March 2014, Vol. 241 No. 3

CRC-Evans Pipeline International Inc. celebrated the official grand opening of its new Offshore Division Headquarters in Alness, Scotland.

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, March 2014, Vol. 241 No. 3.

This is a story of how a boneheaded, albeit well-intentioned, PR decision destroyed years of image building in one fell swoop.

An often overlooked aspect of technology development in the pipeline inspection world, though one that usually turns out to be the most critical to success, is the people involved.

Keeping field equipment safe and reliable is vitally important to ensure ongoing operations at pipeline and gas installations. However, due to corrosion, devices for replacing and repairing equipment can rapidly become expensive, especially when the related system downtime is also considered. To address this problem, corrosion protection should be a prime focus in the field of electric actuation.

The first thing to remember in analyzing Alaska is that every man, woman and child who resides there is in the energy business, thanks to a state oil tax-funded special investment fund that pays an average of $1,000 annually to every resident.

The United States has some of the largest and oldest industrial infrastructure in the world, including its natural gas, oil, electrical and communications pipelines and wires more than 85% of which is controlled by private industry.

Global energy demand continues to grow but that growth is slowing and mainly driven by emerging economies - led by China and India - according to the BP Energy Outlook 2035.

The burden on labor capacity in oil and gas construction markets worldwide is becoming increasingly well-known. These strains affect projected project costs, and several large capital projects have already been delayed or canceled (see Shell’s Louisiana GTL plant as an example) as a result of rising costs and questionable long-term profitability projections.

In today’s bustling pipeline industry, what could be better than having someone with expertise and long-standing relationships with both operators and contractors as head of a major industry organization?

A certain amount of standardization in any process can be beneficial to stakeholders. In the case of pipeline risk assessment, standardization establishes process acceptability. This leads to consistent and fair regulatory oversight as well as minimum levels of analysis rigor.

Selecting suitable coating for buried pipelines is one of the most important parts of protecting external surfaces and reducing the corrosion rate. Controlling corrosion through cathodic protection and specific coating reduces the cathodic current; however, this creates an alkaline environment in the interface of the coating that covers the cathode surface, which can lead to disbondment.

Pipeline integrity managers routinely receive inline inspection (ILI) tool data, in some cases, for the second or third pig run on a particular segment of pipe. Integrity managers largely spend time on the first ILIs in classifying anomalies under Part 195 and Part 192 criteria, excavating these anomalies and repairing the pipeline as necessary, based on the findings.

Integrity projects are complicated enough when they involve locating anomalies along a buried pipeline that will then need to be excavated, evaluated and repaired. That factor increases significantly when the pipeline involved is connected to a heavily traveled motor bridge over a busy commercial river, adjacent to an active railroad spur in a large metropolis like Chicago – in the dead of winter.

Canadian oil sands production is generating significant economic benefits for Canada in terms of jobs, economic growth and government revenue, a new IHS CERA Oil Sands Dialogue study finds.

For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will remain the dominant source of the world’s primary energy production. There is growing concern that the use of these carbon-based fuels produce greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide (CO-2), which adversely affects the global climate and environment. One way to mitigate the problem is to use carbon capture, transportation, and storage (CCTS) techniques and systems.

Increasing oil and natural gas consumption in Asia-Pacific has made a significant contribution to the need for increased pipeline construction investment worldwide. The region is expected to surpass Europe to become a major growth gas market by 2015. Developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region, such as India and China, have been importing substantial quantities of crude oil and natural gas for domestic consumption and industrial use.

Surerus Pipeline Inc. is installing three 10-km pipelines at the Long Lake Kinosis project, just south of Fort McMurray, two of which use thermal traced technology.

On July 30, 2004, a natural gas pipeline operating at a pressure of 70 bar ruptured. The accident occurred at Ghislenghien industrial park, near Ath, Belgium about 30 miles southwest of Brussels, Belgium. Twenty-four people died as a result of the explosion and subsequent fire (mostly firefighters and the police), and 120-plus were hospitalized, most with severe burns.

