June 2011 Vol. 238 No. 6

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation met April 6-8 at the Las Colinas Four Seasons resort in Irving, TX with a tight schedule focusing on pipeline safety, public outreach and preparing for an uncertain future. Attendance was strong, although not a record, with 175 participants.

Insituform Technologies, Inc. announced creation of two joint ventures with Wasco Energy Ltd., a subsidiary of Wah Seong Corp. Berhad, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and a leading provider of pipe coating, insulation and protection services to the oil and gas industries.

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, June 2011, Vol. 238 No. 6.

Pipeline & Gas Journal's editor Jeff Share walked away from the Houston Press Club's 2011 Lone Star Award Dinner on June 27 with four major awards, including first, second and third place awards in the magazine column category.

Parsons project manager Seth Condell, P.E. discussed the intricacies involved in pipeline suspension bridges at a recent meeting of The Pipeliners Association of Houston.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will conduct a multi-million dollar unreserved public auction at the Company's permanent auction site in Houston, Texas on Wednesday and Thursday, June 22 - 23, 2011. More than 2,000 heavy equipment items and trucks will be sold during the two-day auction, including a large selection of forestry and agricultural equipment.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP named Stanley C. Horton president, CEO and a director of Boardwalk GP. With more than 35 years of experience in the natural gas and energy industry, Horton brings extensive industry knowledge to Boardwalk and its three interstate natural gas pipelines: Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC, Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP, and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC.

Worldwide pipe manufacturer TMK IPSCO held a ground-breaking ceremony May 3 for a new 51,000-square-foot Research & Development Center in Houston.

It’s been a tough few weeks: first, two of my all-time sports heroes passed away, baseball Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew and wrestling great Randy “Macho Man“ Savage. Around the same time another death may have occurred – one that has been reported periodically over the years but whose time may have finally come.

This article summarizes a SCADA implementer’s perspective regarding the intent of the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Control Room Management (CRM) rule. In addition, it intends to provide a fresh approach to CRM, describing why companies should use the CRM process to go beyond compliance requirements and implement operating best practices that would significantly enhance operations reliability and pipeline safety.

The pipeline industry has long been interested in evaluating the effects of external loading due to fill and surface loads, such as excavation equipment, on buried pipes. This interest stems not only from the initial design of pipeline systems, but also from the need to evaluate changing loading conditions over the life of the pipeline. Variations in loading conditions can arise due to the construction of roads and railroads over the pipeline and one-time events in which, for example, heavy equipment must cross the pipeline.

The National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators (NAPCA) elected Brendan Ryan to serve as its president for 2011-12 during the association’s 47th annual meeting which was held in April in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Ryan is vice president and general manager-North America of Bredero Shaw, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The escalating worldwide demand for oil and the continuously rising prices are driving oil companies to explore new oil field resources. However, exploration also incurs increasing expense in terms of technology. Many of these projects have a common need in that natural gas, which is associated with crude oil, has to be re-injected into the reservoirs.

When TransCanada Corp. opened its new 305-mile, 30-inch Bison Pipeline between the Rockies and the Midwest earlier this year, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) played an important role in its completion.

The external pipeline corrosion control field has seen great change over the years from a regulatory standpoint. However, the field has seen few advances in new technology to assist in monitoring the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. That changed recently with the introduction of an inline inspection (ILI) tool that measures cathodic protection (CP) current flowing on a pipeline.

The Keystone Pipeline is a 2,147-mile (3,456-km) pipeline that transports crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to U.S. Midwest markets at Wood River and Patoka in Illinois, and ultimately to Cushing, OK. On June 30, 2010, TransCanada (TCPL) began commercial operation of the first phase of the Keystone Pipeline System.

NYSEARCH is leading a validation effort of a new non-contact method for inspecting steel pipelines known as Magnetic Tomography Method (MTM). MTM has been developed by Transkor-K of the Russian Federation and has been used for pipeline inspections worldwide.

To highlight the latest developments in corrosion technologies, the Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa (CorrISA) scheduled a one-day technical workshop at Petro.t.ex Africa for June 9 covering the topic of field joint coatings. The Petro.t.ex Africa expo was scheduled for June 7-9 at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.

