March 2009 Vol. 236 No. 3

Atmos Energy Corporation has signed an agreement to further expand its deployment of the Sensus FlexNet advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution by adding another 55,000 smart meters to its regulated natural gas distribution system. The additional meters will be installed in several areas throughout Southern Louisiana. This installation adds to successful deployments in New Orleans and Monroe, LA, as well as in McKinney, TX. Some 5,000 of the meters to be deployed will be newly purchased and will be outfitted with SmartPoint transmitters.

Gary M. Cerny, PE, has joined Michels Corporation as regional marketing director.

March 2, 2009 Dear Mr. President: Is it not time to give natural gas its due?

PetroChina began its pipeline integrity management (PIM) project in 2005. As the project progressed, officials realized the structure of the pipeline data model formed the basis for many kinds of analysis and assessments increasingly important to an operator when implementing PIM.

Recently MATCOR, Inc. engineers and corrosion technicians conducted an External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA) on a buried natural gas transmission pipeline with a cathodic protection system in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC.

New private activity continued to take place in developing countries in August-December with projects being developed, tendered, and taken to financial close, but at a rate that was about 40% lower than in the same period in 2007.

Considering negative reports on the nation’s economic status, pipeline construction in the U.S. is experiencing a healthy market as operators and producers continue stepped-up activity supported by projects to move natural gas to the Midwest and the East Coast from Mid-Continent shale plays and the Rocky Mountains.

Tony Keane, executive director of NACE International, recently assembled a panel of NACE member pipeline corrosion control experts to answer a series of questions on the challenges involved with assessing and protecting pipelines at cased road and railway crossings.

Aging infrastructure, new state and federal regulations, unfriendly neighbors, an aging workforce and heightened security restricting site access are burdening company operations with increasing costs and deteriorating operational excellence.

The birth of the new West African Gas Pipeline involves the construction and operation of a regional high-pressure gas transmission system that will supply natural gas produced in Nigeria to thermal power stations in Benin, Togo and Ghana.

In one of the longer-running gas transmission rate dramas in memory, FERC rejected new rates agreed to by Kern River Gas Transmission and almost all of its customers, except Southwest Gas Corp. and BP Energy Co., the latter Kern River’s most dogged antagonist.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal joined Compressor Engineering Corporation (CECO) President Richard Hotze and Mayor Bobby Font Jr. of Walker, LA to dedicate CECO’s new facilities in the Livingston Industrial Park in Walker, Livingston Parish. The 44,000-square-foot facility houses offices, parts warehouse, machine shop and an equipment-staging area.

Everything from the latest technological advances to the most up-to-date information concerning the Alaskan natural gas pipeline project was on the agenda at the 5th Annual Pipeline Opportunities Conference March 11 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. recently announced a series of X-ray solutions and resources targeted toward the petrochemical industry including a comprehensive portfolio of X-ray spectrometry equipment, combined with the opening of a new state-of-the-art demonstration laboratory near Houston and the launch of a comprehensive Web portal.

Wärtsilä Corporation recently announced that it had increased its range of engineering services available in Italy with the opening of a new workshop in Taranto, an important commercial and military hub in the Puglia region of Southern Italy. Relocation to the new, much larger facility provides a more suitable base from which to develop its offering in the region.

El Paso Corporation has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct and operate the Ruby Pipeline.

The latest efforts by Energy Transfer Partners to address its customers’ needs and to efficiently move natural gas from producing areas to consumers across the country saw the completion of the 56-mile Katy pipeline expansion project.

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. has launched a binding open season to solicit market participation in its recently announced Tiger Pipeline project, (P&GJ, March 09).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved, with conditions, a new LNG import terminal and connecting interstate pipeline proposed by AES Sparrows Point LNG, LLC and Mid-Atlantic Express, LLC that will bring 1.5 Bcf/d of natural gas to serve rising demand in the northeastern U.S.

The World Onshore Pipelines Market Report 2009-2013, from industry analysts Douglas-Westwood, considers the prospects for this global market and values the future markets through to 2013.

PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia (Transgasindo) awarded Global Industries’ wholly owned subsidiary PT Global Industries Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., a contract to provide the replacement and zero downtime repair of a 28-inch diameter pipeline. The contract is valued at $75 million and is scheduled for completion in April.

Infield Energy Analysts recently released its 2009-2013 forecast for the global subsea sector. According to the report, total five-year global subsea sector expenditures (subsea equipment and drilling and completions) will exceed US$80 billion. This is up from US$46 billion in the previous five years.

Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy LLC (LDH Energy) and Explorer Pipeline Co. announced plans to make connections from LDH Energy's Mont Belvieu, TX storage facility to Explorer's 28-inch pipeline system.

Telvent has signed a contract valued at more than 30 million euros with PEMEX, Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company to install the SCADA control system in seven product pipelines in the PEMEX Refining division’s national pipeline network.

El Paso subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company plans to increase the capacity of its 300 Line to transport new diversified natural gas supplies.

TransCanada Keystone Pipeline LP has submitted its Environmental Report and Appendices to the U.S. Department of State in support of its Application for a Presidential Permit to build the nearly 2,000-mile Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Project (Keystone XL).

Paul O’Rourke recently was named head of the energy practice for worldwide expert services firm LECG. He has more than 30 years of experience in energy consulting.

Weld overlay cladding specialist Arc Energy Resources recently completed a contract to clad 16 valves with Iconel 625 for a wet gas project in Algeria for Goodwin International, a designer and manufacturer of high-integrity dual-plate check valves for the hydrocarbon, energy and process industries.

Although there are currently no regulatory requirements around tank cleaning, it is an industry understanding that ongoing preventative maintenance of fuel tanks can help service station operators prepare for ethanol-blended products of the future.

CECO Pipeline Services (CPSC) began providing a variety of quality services to pipeline operators in 2003.