Welspun, the India-based corporation, made a key decision to build a line pipe mill in the state of Arkansas during the midst of the Great Recession. It was a gamble, but one predicated on the belief that the American shale industry was about to boom and they would be centrally located.

There is little doubt that natural gas and light oil from shale resources have changed the U.S. energy picture. The abundant supply has led to a 40% increase in natural gas production and a doubling of oil production since the beginning of the century. Equally important and perhaps outshining these tremendous production increases is the explosive growth of the energy midstream infrastructure.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will look again at a new rule requiring certificates to be filed for right-of-way auxiliary construction and for landowners to be given a five-day heads-up before construction and maintenance work starts. That rule was published in November and went into effect Feb. 3.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) expanded its U.S. energy mapping system tool to include the location of producing crude oil and natural gas wells developed across the nation. The new feature is the first of its kind and allows users to see most crude oil and natural gas wells developed in the U.S.

Energy Revenue America Inc. provided a production update on its 3,100 acres in Nowata County, OK. After reopening 10 existing wells, the company has secured a contract to transport natural gas for a third party utilizing their 65-mile pipeline.

Can Colorado’s native plants and animals live in harmony with expanding energy production in the state? Colorado State University (CSU) and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) are working on a comprehensive study of potential effects of natural gas development on wildlife and their habitats, and are working to enhance mitigation measures to reduce any identified impacts.

The Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) and American Petroleum Institute (API) launched the Pipeline Safety Excellence™ initiative, an industry-wide program to improve liquid pipeline safety performance.

Summit Natural Gas of Maine is providing natural gas service to the Laura E. Richards Elementary School in Gardiner, one of the three schools in the city that have made the conversion to natural gas.

Mexican state oil company PEMEX and Guatemala are planning a $1.2 billion, 370-mile gas pipeline linking the two countries and giving local manufacturers access to cheaper energy, according to a Reuters report.

Substantial growth in energy demand and policy changes to decrease gas flaring are driving new power plants installation in Africa and fueling the uptake of gas turbines.

American Midstream Partners LP completed acquisition of a 120-mile gas gathering and redelivery system in the oil window of the Eagle Ford Shale from a subsidiary of Penn Virginia Corp.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) confirmed Feb. 1 that the flow of natural gas from the A-7 well, Vermilion Block 356, waa stopped by pumping weighted drilling fluids into the well. The well is in the Gulf of Mexico, 108 miles southwest of Lafayette, LA.

CHS Inc., one of the nation's leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, is investing an additional $20 million in 2014 to strengthen refined fuels supply for its customer network.

The Crosstex Energy companies, Crosstex Energy, L.P. and Crosstex Energy, Inc., is continuing to expand its gas gathering and processing capabilities in the Permian Basin through a new long-term, fee-based agreement with a major oil and gas producer in the region.

Dresser-Rand Group Inc. recently performed a noise test for what the company says is the largest pipe resonator array ever produced.

Deepwater expenditure is expected to increase by 130%, compared to the preceding five-year period, totaling $260 billion from 2014-18, with growth driven primarily by Africa and the Americas, according to Douglas-Westwood’s 12th edition of its World Deepwater Market Forecast 2014-2018.

Penspen has been awarded a contract to undertake a feasibility study for the Kampala-Kigali segment of the Eldoret-Kampala-Kigali pipeline in East Africa. This project builds on Penspen’s history of pipeline work in the region which included the development of the Kenyan pipeline system in the 1980s and 1990s.

Enable Midstream’s wholly owned subsidiary, Enable Bakken Crude Services, LLC, held a binding open season to gauge market interest in producers making long-term commitments for a new crude oil gathering and transportation pipeline system in the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota.

