Workforce
5 Workers Hurt in Houston-Area Natural Gas Line Explosion
Five workers have been injured when a natural gas line exploded in a residential neighborhood southeast of Houston. The blast occurred as a CenterPoint Energy contractor was working along a line Thursday.
Blast Injures 14 on Saipem-Operated Ship in Caspian Sea
An explosion occurred Wednesday evening on the vessel “Israfil Huseynov” operated by Saipem for pipelaying in the Caspian Sea in the framework of the Shah Deniz II project.
Congress Begins to Consider Changes to Pipeline Safety Law
Stephen Barlas, Contributing Editor, Washington, D.C. Congress had its first hearings in April in both the House and Senate on reauthorization of the Pipeline Safety Act, which loses its current authority Sept. 30, 2019. There will perhaps be some new safety requirements passed given that both De..
Letter from PRCI President Cliff Johnson: Investing in Research to Improve Pipeline Safety
Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) exists as a way for its members, who are pipeline operators, service providers and other industry stakeholders, to collectively and collaboratively, conduct research, develop, and evaluate new and emerging technologies that have the potential to improve..
Controller Alertness over the Shift
By Michele Terranova and Alicia Gibson, Pipeline Performance Group, LLC How alert are your controllers at work? Are they wide-awake, exhibiting signs of liveliness and enthusiasm at all hours of the day and night? Being alert and vigilant on the job is essential to the controller’s job. Controller..
New AGA Chair Stresses Raising the Bar on Safety
Togerson When James Torgerson was studying accounting at Cleveland State University in Ohio, he was working full-time to pay his way, driving a tractor-trailer rig hauling steel. It was tough, but it led to a position with the Diamond Shamrock C..
CostTrax
CostTrax CostTrax, powered by EquipmentWatch, is a new software solution for construction project owners that streamlines reporting, automatically flags questionable expenses and ensures reimbursement request is 100% compliant. CostTrax is entirely web-based and requires no software download. It ca..
Pure Safety Group
Pure Safety Group Pure Safety Group (PSG) unveiled its Guardian Fall Protection S1 safety harness, which is the first in a series of innovative new harnesses designed with three levels of features for various work scenarios. All harnesses meet OSHA standards, while exceedi..
PHMSA and Advisory Group Finalizing New Safety Program
A Voluntary Information Sharing (VIS) advisory group, working with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), voted to recommend a new, industry-wide safety reporting program in which employees, in a “no-fear” environment, would report pipeline operational and infrastructure risks and hazards. Reports would be “de-identified” and centralized. The goal is that potential problems would be found and corrected before they worsened, possibly becoming emergency situations.
PPI President Discusses Growth, Challenges of Plastic Pipe Industry
PG&J talks to Tony Radoszewski of the Plastics Pipe Institute about opportunities and challenges of supplying plastic pipe to the boom-and-bust oil and gas industry.
Human-Centric Approach to Improving Pipeline NDE Reliability
Non-destructive evaluation is essential to assure long-term integrity of existing pipelines, and human performance is a key element of the NDE process. This article summarizes an effort to identify human performance factors that influence NDE measurements and reliability.
Creating a Labor Force in Your Own Back Yard
After struggling to find qualified new hires, Consumers Energy worked in partnership with third-party union training provider Power for America to offered the Utility Military Assistance Program – a three-week unpaid training program for military veterans and active reservist/guard members.
NACE President Looks to Bolster Corrosion Education
NACE International’s president for 2018, Jeffrey Didas, discusses corrosion education and other issues of importance to the organization in its 75th anniversary year.
Honeywell
Honeywell's hands-free, wearable, connected plant technology features a head-mounted visual display that responds to voice and brings live data, documents, work procedures and health and safety information into view.
SGA Chair Caron Lawhorn on a Mission to Raise Industry’s Voice
Southern Gas Association Chair Caron Lawhorn is on a mission to give the natural gas industry a bigger voice in the national conversation on energy efficiency and sustainability.
Improving Your Company’s Safety Culture
Pipeline companies have a responsibility to protect the general public and the environment by managing critical infrastructure assets safely. How safe a pipeline is has to do with its equipment, control systems and procedures, as well as with the culture the company operating the pipeline and its employees exude.
