterintelligence to prevent espionage, said experts attending IHS CERAWeek 2013, March 4-8. A two-part strategy to decrease exposure and mitigate possible consequences was recommended for a realm where the consensus was that some degree of infiltration is nearly inevitable.
Obama Draft EIS On Keystone XL Leans Toward Project Approval
The Obama administration's positive draft environmental impact statement on the final, four-state legs of the Keystone XL pipeline appears to set approval by the State Department on an exorable path. The draft EIS cleared away the major roadblock: concerns that greenhouse gas emissions from extraction of tar sands in Alberta would be unacceptable. It also found no problem with a new route TransCanada developed to avoid passing through a vulnerable aquifer in the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Elements Of An Engineering-Based Integrity Management Program
Establishing pipeline integrity requires identifying specific threats, understanding their relationship to the condition of the pipeline, and establishing what mitigative measures are appropriate to assure integrity. The pipeline industry has relied on many years of research and experience to develop a set of tools to perform qualitative analyses of pipeline integrity. With the implementation of the Integrity Management Program (IMP) by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA), the analysis methods and results must be defendable and documented.
California General Plans: What They Mean For Legacy Pipeline Management
Comprehensive land use planning gives local residents and interested stakeholders a chance to influence the management of future, anticipated community growth. But for pipeline owners, this planning process can carry other benefits and risks.
TransCanadas Gulf Coast Project Halfway Home; Service Expected This Year
Work on the 485-mile Gulf Coast Project pipeline has already progressed past the halfway point on all three of its spreads with TransCanada expecting the 36-inch pipe to be in service by the end of the year.
NiSource Outlines Long-Term Infrastructure Investment Plans
Following FERC approval of a customer settlement, NiSource’s Columbia Gas Transmission outlined plans for a five-year comprehensive pipeline infrastructure investment plan.
PHMSA Pressured to Turn on Pipeline Valves Rulemaking
A Columbia Gas & Transmission Corp. pipeline leak in West Virginia in December has reignited the debate over installation of automatic shutoff valves (ASVs) and remote control valves (RCVs) as a means of quickly limiting the potentially disastrous effects of a pipeline explosion and subsequent fire. The fire in Sissonville destroyed three homes and closed a section of a major highway for 14 hours.
Cyber Security And SCADA In Critical Infrastructure
Ensuring the stability and protection of critical infrastructure is essential to the nation's public health and safety, security, economic strength and way of life. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently revealed a rash of cyber attacks on natural gas pipeline companies.
Pipeline Operators Ask FERC To Protect Financing Of New Construction
The Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) wants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) fix a brewing dispute threatening billions of dollars in infrastructure projects.
DOE LNG Report Opens Door To Liquefaction Approvals
The Department of Energy published a report from NERA Economic Consulting which concludes unlimited exports of U.S. LNG will help the U.S. economy, and the greater the exports, the greater the public good.
Industry Veterans Weigh In On Oil And Gas Development Internationally, Post-Election
Increasing production and continuing opportunity for the oil and gas markets were the focus of “A New World of Opportunity,” Deloitte’s 2012 oil and gas conference held Nov. 13 in Houston.
Recognizing Benefits Of Pipeline Alarm Management
Whenever new regulations are introduced into any industry, they can be challenging as companies work to understand them, put together compliance plans, find technical solutions and identify the right processes and resources to help implement solutions.
Industry Leaders Evaluate Gas Utility Trends
With the continued growth of natural gas as a key ingredient in the nation’s fuel mix comes increased focus on operational excellence as federal and state regulators and lawmakers closely monitor utilities to ensure they are not just properly maintaining their vast networks, but also working pro-actively to ensure the public’s well-being.
National Election Brings Time For Critical Energy Decisions
Decision-making in important national areas and politics mix like oil and water! Got rid of the politics for the time being – not really, but it is not as pertinent – so it is decision-making time for the government in the energy sector. Big decisions are waiting to be made in this very important part of the national agenda.
LNG Contracts Require Require Diligence, Caution
As natural gas prices in the United States approach their lowest point in a decade, several companies are in the early stages of developing liquefaction terminals to facilitate LNG exports.[1] Capacity at or output from these facilities is being snapped up by customers and buyers long before the facilities themselves are completed.
Industry Speaks Out On PHMSAs Penalty Proposals And Other Actions
Pipeline groups are unhappy with the way the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is interpreting the new penalty authority Congress provided it under the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, which went into effect in January.
Societal Risk Criteria And Pipelines
While the discussion of societal risk criteria for the process industry began in the 1970s - led primarily by the Dutch and British governments - the literature on the societal risk of hazardous goods transportation, particularly by pipeline, has been much more limited. For fixed facilities, F-N curves and individual risk calculations are broadly used to assess the risk to the general public.
