February 2015, Vol. 242, No. 2

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, February 2015, Vol. 242 No. 2.

I hope the industry is paying attention to some regionalized developments that could hamper activity, at least in the short term.

Are your company’s business systems connected in any way to the industrial control systems (ICS), including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), which are used to manage the company’s critical infrastructure? If they are, and the best guess is they are, then the ICS/SCADA could be vulnerable to cyberattacks in addition to the business side of the networks.

With the continuing expansion of natural gas development in shale plays across the nation, pipeline infrastructure continues to be built out, with product making the trek from source points to downstream consumers. However, not every end-user has access to affordable natural gas yet.

ExxonMobil’s 2015 energy forecast posits natural gas as the fuel with the most demand growth between now and 2040, overtaking coal as the second most popular energy source with a 65% gain vs. its 2010 levels. By the end of the period, the report predicted more than 125 Bcf/d will be shipped by LNG or inter-regional pipeline.

Financial services firms may have a slight edge in security readiness over their energy sector counterparts, but not by much. These two industries – highly targeted by cybercriminals – must move quickly to address their cybersecurity deficiencies and shore up their defenses against advanced malware threats.

Network segmentation is a fundamental component of cybersecurity, yet it is so difficult to implement in a gas and pipeline environment. There is flawed thinking in part due to an industry-wide focus on perimeter security, a carryover from the days of air gap protection.

In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile, advanced malware threats that targeted or attacked the energy sector such as Dragonfly, Stuxnet, Flame and Shamoon. And while these threats need to be taken into account when analyzing and preparing for potential security risks, they actually only account for a low number of overall threat sources.

When QEP Resources Inc. CEO Charles “Chuck” Stanley roams the country giving speeches as the chairman of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) he hopes someone is listening because these times for natural gas are full of innovation and opportunity in his mind. A familiar theme for this gas industry veteran is summarized in the question: How do we make the most of this newfound opportunity?

The Pilgrim Pipeline project has the potential to do more good for the Northeast than just bolstering the flow of refined products and crude between New York Harbor and Albany, NY - it could also remove 6 billion gallons of petroleum a year from barges on the Hudson River.

P&GJ’s 2015 survey figures indicate 100,114 miles of pipelines are planned and under construction worldwide. Of these, 57,201 represent projects in the planning design phase while 42,913 reflect pipelines in various stages of construction.

Developing new natural gas pipeline capacity in the Northeast isn’t easy. Environmental rules are tough, local residents are well-organized, and - in New England in particular - the electricity market structure is not, shall we say, pipeline development-friendly.

Recent news regarding SCADA system intrusions has highlighted the security differences between network and s. SCADA system operators must assess vulnerabilities and implement security measures at both levels.

SCADA systems provide combinations of field devices, communications infrastructure and software integrated into a system that provides for safe and reliable operation of remote facilities.

Southeast Asia is considered one of the most problematic regions of the world in which to build pipelines since it encompasses active volcanos and thousands of islands. With a large land area of 4.46 million square kilometers and many countries, it is home to 616 million people, 150 million of whom have no access to electricity.

We live in an age of radical transparency, bringing with it significant challenges for energy companies in trying to engage constructively with stakeholders. Are there radical solutions to this challenge?

For over a decade, surveyors across many disciplines (biologists, geologists, archeologists, engineers, etc.) have relied on the same traditional methods for collecting field data, which typically includes carrying a handheld GPS unit for identifying location coordinates, documenting findings in logbooks and taking photos using a digital camera.

In November, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the world by agreeing in principle to targets for carbon dioxide emissions in a symbolic effort to address climate change. This is a pact of historic magnitude that recognizes a need for the world’s two largest emitters – both longstanding antagonists – to reduce future release of greenhouse gas. But aside from a handshake and a promise, what will actually come from this mutual recognition?

In a departure from past policy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is considering allowing interstate pipelines to recoup the costs of complying with federal environmental and safety regulations.

Newly sworn-in Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton told about 165 members of the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA) members in Houston that he will be looking to the oil and gas industry for “good, sound advice” on improving regulations during his tenure. The Texas A&M University graduate said it is imperative to establish a “level playing field for operators” where regulations are concerned and in some ways work as an advocate for Texas’ energy interests, which must compete with other states.

