November 2009 Vol. 236 No. 11

Advertisers in the print edition for November 2009, Vol. 236 No. 11

Grady Bell of Laney Directional Drilling Co. discussed the state of horizontal directional drilling at the Oct. 5 meeting of the Pipeliners Association of Houston. Association News, personnel changes and obituaries.

Plano, TX-based Invensys Operations Management has signed a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract to supply comprehensive operator training, process design and operation optimization solution to Malaysia LNG Tiga Sdn Bhd.

ROSEN USA recently completed the first inline inspection survey to combine both Axial Flaw Detection and Extended-Resolution Geometry technology.

Are we safe? Did we miss the bus? I slowly open my weary eyes, marveling that I am alive and in one piece.

Despite the global financial crisis which has led to a fall in energy demand and prices, the market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to regain its steep growth trajectory in the mid and long terms.

In August, PHMSA informed the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee that the proposed rule on Gas Distribution Pipeline Integrity Management (commonly referred to as DIMP) has been approved by the DOT and sent to the Office of Management and Budget.

A self-taught file system administrator had worked eleven years for Omega Engineering, a government contractor to NASA and the U.S. Navy, when he learned that he would be let go in a few days. The administrator inserted six simple lines of DOS code into the mainframe computer and borrowed the backup tapes. A few weeks after leaving the company, the program deleted every one of company’s mainframe files. The loss value was estimated at $10-12 million. The company never recovered. Here, in their simplicity, are the six lines of code. 7/30/96 F: F:LOGINLOGIN 12345 CDPUBLIC

Full deployment and inspection of unpiggable pipelines has been achieved with Explorer II. Explorer II is an untethered, modular, remotely controllable, self-powered inspection robot for the visual and non-destructive inspection of 6- and 8-inch natural gas tranmission and distribution system pipelines.

It was a Trojan program inserted into SCADA system software that caused a massive natural gas explosion along the Trans-Siberian pipeline in 1982. A newspaper reported the resulting fireball yielded “the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space.”

Waterbury, CT, is on the rebound, with various projects throughout the city revitalizing once derelict property. One such project was completed in fall 2007 by Yankee Gas Service Company, Connecticut’s largest natural gas distribution company.

Mears invited a group of customers to its state-of-the-art test-and-research facility for a hands-on workshop of External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA) applications of cased pipes.

State and federal energy policy formulation is, at its essence, the ongoing attempt to reconcile the usually irreconcilable in the face of a changing geopolitical, economic and social environment.

Natural gas, odorless on its own, is odorized in order for people to be able to detect gas leaks by sense of smell.

Magnum Gas Storage, LLC, says it is working to firm up support for a project to construct the first large-scale, high-deliverability, multi-cycle salt cavern natural gas storage facility in the western United States.

National SCADA Test Bed Advanced Training focused on energy sector participants to teach the difficult subject of cyber security, to raise awareness, to make better defenders and to encourage more security disciples.

Snelson Companies Inc. recently completed the Colorado Hub Connection Pipeline, a 26.5-mile pipeline connecting the Meeker/White River hub in Rio Blanco, CO with Northwest's mainline system 17 miles south of Rangely, CO.

Pipeline & Gas Journal’s 2009 29th Annual 500 Report provides detailed statistical listings of the nation’s energy pipeline systems. As in past years, the report ranks the nation’s top gas distribution, liquids and gas transmission systems.

I was reviewing some recent columns and realized that I've been ranting about knowledge management and training programs for much of this year.

Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Project Drue Pearce announced Nov. 16 that she will be stepping down from her position in accordance with a request from President Obama.

Pipelines dodged one Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas (GHG) bullet temporarily but may get hit by another.

The state of Florida is pressing FERC to put conditions on its approval of Florida Gas Transmission Company, LLC's Phase VIII Expansion Project.

The state-run oil and gas firms of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have signed agreements to facilitate trans-Caspian transportation and export of Kazakhstan's growing oil production.