SAN ANTONIO, TX-Meeting amid the backdrop of several headline-making events, a record attendance of nearly 470 participated in API’s 2011 Pipeline Conference held in San Antonio.

Composite pipeline repair technology has been around for more than a decade, representing an affordable and timesaving option for pipe rehabilitation. The introduction of national and international ASME and ISO engineering standards has helped composite repairs gain wider acceptance in the industry as an effective solution for restoration of pipeline integrity and structural strength.

Kinder Morgan’s R. Tim Bradley, president of carbon dioxide (CO-2), discusses the impact the company’s new 91-mile, 10-inch CO-2 distribution pipeline and complementary facilities will have on future enhanced oil recovery operations in the region and the company’s future plans.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced June 16 that a new regulation to improve the management of pipeline control rooms will go into effect over a year earlier than originally planned.

A new pipeline safety bill started its trek through Congress May 5 when the Senate Commerce Committee passed The Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act (S. 275). The mild bill is largely unobjectionable to the gas and liquid pipeline industries, but neither does it grant INGAA's long-standing top priority: adopting a risk-based approach to retesting of pipelines in high consequence areas (HCAs).

The 20th World Petroleum Congress (20th WPC) Organizing Committee has issued its Final Call for Projects, inviting oil and gas companies to share their knowledge and expertise with delegates and attendees at the industry’s largest and most prestigious oil and gas event, being held in Doha in December.

Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. signed an agreement to partner with Chevron Pipeline Co. for purchase of a 20% interest in West Texas LPG Pipeline Limited Partnership from Buckeye Partners, L.P. for $85 million.

Insituform Technologies, Inc. announced June 27 that its subsidiary Corrpro Companies, Inc. is forming a joint venture in Saudi Arabia with Saudi Trading & Research Co., Ltd. (STARC).

Dow Chemical Company announced comprehensive plans to increase ethylene and propylene production and to integrate its U.S. operations into feedstock opportunities available from increasing supplies of shale gas in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shale regions.

EQT Corp. has sold the Big Sandy Pipeline to Spectra Energy Partners, LP for $390 million. Big Sandy is a 70-mile, 20-inch natural gas pipeline placed in service in April 2008. It has a capacity of 171,000 Dth/d. Big Sandy transports natural gas from the Langley, KY natural gas processing complex ultimately to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast markets.

The threat of cyber attack is a very real issue with serious implications for U.S. energy companies and government agencies and the threat is as likely to come from a trusted employee, a disgruntled former employee or a business rival as from a terrorist attack, computer hackers or even solar flares, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) official said on Platts Energy Week.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. completed construction of its Deer Park Rail Terminal (DPRT) and related ethanol handling assets at its Pasadena terminal along the Houston Ship Channel.

The Potential Gas Committee’s (PGC) 2010 biennial report: Potential Supply of Natural Gas in the United States finds nation possesses an undiscovered natural gas resource potential of 1,898 Tcf, the highest resource evaluation in the PGC’s 46 year history — exceeding by 61 Tcf the previous record-high assessment from year-end 2008.

The Office of Federal Coordinator for an Alaska natural gas pipeline added another in-depth report to its website, focusing on the $12 billion gas treatment plant that would be needed at Prudhoe Bay.

PRCI received notification from the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (DOT PHMSA) on the approval of R&D funding to support PRCI’s research effort on the Right of Way Automated Monitoring (RAM) Program.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP named Stanley C. Horton president, CEO and a director of Boardwalk GP. With more than 35 years of experience in the natural gas and energy industry, Horton brings extensive industry knowledge to Boardwalk and its three interstate natural gas pipelines: Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC, Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP, and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC.

ABB won a Main Automation and Instrumentation contract for a new natural gas storage facility in Cheshire, United Kingdom.

El Paso Natural Gas Company (EPNG), has successfully closed companion open seasons and signed long-term agreements to expand its Willcox lateral and provide mainline 95,000 Dth/d of natural gas transportation.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity (which owns Energy Transfer Partners) announced June 16 that it will acquire Houston-based Southern Union Company.