Report: US, Canada Need $800 Billion in Midstream Infrastructure Investment Through 2035
The United States and Canada will require annual average natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids midstream infrastructure investment of about $44 billion per year, or a total of $791 billion over the 18-year period from 2018 through 2035, a new study finds.
Global Mobility Attracts Millennials
89% of millennial respondents to the recent Global Energy Talent Index are open to an international move.
API, Union Launch Pipeline Safety Training Program
Pipeline construction safety training program established that combines the best practices of both the U.S. oil and gas industry and building trades unions.
Ex-White House Staffer Contracted to Promote Alaska LNG Project
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Former White House communications director Mike Dubke has been contracted to help promote the Alaska gas line project. Alaska Public Media reported Monday that Dubke, through his company Black Rock Group, has a $15,000-a-month contract to advise the state-owned Alaska Gasli..
AGA’s Young Professionals Program: Developing a New Generation of Global Industry Leaders
Lori Traweek is in her 25th year at the American Gas Association (AGA), where she now serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer. Among her vast responsibilities in this role, she’s responsible for making sure the association is ready and ab..
Study: Union Construction Jobs Expected to Increase in 2017
The Association of Union Constructors has released its third-annual 2017 Union Craft Labor Supply report, the only union-specific study focusing on construction and maintenance. According to the report, contractors, labor representatives and owner-clients in the union construction and maintenan..
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..
Baltimore Gas and Electric Continues to Accelerate Natural Gas Infrastructure Replacement
Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) continues to modernize the natural gas system serving customers in central Maryland, replacing more than 52 miles of gas mains in the first two full years under the company’s Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) plan. Another 45 miles of ga..
U.S. Steel Idling 2 Plants, Cutting Jobs
The country’s second-biggest producer of steel is dismissing as many as 770 workers and shuttering two plants that make tubes used in oil drilling as energy companies cut production. U.S. Steel may cut as many as 450 union-represented jobs at its Lone Star Tubular Operations in eastern Texas and 20..
Employment Specialist Offers Advice to Managers
Special to Pipeline & Gas Journal These are certainly difficult times for the oil and gas industry, and unfortunately there is no quick end in sight for this downturn. Because this is a cyclical industry, hard decisions have to be made by management trying to protect their stressed operations. Tho..
50,000 Laid Off In Saudi Arabia As Oil Crisis Bites Deeper
Saudi construction giant Binladin group has laid off tens of thousands of workers, leading to rare protests, as workers torch seven buses demanding compensation as low oil prices begin to bite in earnest. The numbers of layoffs range from 50,000 to 77,000, many of who say they were not paid for sev..
Adjusting to Life – and Leaner Wallets – after Gas Boom
TOWANDA, Pa. (AP) — Jami Patel spends long hours behind the front desk of a nearly empty motel, desperate for someone, anyone, to check in. Hardly anyone ever does, not since the once-booming natural gas industry pulled up stakes amid a prolonged, severe slump in energy prices. “I don’t know how mu..
Once Wedded to Oil, Houston Economy Carries on Despite Bust
HOUSTON (AP) — Amanda Salazar watched for a year as colleagues at the Houston-based oil rig manufacturer where she worked lost jobs, victims of the latest oil bust. She realized it was time for a change before she too got a pink slip. So Salazar left her job as a software trainer with National Oi..
As Oil Slides, Many Determined to Stay Put in North Dakota
WILLISTON, ND (AP) — Kennedy Mugemuzi is done moving. After leaving Congo to live in Nashville for a few years and then coming to North Dakota for the opportunities of the oil boom, he is among the many staying put in Williston — even though depressed crude prices have spurred an exodus of thousands..
- Keystone Oil Pipeline Resumes Operations After Temporary Shutdown
- Biden Administration Buys Oil for Emergency Reserve Above Target Price
- Freeport LNG Plant Runs Near Zero Consumption for Fifth Day
- Enbridge to Invest $500 Million in Pipeline Assets, Including Expansion of 850-Mile Gray Oak Pipeline
- Williams Delays Louisiana Pipeline Project Amid Dispute with Competitor Energy Transfer
- Evacuation Technologies to Reduce Methane Releases During Pigging
- Editor’s Notebook: Nord Stream’s $20 Billion Question
- Enbridge Receives Approval to Begin Service on Louisiana Venice Gas Pipeline Project
- Russian LNG Unfazed By U.S. Sanctions
- Biden Administration Buys Oil for Emergency Reserve Above Target Price