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has begun building gas and oil pipelines through Myanmar.

Corinth Pipeworks S.A. reports it is the first pipe manufacturer worldwide to produce 26-inch outside diameter pipes using the HFI (High Frequency Induction) welding process.

Dominion has requested the FERC pre-filing process for its proposed Appalachian Gateway Project.

Enbridge Inc. has entered into a letter of intent to construct and operate an oil pipeline from the proposed Big Foot ultra deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. and Duncan Energy Partners L.P. announced Nov. 17 an increase in the capacity of its recently announced Haynesville Extension project from 1.4 Bcf/d to 2.1 Bcf/d.

Kosmos Energy LLC, a U.S. oil exploration company backed by Blackstone Group LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, plans to sell its Ghana assets to ExxonMobil Corp. for a reported $4 billion.

Countum, the French-based holding company of the Satam company, completed its purchase of Meci Co. as part of its effort to create a major player on the oil and gas market.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has started commercial transportation of blended 2 percent biodiesel (B2) through its 115-mile Oregon Pipeline that runs from Portland to Eugene.

MapleLNG has received its permit from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for construction of a 1.3-mile pipeline.

Insituform Technologies, Inc.’s Mexican joint venture, United Pipeline de Mexico de C.V. (UPM), has been awarded a $12.4 million contract by Pemex.

ProNeft Resources has raised $US27.5 million from international investors to fund pipeline and infrastructure work on an oil field located in the Tomsk Oblast region of Russia.

Spectra Energy's Texas Eastern Transmission has executed a binding agreement for a minimum of 150 Mmcf/d of firm transportation capacity with the leading Marcellus Shale producer.

Regency Energy Partners LP has announced construction of two pipeline expansions to accommodate Haynesville Shale production.

Pipeline Asia News reports Russia and Iraq have reached agreements regarding the construction of two pipelines.

Against the European Union's Southern Corridor project, Russia is redoubling efforts to advertise its own project, South Stream, with Italian backing.

rime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russia is open to the possibility of foreign companies investing in the hydrocarbon-rich Yamal Peninsula, albeit in partnership with Russian firms.

GE Oil & Gas is using satellite connections to customer sites to tune and test gas turbine combustion systems at 11 pipeline stations owned by Reliance.

Subsea 7 Inc. has been awarded a major subsea pipeline and installation services contract from Santos Limited at the Casino-Henry field, offshore Victoria, Australia.

Tenaska Capital Management, LLC plans to build a new natural gas gathering system to serve the Haynesville shale formation in areas of East Texas lacking in gathering infrastructure.

FERC has approved a proposal by Williams to expand its Transco natural gas pipeline by 308,500 Dth/d to serve markets in the southeastern United States.

Charles Alday is a man on a mission to raise familiarity in pipeline companies of the human factors that can combine to produce extraordinary pipeline operations.

NACE International, the Corrosion Society, announces the resignation of Tony Keane as executive director.

In a pioneering application for the global liquid natural gas (LNG) industry, GE Oil & Gas technology is powering the world’s first gravity-based offshore LNG terminal 10 miles offshore from the town of Rovigo, near Venice, on Italy’s north east coast.

Pipeline Inspection Company, Ltd., Cameron and Hoerbiger, Lincoln Electric, R&M Energy Systems, Farwest Corrosion Control Co., American Innovations, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, IRT Integrated Rectifier Technologies, Inc., KBR Magneto, Senscient Inc., SubSurface Instruments, Inc., Sensus, Porta-King, GeoFields, Inc.

Structural Integrity Associates and New Century Software, Pipe and Valve Technology Institute, Victaulic, Elster Perfection, Rotork, Metso Automation, Tyco Flow Control, Siemens Energy & Automation, WhiteStar Corp., Tinker & Rasor, ViaData LP, Emerson Process Management, Sensus, Pietro Fiorentini and TechCorr.