Regulation
Despite Rejected Permit, Partners ‘Committed’ to Constitution Pipeline
Constitution Pipeline Company officials said Monday they remain steadfastly committed to pursuing the federally approved energy infrastructure project, despite the recent decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to deny a critical permit for the 124-mile Const..
Pembina Pipeline Gains Regulatory OK for Phase III Expansion
Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline received approval from the Alberta Energy Regulator for the construction of two 270-km, 24- and 16-inch pipelines between Fox Creek and Namao. The project is part of the company’s Phase 3 Expansions. Once complete, Pembina will have four pipelines in the Fox Creek-to-..
Editor's Notebook: Be Skeptical of What Anyone in the Energy Industry Says
The best advice that I offer about energy is to be skeptical of what anyone tells you. No matter what side of the political or social spectrum you fall into, everyone has got an angle they want to sell. Don’t believe any of them without checking the facts and understanding where the message is comi..
Oil Tanker Laden with North Dakota Crude Reaches Netherlands
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A petroleum tanker laden with 175,000 barrels of North Dakota crude was being offloaded in Europe on Wednesday, the first such overseas shipment of the state’s oil since Congress lifted a 40-year ban on crude exports in December. North Dakota’s congressional delegation and ind..
AGA Hails Senate Energy Bill for “Strategic Use of Our Nation’s Natural Resources”
The American Gas Association (AGA) today praised the U.S. Senate for passing the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012) which contains several provisions that would benefit natural gas customers throughout the nation, including a provision to increase energy efficiency in federal buildings. “The..
Noble Considers Selling 15 % of Leviathan Gas Field
Though a game-changing gas discovery for Israel and for the discoverer, Texas-based Noble Energy, the giant Leviathan offshore gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean has been one bureaucratic headache after another. Now reports are surfacing that the company is seeking to reduce exposure by selling ..
Texas, New Mexico Oil Producers Push for Import Limits
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Oil drilling companies and royalty owners from the Texas Panhandle to New Mexico’s stretch of the Permian Basin are embarking on a grass-roots campaign to limit foreign oil imports, salvaging what they say is a major sector of the U.S. economy. “American oil is competing ag..
Kuwait Oil Unions End 3-day Strike over Government Cutbacks
KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Oil unions in Kuwait ended a three-day strike over government cutbacks, authorities said Wednesday, though it remained unclear what concessions may have been granted to the workers amid low global crude prices. The state-run Kuwait News Agency reported that the unions ended the s..
U.S., Canadian Pipelines Endorse Program to Certify All Inspectors
The boards of directors of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the INGAA Foundation Inc., the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association and the CEPA Foundation – major pipeline trade associations in the U.S. and Canada, respectively – recently voted to endorse a program to ensure all pipel..
BLM Proposal Would Stimulate Pipeline Construction
New proposed limits on flaring and venting of natural gas from wells on federal lands could be a boon to the pipeline construction industry. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed new limits in February to reduce atmospheric emissions of methane. Kyle Danish, a partner at Van Ness Feldman, ex..
House Democrats Seek to Toughen Senate Pipeline Safety Bill
Key Republicans and Democrats in the House were determined to pass a pipeline safety bill this year, although it may have some differences with the bill just passed by the Senate. That bill is called the Securing America’s Future Energy: Protecting Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (S..
PHMSA Cites External Corrosion as Cause of Santa Barbara Spill
External corrosion on a pipeline pumping crude was the root cause of the rupture last May that spilled over 140,000 gallons of oil on the Santa Barbara coast, federal regulators reported. The spill occurred after pumps on the Plains All American Pipeline were shut down and restarted, sending a large..
SoCalGas Finally Able to Plug Leaking Injection Well
A Los Angeles-area injection well was permanently sealed on Feb. 18 and taken out of service, according to Southern California Gas. The leak was temporarily plugged earlier and SoCalGas finished pumping cement into the base of the well. Residents who were relocated to temporary housing because of th..
Pipeline Industry Needs Clarity About Canada’s Regulatory Process
Recent polling suggests Canadians recognize that pipelines are the safest way to transport oil, that the National Energy Board garners a significant amount of public trust and that Quebeckers would rather get their oil from Alberta than Saudi Arabia. And still we find ourselves engaged in a politica..
AP Source: New Rule on Offshore Drilling Safety Expected Today
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is planning to issue a final rule designed to enhance the safety of offshore oil drilling equipment. The rule, expected to be announced Thursday, comes in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 people and dumped millions of gallo..
