July 2014, Vol. 241, No. 7

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, July 2014, Vol. 241 No. 7.

Do you want to know who the real faces of the oil and gas industry are? It’s not the Koch boys, Rex Tillerson, Boone Pickens or Aubrey McClendon. It’s this middle-aged guy named Jim who makes his living driving a cab in Pittsburgh that runs on natural gas. It’s Nick Jentzsch, a 25-year-old service man for Questar Gas in Utah who happened to save a life during what was supposed to be a routine leak check.

In Alaska, energy planning has always been as big and bold as the state’s seemingly endless resources and landscape. But the latest blueprint emerging from the ashes of a series of abandoned plans to tap the state’s vast natural gas resources in the north makes anything that came before it miniscule in scope. Whether it is hubris or overreaching, state officials are ready to roll the dice on a gas scenario that will cost in excess of $50 billion and take a decade or more to pull off.

The unexpected and stunning success of the shale plays in the United States over the past decade has dramatically changed the nation’s energy picture for years, if not decades, to come.

Spectra Energy’s 20-mile expansion of the Texas Eastern and Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines from Linden, NJ to Manhattan cost $60 million per mile, but the money is just the beginning.

Despite vast U.S. shale gas resources and technological advances making recovery economically feasible, an absence of incentives supporting the usual investment model in which a company builds, owns and operates new pipelines – supported by long-term contracts for capacity – is hampering construction.

Real experts in the tricky field of natural gas measurement don’t come along every day. Those who do emerge find that their names and reputations precede them, be it in the operational, commercial or research side of the business. And that is where we find John Lansing today.

Vast production growth in the northeastern United States is significantly altering the pipeline flow throughout much of the continent, according to a recent Moody’s Investors Service report.

An ICF report determined shipping oil overseas would spur the U.S. economy, lowering gasoline prices in the process.

Ensuring the integrity of subsea pipeline welds is vital for the oil and gas industry, with potentially damaging practical and economic consequences resulting otherwise. Vigorous testing before the pipe is placed to service is crucial and can be the difference between a successful project and an expensive disaster.

In 2010, two tragic events – a million-gallon crude oil spill near Marshall, MI and a natural gas explosion in a San Bruno, CA neighborhood – occurred within two weeks of each other, focusing the nation’s attention on pipeline safety.

Wet gas meter calibrations are usually done using natural gas, kerosene and water. Increasingly, gas producers are questioning a meter’s ability to measure wet gas entrained with the unique liquids found on platforms and wellheads (viscous hydrocarbons, paraffin based/high-wax liquids, sea water, brine solutions, MEG and other custom liquids).

In 2010, an incident in San Bruno, CA brought national attention to the oil and gas industry when a natural gas pipeline exploded in a residential neighborhood, leveling homes and claiming several lives. The resulting shockwave from the explosion was equivalent to a 1.1 magnitude earthquake.

Well-organized workforce housing can be a valuable partner for companies pursuing their sustainable development goals, as well as a component of long-term profitability.

Sometimes it feels like a black box and a crystal ball are the biggest help in forecasting energy product prices. Forecasting prices on the primary fuels - crude oil, natural gas and coal - which comprise over 90% of the fuel used worldwide, is an important part of the business. Price outlook coupled with demand forecast are essential considerations for developing operational levels and planning capital expenditures to meet the constant demand for fuel.

The Department of Energy is changing its approach in reviewing liquefied natural gas (LNG) export applications. This has been a controversial issue for several years as U.S. gas reserves have exploded, metaphorically, in the face of shale fracking.

A new CME Group report suggested that if natural gas only increases its share of energy use for transportation from the current 3% to the 7-10% range over the next five years, the result would translate into a dramatically faster closing of the energy price gap.

TransCanada Corporation’s wholly owned subsidiary, NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL), has signed agreements with Chevron Canada Limited (CVX) and an Apache Canada Ltd. wholly owned and controlled partnership (APA) for 1.9 Bcf/d of firm natural gas transportation services to underpin the development of a major extension of TransCanada's NGTL System.

Access Midstream Partners, L.P. plans a major expansion of the Utica East Ohio (UEO) midstream service complex in eastern Ohio. The expansion will increase UEO's nameplate capacity to 1 Bcf/d and allows for a processing capacity of over 1.1 Bcf/d. UEO is a joint venture owned 49% by Access Midstream, 30% by M3 Midstream LLC and 21% by EV Energy Partners, L.P.

On May 2 Excelerate Energy received the Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its Aguirre Offshore GasPort Project (AOGP) located offshore Puerto Rico. On the same day, the project received the Letter of Recommendation (LOR) from the U.S. Coast Guard.

ShawCor Ltd.’s pipe coating division, Bredero Shaw, has received a contract valued at US$70 million from BP Exploration (Shah Deniz) Ltd. for and on behalf of the South Caucasus Pipeline Company Ltd. for coating services for the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion (SCPX) project.

