July 2019, Vol. 246, No. 7

The ONE Future coalition is a group of natural gas companies that work together voluntarily in an effort to reduce methane emissions across the natural gas supply chain.

With about a million active wells in the U.S. pumping more and more shale oil and gas, the fracking revolution of the last decade has spawned a boom in pipeline construction, initially to carry oil and gas to markets and regional hubs across America and more recently to export facilities.

When examining the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade, including the role of U.S. midstream infrastructure, there are various exogenous factors that can be part of the matrix.

Maintenance of aging pipelines, especially ones that are insulated and/or buried, is a major challenge, due to limited access for application of conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. Even when access is available, financial and time constraints mean that conventional NDE is often carried out on a sampling basis, which makes it less reliable than full coverage inspection.

Today, the association serves nearly 100 gas and electric utilities and provides training and eLearning courses for the electric industry. MEA’s goal is to empower the energy industry through education, leadership, development and industry connections. P&GJ visited with some top executives to discuss industry challenges and the training benefits provided by MEA.

The worldwide flowmeter market experienced a rebound in 2018, with this particular market having followed the upward and downward fluctuations in oil prices, traditionally.

The importance of accurate measurement cannot be under-estimated. In 2012, the oil price was above $100 per barrel, but only a year later, as oil prices began to decline, the average price of a barrel of crude oil was $91, dropping to $42 by 2015.

Good measurement practices suggest flow measurements should occur without instabilities or pulsations in the flow. Even minor inaccuracies in the measurement of high value products can lead to significant financial exposure over extended periods of time.

The natural gas industry continues to build upon a customer-first approach and is always looking for new and better ways to operate. There’s no doubt, advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems have emerged as attractive solutions for local distribution companies (LDC) seeking to improve both customer and employee operations.

A planned pipeline linking Norwegian natural gas fields to markets in Denmark and Poland is on track for completion by October 2022, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told Reuters.

Bulgaria started building a $268 million (240 million euro) gas pipeline with Greece that will end the Balkan country’s total dependence on Russian gas and help diversify supplies in southeastern Europe.

Howard Energy Partners (HEP) executed an agreement with a major North American oil and gas producer to construct, own and operate a new natural gas gathering system located in the over-pressured area of the prolific STACK play.

State environmental regulators denied a water quality permit for a 24-mile (39-km) underwater pipeline from New Jersey to Queens that backers say is crucial for meeting rising demand for natural gas in New York City and Long Island.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Williams authorizing the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NSE) project – an expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline designed to serve New York markets.

A company seeking to develop a large oil project on Alaska’s North Slope has won a key federal permit.

Enbridge said there is a risk its Line 3 replacement project could exceed its previous cost estimate of $6.71 billion (C$9 billion) because of delays to permits in the United States.

Five judges ruled unanimously the provincial government of British Columbia cannot regulate increased flows of heavy crude through the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, removing a potential hurdle to the long-delayed project.

Tanzania and Zambia plan to build a refined products pipeline to transport petroleum between the two countries at a cost of $1.5 billion, Tanzania’s Energy minister said.

Natural gas flaring and venting in the top U.S. oil field reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2019 due to the lack of pipelines, at a time of increased focus on methane emissions.

ExxonMobil announced it will proceed with long-term development in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale, including the construction of pipeline and export infrastructure to support an expected 55,000 oil-equivalent bpd by 2024.

Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petrobras was cleared to move forward with the sale of its TAG pipeline unit to France’s Engie SA after Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that state-run firms do not need congressional approval to sell their subsidiaries.

Lawmakers in Texas are considering a bill that would stiffen penalties for damaging or trespassing around oil and gas operations despite opposition from environmental groups who say it would quell peaceful protests and overly criminalize offenses.

Environmental groups and demonstrators arrested near Energy Transfer’s Bayou Bridge pipeline in Louisiana have filed a lawsuit challenging a 2018 state law that made trespassing near oil and gas pipelines a criminal offense.

Saudi Aramco has signed a 20-year agreement to buy LNG from an export terminal that U.S.-based Sempra Energy is developing on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Bucking its normal practice, PetroChina has reportedly started preparing to consolidate its pipeline assets while recouping import losses by raising wholesale natural gas prices during the weak-demand spring season.

McDermott International announced that the first cargo of LNG has been shipped from the Cameron LNG project in Hackberry, La., marking a key step in development of the facility and a precursor to the completion of Train 1. The latest development follows the announcement of first liquid from Cameron LNG Train 1 on May 14.

Energy Ministry data showed Russian oil output fell to 11.11 MMbpd in May, its lowest level since June 2018, from 11.23 MMbpd in April – mainly from the closure due to oil contamination of the Druzhba pipeline, which usually ships 1 MMbpd, or 1 percent of global oil demand.

Upheavals in the Canadian crude market are providing unique opportunities for firms with sizeable long-term leases on Alberta storage tanks, a cluster that sources say includes Mercuria Energy Group and oil major BP Plc’s trading arm.

Pumping on Colombia’s Bicentenario and Cano Limon oil pipelines was halted in mid-May after bomb attacks in recent days, sources from operators Bicentenario and state-run oil company Ecopetrol said.

The proposal from the PHMSA to force transmission and distribution pipelines to submit additional geospatial data to the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) could cost the industry tens of millions of dollars in added expenses.

House Democrats have introduced the first infrastructure package in Congress, and it would make significant new investments in broadband deployment and drinking water systems, among other areas. All 31 Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee sponsored the LIFT America Act (H.R. 2741) which had a hearing in front of that committee on May 22.

The Transus Instruments UIM-4F Duo natural gas custody transfer ultrasonic flow meter consists of two independent fiscal flow measurements in a single flow meter body, enabling enhanced condition-based diagnostics in a space saving, compact package.

Kathleen Eisbrenner, founder and chairman of the board of Houston-based LNG company NextDecade, died May 9. She was 58.