BP, on behalf of the Kinnoull field co-venturers, announced the start of production from the Kinnoull field in the central North Sea. Kinnoull was BP’s seventh and final major upstream project start-up in 2014. The Kinnoull reservoir, developed as part of a wider rejuvenation of the Andrew field area, is tied back to BP’s Andrew platform, 230-km east of Aberdeen, and is expected to enable production there to be extended by a further decade. In order to access the reservoir, a new subsea system has been installed, together with a 700 ton topside processing module on the Andrew platform. Production is now carried from the Kinnoull field to the Andrew platform via a 28-km subsea pipeline bundle – the longest such system in the world – for processing and onward export via the Forties pipeline system (oil) and the CATS pipeline system (gas).

British Columbia has adopted a regulation to ensure pipelines built to support LNG facilities will not be permitted to transport oil or diluted bitumen. This follows concerns expressed in environmental assessments and by First Nations about the long-term pipeline use.

Reuters reports Slovak gas pipeline operator Eustream is proposing a new pipeline be built to carry natural gas from western Europe to the Balkans, relieving the region of its almost total dependence on Russian supply.

Ecopetrol S.A. reported that its Board of Directors has approved an investment plan for 2015 of US$7.86 billion.

Enbridge and upstream partners at Hess Corp. are working to develop a pipeline from a Gulf of Mexico oil field. Enbridge said it will build, own and operate the $130 million system that will start in the deepwater Stampede project and end 16 miles away with a connection to a third-party pipeline system.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. recently sought shipper support for a proposed expansion of the portion of its Panola Pipeline Company, LLC natural gas liquids system between Carthage and Mont Belvieu, TX.

Tall Oak Midstream, LLC has early natural gas gathering operations underway on the Tall Oak STACK System. The gathering and processing system will serve producers in Oklahoma’s STACK play. STACK is an acronym for the Sooner Trend, Anadarko Basin and Oklahoma’s Canadian and Kingfisher counties. It is northwest of Oklahoma City and targets the Woodford and Mississippian-age shales.

GE and Sabine Pass Liquefaction, a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P., have entered into a $1 billion, 20+-year contract in GE will provide spare parts and planned inspections, maintenance services and round-the-clock technical support for the gas turbines and refrigerant compressors on the first four LNG trains under construction at the Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, LA.

CNOOC Limited recently began production from its Liuhua 34-2 gas field in the Eastern South China Sea. The field is located in water depths ranging from 850 to 1,250 meters and consists of one producing well and shares the existing facilities of Liwan 3-1 gas field for overall development. The gas field is producing approximately 30 MMcf/d and is expected to reach its designed peak production of approximately 45 MMcf/d in 2015.

Meritage Midstream has begun operations on the first leg of the 108-mile Thunder Creek NGL Pipeline. The pipeline will be owned and operated by Thunder Creek NGL Pipeline, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meritage.

Ohio River Valley Pipeline, LLC, an affiliate of the EnLink Midstream companies, EnLink Midstream Partners, LP and EnLink Midstream, LLC (the general partner), held a binding open season for volume commitments for interstate common carrier transportation service on the ORV Condensate Pipeline.

SENER, in consortium with the company Bonatti, has delivered two compression stations that comprise the Los Ramones 1 Transport System in Mexico to Gasoductos del Noreste.

Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline, LLC, Belle Fourche Pipeline Company and Bridger Pipeline LLC held a joint tariff open season soliciting commitments for crude oil transportation service under a joint tariff from receipt points on the Belle Fourche and Bridger systems in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota to delivery points near Cushing, OK. The binding open season ended Feb. 4.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc., is adopting two alternative routes for its proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project to minimize environmental impact and allow for expansion of natural gas service in New Hampshire. Following a thorough evaluation of feasible route alternatives for the market path of the project from Wright, NY to Dracut, MA, the company planned to submit an amended resource report filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December.

Canada’s Union Gas is holding a binding open season for incremental firm capacity of up to 650,000 GJ/d beginning in 2017 and an additional 550,000 GJ/d in 2018 along the following transportation paths: (a) Dawn to Parkway; (b) Dawn to Kirkwall; and (c) Kirkwall to Parkway.

CDI, one of the world’s leaders in pipeline pig detection, recording and locating technology, broke ground recently for its expansion project in Broken Arrow, OK.