TransCanada Updates Keystone XL Route
TransCanada Corporation announced on Sept. 5 that it has submitted a Supplemental Environmental Report (SER) to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) for the preferred alternative route for the Keystone XL Pipeline in Nebraska.
Obama Drilling Expansion In Alaska Falls Short For Some
ConocoPhillips Alaska, among the most active companies exploring for oil and gas in northern Alaska, found a lot not to like in the Obama administration decision in mid-August with regard to development of the 22.8 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Pipeline Records Verification Compliance Questions For Operators
More than 2.5 million miles of pipelines, including 300,000 miles of gas transmission lines, criss-cross the U.S., carrying natural gas and a host of hazardous liquids that fuel the nation’s economy.
Editor's Notebook: The Watkins Legacy
Perhaps you read the obituary. On July 26 retired Admiral James D. Watkins died at age 85. What you should know is this: he was the best Secretary of Energy this country has ever had and was a very important person to our industry.
NTSB Blames Enbridge For Failures To Comply With Federal Law; But IM Rule Often Unclear
The July 10, 2012 preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on the major oil leak from an Enbridge pipeline in Michigan in July 2010 faults the company's operational and training procedures in numerous instances.
Anadarkos Great Natural Buttes Project Wins Approval
In support of President Obama’s energy strategy and the administration’s goal of continuing to expand responsible oil and gas production, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved a major natural gas project in Utah’s Uinta Basin.
Industry Concerned About PHMSA Leak And Valve Studies
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is about to embark on two studies which will be used by Congress to tee up (or not) new safety requirements related to leak detection and automatic and remote controlled shut-off valves (ASV/RCV). But gas transmission, distribution and hazardous liquid pipeline companies and their trade associations are uncomfortable with some of the parameters the PHMSA wants to set. For example, Jeffrey L. Maples, Director, Gas Operations, Paiute Pipeline Company, argues that PHMSA has broadened the two studies to include gas distribution pipelines.
PHMSA Proposes Largest Civil Penalty To Date Against Enbridge for 2010 Michigan Oil Spill
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed on July 2 a record $3.7 million civil penalty and 24 enforcement actions against Enbridge Energy for the July 25, 2010, crude oil spill near Marshall, MI.
Kinder Morgan Gets FTC Approval For El Paso Acquisition
Kinder Morgan, Inc. has received approval for its pending acquisition of El Paso Corp. from the Federal Trade Commission, subject to divestiture of certain Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. assets. The FTC terminated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act waiting period, clearing the way for the companies to close the transaction as anticipated in late May.
Homeland Security Investigates Cyber Attacks On Gas Pipelines
There has been an "active series" of cyber attacks on natural gas pipeline companies' computer networks over the past four months, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Shale Boom Continues To Drive New Pipeline Construction
In an interview with Pipeline & Gas Journal, David Sheehan, chairman of Tulsa-based Sheehan Pipe Line Construction Company, the nation’s oldest pipeline construction firm, offered his perspective on the impact of the shale boom on near-term pipeline construction, what is needed to reassure the public that shale development is safe and the possibility of future restrictive environmental regulations.
PHMSA Proposes Metrics For State Damage Prevention Laws
The Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) took the next step in its, so far, six-year effort to step in when states fail to punish excavators who damage pipelines.
Natural Gas Affecting Plans For Nuclear Power Plants
The Wall Street Journal reports a cheaper, less risky alternative is dealing a harsh blow to the U.S. nuclear industry. The nuclear industry seemed to be staging a comeback several years ago with 15 power companies proposing as many as 29 new reactors. Today, only two projects are moving off the drawing board, the Journal noted.
- Trump Aims to Revive 1,200-Mile Keystone XL Pipeline Despite Major Challenges
- Valero Considers All Options, Including Sale, for California Refineries Amid Regulatory Pressure
- ConocoPhillips Eyes Sale of $1 Billion Permian Assets Amid Marathon Acquisition
- ONEOK Agrees to Sell Interstate Gas Pipelines to DT Midstream for $1.2 Billion
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- U.S. LNG Export Growth Faces Uncertainty as Trump’s Tariff Proposal Looms, Analysts Say
- Tullow Oil on Track to Deliver $600 Million Free Cash Flow Over Next 2 Years
- Energy Transfer Reaches FID on $2.7 Billion, 2.2 Bcf/d Permian Pipeline
- GOP Lawmakers Slam New York for Blocking $500 Million Pipeline Project
- Texas Oil Company Challenges $250 Million Insurance Collateral Demand for Pipeline, Offshore Operations
