Regulation
New Pipeline Safety Bill Heads for House Passage; Senate Bill Waiting
Two House committees passed nearly identical pipeline safety bills. Once combined into a single piece of legislation, the House will work with the Senate, which previously passed a bill, to come up with a single version for President Obama’s signature. All three bills pale beside the 2011 pipeline b..
Securing Pipeline Capacity in Today’s Turbulent Gas Markets
The combination of hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling technology has revolutionized domestic gas markets. Pipelines have been scrambling to expand, reconfigure and modify their systems in response. Prospective shippers, faced with these changes, benefit from an often unprecedented multitude ..
National Energy Board Starts the Clock on Energy East Pipeline Project
The National Energy Board (NEB) is starting the clock on one of the most innovative hearings in the NEB’s history. The NEB’s review of the Energy East Pipeline Project will include opportunities for the general public to provide their input and for hearing participants to orally question the applica..
Law Requires Tougher Standards for Great Lakes Pipelines
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – Congress has ordered stronger safety measures for pipelines carrying oil and other fuels in the Great Lakes region. The requirement is contained in a bill that cleared the Senate on Monday and the House last week. It now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. ..
Williams-Energy Transfer Merger Passes Muster – with Conditions
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Thursday that Energy Transfer Equity (ETD) and The Williams Companies will divest Williams’ interest in an interstate natural gas pipeline to settle claims that ETE’s proposed acquisition of Williams would likely harm competition in Florida. The proposed merg..
House Unanimously Passes Pipeline Safety Act
The House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill reauthorizing the Federal Pipeline Safety Oversight Board. It now goes back to the Senate where it already passed on voice vote in its initial version. The legislation, known as the PIPES Act, would change PHMSA safety policies by adding greater tr..
Senate Committee to Examine Oil and Gas Pipeline Infrastructure Next Week
On June 14, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will conduct a hearing to examine oil and gas pipeline infrastructure and the economic, safety, environmental, permitting, construction, and maintenance considerations associated with such infrastructure. The hearing will be broadcast li..
Iowa Board Votes to Allow Pipeline Work to Begin in State
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas company may begin construction on an oil pipeline in areas for which the company has approval but is not under federal jurisdiction, the Iowa Utilities Board said Monday despite opposition from environmental and citizen action organizations and landowners who are suin..
NEB Says Mackenzie Gas Project Still in Public Interest
The National Energy Board (NEB) will move the sunset clauses for the Mackenzie Gas Project’s Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and Mackenzie Gathering System to Dec. 31, 2022. The extension to the sunset clause for the pipeline does not come into effect until it is approved by the federal government. In a ..
Exelon to Retire Illinois Nuclear Plants Early
Exelon Corporation will shut down the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, respectively. The two plants have lost a combined $800 million in the past seven years, despite being two of Exelon’s best-performing facilities. Exelon cited lack of progress on Illinois ene..
PG&E Fined $24.3 Million for Poor Record Keeping on Gas Pipelines
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — State regulators are seeking $24.3 million in penalties from California’s largest utility for failing to maintain accurate records of its natural gas distribution system. The California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday that it has already fined Pacific Gas and Ele..
Colorado's New, Higher Oil and Gas Fines Are Biting Industry
Colorado is imposing heftier fines on energy companies as the state struggles to resolve conflicts between growing cities and big oilfields at their doorstep, an Associated Press analysis shows. Regulators say the tougher penalties for breaking health, safety and environmental rules are pro..
Electronic Reporting to OSHA for Utilities and Construction
The new requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just keep coming. A few months ago, it was the silica final rule. Now the agency says companies will have to send injury and illness reports which they already prepare to the agency in electronic form. The rule has di..
France Tapping Fuel Stocks as Strikes Cause Gas Shortages
PARIS (AP) — France has started using its fuel reserves to deal with gasoline shortages caused by strikes and protests over a bill weakening worker protections. Unions are targeting the nation’s gas tanks, railroads and electricity network this week as they try to push the government to drop the la..
Shell: Pipeline Fixed after California Oil Spill
Officials at Shell Oil Co. say crews have repaired an underground pipeline after it broke and spilled up to 21,000 gallons of oil in rural Northern California. Company spokesman Ray Fisher said Tuesday that workers are running small amounts of oil through the pipeline to test it and are working on ..