BridgeTex Pipeline Company, owned by Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. and Occidental Petroleum Corp. plan to begin commissioning and limited commercial operation of the BridgeTex Pipeline. The company has begun to fill storage tankage at the origin of the system in Colorado City, TX and operations to fill the pipeline will begin in the near future.

Canyon Midstream Partners, LLC has entered into gathering and processing agreements with XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Apache Corporation for midstream services on Canyon’s James Lake System.

According to a Douglas-Westwood report, Western Europe will continue to rely on imported Russian gas into the 2020s as mature offshore provinces struggle for growth, while large-scale shale gas extraction looks increasingly unlikely in the medium term. Following Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine and the resulting strained diplomatic ties with the West, it is unclear if North Sea production can support any drop in gas flow from Russia.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. recently loaded the first cargo of refined products for export from its reactivated marine terminal in Beaumont, TX. Located on the Neches River, the terminal can load at rates up to 15,000 bbl/hr.

The first shipment of LNG from ExxonMobil PNG Limited’s US$19 billion PNG LNG project recently left Papua New Guinea carrying a cargo bound for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO), in Japan. Production from the first train began in April and production from the second train has begun as more wells came online.

Kitsault Energy proposes a dedicated energy corridor and energy export terminal near Kitsault, British Columbia, Canada.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. has reached binding commercial agreements to proceed with a new 55,000 bpd propane-plus fractionator (RFS III) at its existing Redwater fractionation and storage complex and a high vapor pressure (HVP) pipeline lateral that will extend the gathering potential of its Brazeau Pipeline in the Willesden Green area of south-central Alberta.

Rangeland Energy has started construction of the Rangeland Integrated Oil System (RIO System) in the Delaware Basin region of Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. The multipart system is designed to transport the basin’s crude oil and condensate production to multiple downstream markets across the U.S. via outbound rail and pipeline. Construction of the rail facility is underway. It will provide services for outbound crude oil and condensate and inbound frac sand.

Regency Energy Partners LP will construct a processing plant and NGL pipeline at its Dubberly facility in north Louisiana.

A subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc. is the first to install rigid reel-lay pipe-in-pipe in Asia-Pacific for the Siakap North-Petai (SNP) development project offshore Malaysia. Located in more than 3,900 feet of water, the SNP development is one of the industry’s most challenging deepwater projects.

UPI reported strong bipartisan majorities of registered North Carolina voters support increased production of U.S. oil and natural gas, citing a poll by the North Carolina Petroleum Council.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is continuing pre-qualification of potential suppliers for the construction of the 540-mile-long high pressure natural gas pipeline across Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, with landfall in Southern Italy.

Technip has been awarded an engineering, procurement and technical assistance contract by Fengzhen Wanjie Gas Co. Ltd. for an LNG plant in Fengzhen City, Inner Mongolia Province, China. The plant will consist of 1.3 million Nm3/day LNG train (0.35 Mtpa) and a 0.3 million Nm3/day compressed natural gas (CNG) station.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., proposes the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Energy Direct Project to upgrade its pipeline system in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut. The project is a combination of TGP’s proposed Pennsylvania to Wright, NY and Wright to Dracut, MA projects.

Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Co. (TANAP) awarded WorleyParsons a five-year contract for the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the 1,841-km Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project, which has an estimated total cost of US$11.7 billion.

German biogas supply plant builder Streicher Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG has installed two Atlas Copco GG 90 compressors with variable-speed drive (VSD) at a plant in Geislingen. The two units, which have been especially designed for the biogas market, are used to compress the gas to 14 bar for distribution into the medium-pressure network of the local energy supply network.

Oil and gas pipe measurement specialist Optical Metrology Services (OMS) has completed a pipe measurement and fit-up survey on a critical section of pipeline for the Gorgon Upstream Jansz Scarp Crossing.

Rice University scientists have created an earth-friendly way to separate carbon dioxide from natural gas at wellheads. A porous material invented by the Rice laboratory of chemist James Tour sequesters carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, at ambient temperature – with pressure provided by the wellhead – and lets it go once the pressure is released. The material shows promise as a replacement for more costly and energy-intensive processes.

Much of the world’s developed gas, water and electric infrastructure is aging and in need of modernization. Many utilities still rely on the same electric grid that was built 100 years ago, and many of the water and gas pipes that were laid decades ago.

Vacuworx, celebrating 15 years as a thought-leader in vacuum-lifting technology and provider of heavy-duty material handling equipment, reports the company is ready to grow amid increasing worldwide demand.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — About 40 protesters converged Tuesday outside Vermont Public Service Board offices to demand a halt to the natural gas pipeline expansion in western Vermont. The company this month increased the estimated cost of the first phase of the project by 40 percent, to more than $121 million, citing the cost of route changes to accommodate landowners.

New products and services from Minnich, MIRATECH, PipeLine Machinery, Schneider Electric, Ericson, 3M, FieldAware, Intertec, McElroy and more.