Gazprom and a consortium of Japanese companies led by Itochu Corp. have agreed to study building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and a gas chemical complex in Russia’s Far East city of Vladivostok as Japan seeks to boost fuel supplies after its worst nuclear accident.

Genesis Energy plans to expand its crude oil pipeline and terminal capabilities on the upper Texas Coast and to expand its refinery services operating footprint with a new sour gas processing facility by year-end.

KHE Group B.V. (Koop Group) from the Netherlands and Habau GmbH (Habau) from Austria reached agreement on a sale of 100% of the shares in the Nacap group of companies as all the activities of Nacap will be combined within the Habau Group.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. has agreed to pay $855 million to Petrohawk Energy Corporation and assume $65 million in debt for Petrohawk’s 50% interest in KinderHawk Field Services.

New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) submitted a filing June 16 with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities seeking authority to invest up to $15 million to build compressed natural gas vehicle refueling stations in Monmouth, Ocean and Morris counties.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy) announced its wholly owned subsidiary Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem) has signed a preliminary agreement with DCP Midstream LLC (DCP) for the supply and transport of natural gas liquids in Texas.

Regency Energy Partners announced June 2 that it has entered into agreements to provide gas and condensate gathering services for a producer in the Eagle Ford Shale.

Saipem has been awarded new E&C Offshore contracts worth in excess of $1 billion in China and Brazil.

Siemens Industry, Inc. announced completion of the world's largest onshore LNG compressor "mega-train" for Qatargas in Qatar.

Statoil has awarded Subsea 7 S.A. the Fossekall-Dompap marine installation and pipelay contract in the Norwegian Sea.

DCP Midstream LLC and Targa Resources Partners LP have entered agreements that provide a long-term anchor commitment to the DCP Midstream Sandhills Pipeline LLC.

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) has begun a formal Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process in Italy, following a similar move in Albania in April.

Willbros Group, Inc. announced June 27 that it had reached full and final agreement with TransCanada on the amount due to its U.S. construction subsidiary under a cost reimbursable target price construction contract for seven pump stations in Nebraska and Kansas.

Southern Union Company has confirmed receipt of a proposal by The Williams Companies, Inc. to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Southern Union for $39.00 per share in cash.

Williams Partners L.P. has completed the acquisition of an additional 24.5% interest in the Gulfstream interstate gas pipeline system from Williams for $330 million.

You might expect the folks at Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. to be in feeling pretty good about themselves and their company these days, and with good reason. In April, the company won the API Pipeline Distinguished Environmental and Safety Award in recognition of its employees having worked all of 2010 with no minor or significant injuries.

Les Goodman recently took his 39 years of increasingly detailed and rich utility engineering and management experience to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where he is a director in the firm’s Advisory Practice offering enterprise asset management services to gas utilities and power companies.

A custom-built welding tractor - the latest pipeline offering from Caterpillar - was unveiled at the company’s Grenoble Echirolles plant in France.

In a perfect world every pipeline repair or maintenance site would just happen to have a valve on either side to use to isolate the work site. It is not a perfect world but the good news is that help has arrived. With the advent of new communications systems and piggable pressure isolation tools, that isolation capability now exists.

Doing more with less is a constant drumbeat in the world today. Certainly pig tracking and ILI benchmarking are no different. Now, thanks to CDI’s innovative new LineStat satellite notification service, tracking, locating and benchmarking pigs has taken a high-tech turn that yields faster and more precise information with less manpower.

Enduro Pipeline Services is now offering the dual diameter DigiTel Flux Logger (DfL™). The logger is described as utilizing magnetic flux leakage (MFL) technology on pipe ranges that include 10-inch by 12-inch and 8 inch by 10 inch.

Lincoln Electric has introduced Lincolnweld® LAC-690, a low alloy flux-cored wire designed for submerged arc welding.

PFERD says its Polifan® - Strong flap discs feature a major design innovation that allows the removal of more material in less time than any other consumable abrasive tool used with an angle grinder.