Enbridge Income Fund has approved construction of a $25million pipeline interconnection between the Enbridge Pipelines (Saskatchewan) Inc. system and a crude oil rail terminal near Cromer, Manitoba owned by Tundra Energy Marketing Limited.

Enbridge Gas Distribution has received approval from the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to upgrade the backbone of its natural gas distribution system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Esso Australia is seeking regulatory approval to install a replacement pipeline to transport crude oil and condensate between its facilities at Longford and Long Island Point, Australia.

Fluor Corporation’s joint venture with JGC was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Chevron Canada Limited for the proposed Kitimat LNG project in Bish Cove, BC, Canada.

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. renewed the open season to solicit capacity commitments from shippers to transport refined petroleum products to Little Rock, AR until Jan. 16, 2014.

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. completed its 200 MMcf/d Buffalo Creek cryogenic gas processing plant and associated high-pressure trunk line in the Granite Wash.

Medallion Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Medallion Midstream, LLC, extended its Jan. 22 closing date for the binding open season for its proposed 60-mile crude oil pipeline, the Wolfcamp Connector, as well as for the potential 40-mile southward extension of the proposed pipeline, the Reagan County Extension, until Feb. 3, 2014.

The construction of a production facility in Schiedam, The Netherlands, by Huisman offers the largest indoor lifting capacity in Europe – 1,200 metric tons – and allows for fast installation, commission and testing of several products and systems, including five newly built pipelay systems.

The South Stream Transport B.V. headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, recently signed contacts for the supply of 75,000, 48-inch pipes for the first of South Stream's offshore section.

The Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), operated by BP, announced start-up of oil production from the West Chirag platform as part of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field development in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. Start-up of the West Chirag platform completes the Chirag Oil Project (COP) sanctioned in 2010.

Separatist rebels from Pakistan's resource-rich Baluchistan province last month blew up three gas pipelines, cutting supplies to the country's most economically important province. The Times of India credited the report to Ayub Bajwa, emergency manager for Sui North Gas Pipelines Limited in Islamabad.

Southcross Energy Partners, L.P. has begun construction of a 94-mile, 24-inch pipeline in the rich gas area of the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

Spectra Energy and Spectra Energy Partners announced the Atlantic Bridge project, a proposed expansion of its Algonquin Gas Transmission and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline systems, to connect abundant North American natural gas supplies with markets in the New England states and Maritime provinces.

GDF SUEZ announced first gas production from the Juliet field, a subsea development on the western flank of the Southern Gas Basin, 39 km east of the Lincolnshire coastline in the United Kingdom.

WBI Energy, Inc., the pipeline and energy services subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc. plans to construct a 375-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from western North Dakota to northwestern Minnesota and an open season seeking capacity commitments has begun.

Energy companies always seem to have a knack for hiring the right person for the right job and at the right time. A case in point is Marvin Riley, president of Fairbanks Morse Engine in Beloit, WI.

As the oil and gas pipeline industry has grown more complex in recent years, an organization was created that continues to help operators improve the efficiency of their data systems through a unique tool.

International tension resulting from Russia’s occupation of Crimea, territory universally recognized as belonging to Ukraine, has many facets, but Russia’s dominance of the energy market in Europe and Ukraine informs the dynamic.

NEW YORK (AP) — Even while the cause remains unknown, a deadly blast that leveled two buildings served by a 127-year-old gas main has provided a jarring reminder of just how old and vulnerable much of the infrastructure is in New York and many other cities nationwide.

The INGAA Foundation will hold a meeting March 17 in Washington, DC at the National Press Club’s Bloomberg Room on a new report, North American Natural Gas Midstream Infrastructure through 2035, which projects midstream infrastructure (transmission lines, laterals, gathering lines, processing, storage and compression) investment needs for the U.S. natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids sector.

New products from ClockSpring, Verichek, Red Hen, Bracewell & Guiliani, Sensus, Itron, Axalta Coating Systems, Bredero Shaw, IntelliView Technologies, Valin and more.