BP Faces Setback in World’s Largest Unexplored Oil Basin
As if the current oil markets weren’t tough enough for producers, companies are increasingly finding that regulators are making it harder to drill new sources of oil. For instance, BP was recently told by regulators that it will need to revise and resubmit its plan to explore for oil off of the Sout..
New Hampshire a Big Step Closer to Getting $236 Million from Exxon
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire is a big step closer to getting a $236 million judgment after the U.S. Supreme Court said this week it wouldn’t hear Exxon Mobil’s appeal regarding its use of a gasoline additive that contaminated groundwater in the state. The case involved MTBE, or methyl tertiar..
Former Brazil Energy Minister New CEO at Troubled Petrobras
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian energy minister Pedro Parente has been named by acting President Michel Temer as the new CEO of state-run oil giant Petrobras. Parente was picked Thursday to replace Aldemir Bendine, an appointee of now suspended President Dilma Rousseff. The new Petrobras CEO..
Canada Regulators OK Pipeline Expansion Project
SEATTLE (AP) — Canada energy regulators on Thursday recommended approval of a pipeline-expansion project that would dramatically increase the number of oil tankers moving through the waters between the U.S. and Canada. The National Energy Board recommended the federal government conditionally appro..
PHMSA: Pipeline Company Failed to Detect California Oil Spill
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An oil pipeline company responsible for a massive spill on the California coast a year ago didn’t do enough to prevent corrosion and its operators didn’t detect and react to the spill quickly enough, federal regulators said Thursday. Plains All American Pipeline also didn’t have ..
US High Court Won’t Touch $236 Million Verdict in ExxonMobil Pollution Case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will not hear Exxon Mobil’s appeal of a $236 million judgment for its use of a gasoline additive that contaminated groundwater in New Hampshire. The court’s order Monday leaves in place a jury verdict involving contamination by the chemical MTBE. Exxon Mobil wan..
Gas Utilities Launch New EPA Program to Reduce Emissions
In their latest effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 37 AGA-member natural gas utilities launched the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program on March 30, whereby oil and gas companies can make and track commitments to reduce emissions and showcase eff..
US Proposes to Cut Methane from Oil, Gas by Nearly Half
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration issued a final rule Thursday to sharply cut methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas production, a key part of a push by President Barack Obama to reduce methane emissions by nearly half over the next decade. The rule by the Environmental Protection Agency ..
2015 U.S. Energy-Related CO2 Emissions 12% Lower Than in 2005
After increasing in 2013 and in 2014, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell in 2015. In 2015, U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were 12% below the 2005 levels, mostly because of changes in the electric power sector. Energy-related CO2 emissions can be reduced by consuming le..
PHMSA Extends Comment Period for Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) pushed back the deadline for comments on the proposed natural gas transmission rule until July 7. The proposed regulations would update critical safety requirements for natural gas transmission pipelines and expand risk-based safety..
Cost Estimate of Los Angeles-Area Gas Leak Reaches $665 Million
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The estimated cost of a massive gas well blowout that spewed methane uncontrollably for nearly four months and uprooted 8,000 Los Angeles families has more than doubled to $665 million, Sempra Energy announced Wednesday. San Diego-based Sempra had estimated costs of $330 million ..
Enbridge Predicts $62 Million in Fines, Penalties Tied to Oil Spill
MARSHALL, Mich. (AP) — A pipeline company says it expects $62 million in fines and penalties related to a 2010 Michigan oil spill. In a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Enbridge says $55 million represents penalties under federal water law. The Alberta-based company says n..
Bakken Formation the Source of Global Uptick in Air Pollution
WASHINGTON (AP) — An oil and natural gas field in the western United States is largely responsible for a global uptick of the air pollutant ethane, according to a new study. The team led by researchers at the University of Michigan found that fossil fuel production at the Bakken Formation in North ..
Court Blocks Houston from Using Tougher Clean-Air Laws Targeting Refineries
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s efforts to use local clean air laws to regulate pollution in the home of the nation’s largest petrochemical complex were halted Friday by a Texas Supreme Court ruling in favor of energy and chemical companies that claimed the city had overreached. The coalition made up of E..
Methane Studies Guide Provides Fact-based Insight for Policy Decisions, Natural Gas Leaders Say
Leaders of the Natural Gas Council (NGC) today released an independent, objective and fact-based guide to more than 70 different analyses of methane emissions from natural gas systems. The report, ‘Finding the Facts on Methane Emissions: A Guide to the Literature,’was authored by ICF International a..
- 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