TransCanada Resumes Oil Shipments Through Keystone Pipeline
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. has resumed sending oil through the Keystone Pipeline after a weeklong shutdown prompted by a leak and oil spill in southeastern South Dakota. The pipeline came back online Sunday, but with a reduced pressure. The company says it is continuing cleanup and ..
Sabal Trail Transmission Project Receives FERC Certificate
Sabal Trail Transmission, a joint venture of Spectra Energy Partners, NextEra Energy, and Duke Energy, received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate the Sabal Trail interstate natural gas pipeline project. ..
Judge Wants Southern California Gas Pipeline Rejected
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A judge has recommended that state regulators reject a $621-million pipeline to carry natural gas to Southern California. Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric want to build a 63-mile pipeline and pass on the cost to customers. Karl J. Bemesderfer, an..
US Judge OKs $20 Billion BP Oil Spill Settlement
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge in New Orleans granted final approval Monday to an estimated $20 billion settlement over the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation’s history. The settlement, first announced in July, in..
FERC Approves Transco’s Garden State Expansion
TULSA, OK – Williams Partners announced the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved an application for Transco’s Garden State Expansion Project, a fully contracted expansion to deliver 180,000 dekatherms a day of additional natural gas capacity for local distribution to thousands of cus..
New Pipeline Safety Proposal Contains Multiple New Requirements
Pipeline industry executives are pouring over the 500-plus page safety proposal from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an effort that will take some time before informed comments can be made. The initial comment deadline is at the end of May. “The typical 60 days in..
5 Plead Guilty to Bribery Scheme with Venezuelan Oil Company
HOUSTON (AP) — A Venezuelan national living in Florida and four other people have pleaded guilty to federal charges for a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in contracts between U.S.-based energy firms and Venezuela’s state-run oil company, prosecutors said Wednesday. Officials responsibl..
Apache Faces More Charges in Canada over Safety
The Alberta Energy Regulator said Apache could be slapped with a penalty of up to $2.5 million for a spill in northwestern Alberta two years ago. In that incident, contaminated water spilled about 40 km from Whitecourt, affecting a nearby creek. Apache has been charged on five counts under the Pipel..
Rubio Speaks Welders’ Language in NH Campaign Stop
When Sen. Marco Rubio, in a recent Republican presidential debate, argued that American colleges weren’t equipping their students for the job market, he said, “The world needs less philosophers and more welders.” That remark, picked up by the Wall Street Journal, was music to the ears of Kyle Reaga..
FERC Investigates Possible Overcharging at 4 Pipelines
It is not unprecedented for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to investigate potential overcharging at pipelines, as it announced it was doing in January. But it doesn’t happen frequently, just three other times since 2009. The agency announced Jan. 21 that it will initiate Natural Ga..
Liquid Pipeline Safety Proposal Criticized from All Sides
Reaction to the PHMSA’s proposed rule (NPRM) to tighten liquid pipeline safety regulations has run along predictable lines. The pipelines think the proposal is too expansive and expensive. The environmental community and some notable safety experts believe the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety..
Gas Line Explosions Bring New Safety Proposal
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials moved Thursday to strengthen safety rules for the nation’s 300,000-mile network of natural gas transmission pipelines in response to numerous fiery accidents, including a 2010 California explosion that killed eight people and injured more than 50. The Departmen..
Update: US Cancels Oil and Gas Lease on Montana Land Sacred to Tribe
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Obama administration on Thursday canceled a disputed oil and gas lease just outside Glacier National Park that is on land considered sacred to the Blackfoot tribes of the U.S. and Canada. The move came after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon criticized the government over ..
Federal Officials Say Bid-Rigging Goes Beyond Chesapeake’s Ex-CEO
DALLAS (AP) — As advanced drilling technology opened untapped sources of oil and natural gas, it triggered fierce competition among energy companies to scoop up rights to drill on vast swaths of land across the country. The rush caused lease prices to skyrocket in the most promising fields. In a fe..
Lawmakers Want Delay on Permit for Piping Oil Beneath River
DETROIT (AP) — Two members of Congress want the Obama administration to put the brakes on a move to allow piping of crude oil beneath the St. Clair River through lines that are nearly a century old. Houston-based Plains LPG is applying to move the oil through two pipelines that run from Marysville,..
- 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
