October 2019, Vol. 246, No. 10

If you read anything about the pipeline planned for the Hill Country, you will get the clear yet misleading impression that, while the rest of Texas is marred by oil and gas infrastructure, the Hill Country is virgin territory, untouched by the footprint of one of the state’s most important industries. The Permian Highway Pipeline Project, to employ the most popular metaphor used by the opposition, would “scar the Hill Country.”

It is estimated that by 2026 in Mexico, natural gas demand will double the total amount of natural gas produced in 2012. Meanwhile, the current conditions suggest production will increase 2.8% annually.

The Gas Natural Açu (GNA) joint venture between Prumo Logistica, BP and Siemens – developer of Brazil’s largest infrastructure project – has gained regulatory approval for LNG imports and satisfied lender conditions for $750 million in project financing to complete the 1.3 GW first phase of its LNG-to-Power complex at the Port of Açu.

Venture Global LNG said it has made a final investment decision to proceed with development of its $5.8 billion Calcasieu Pass liquefaction facility after financing was nearly two times oversubscribed with more than $10 billion in binding commitments.

The New York regulatory agency that failed to act on a water quality certification for Williams’ planned Constitution Pipeline said it will fight a federal ruling that it waived the decision through inaction. In spite of the challenge, the project may move ahead to completion by 2021.

Less than three years after Technic merged with FMC Technologies to create a $20 billion offshore services company, London-based TechnipFMC said it will separate into two independent, publicly traded companies to focus on their respective strategies.

The topography in America’s northeast region can be tricky. It is craggy, unpredictable and a bit cranky, as befits the cradle of the United States democratic experiment.

It seems like each winter we see consumers in New England suffering not just from freezing temperatures but also the highest energy prices in the country – largely because there’s not enough natural gas infrastructure to serve the region during periods of peak winter demand. This past winter, the news was a little bit better.

Pipelines can require both scheduled and unplanned cleaning for many reasons, from the maintenance of throughput to preparation for inspections runs. The most common method for removing debris from pipelines is using pigs and scraper tools.

Natural gas and hazardous liquids pipeline operators have been accumulating mass volumes of data for several years. But what to do with all this data? This is a question many natural gas pipeline operators are asking in advance of the highly anticipated Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) proposed gas and gathering pipeline mega-rule.

While psi levels vary depending on the application, real-time pressure monitoring is essential for utilities that supply natural gas to residential and commercial endpoints on their distribution networks.

Although there are other inspection methods, such as direct assessment or hydrostatic testing, ILIs are the most popular worldwide due to number of factors, including practicality, cost-effectiveness and accuracy.

In just a few months IoT technology will be integrated with the technology platforms of some of the largest oil and gas companies. The integration spans across their artificial intelligence, IoT, and AR solutions for predictive maintenance, which is the ability to predict any technology issues that may happen across operations with vast amounts of equipment.

In the oil and gas industry, the use of robots, whether fixed or mobile, is not new, as such devices were introduced to a lesser extent in the 1970s. Today, however, we are beginning to see highly advanced applications of such robotics being used.

Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks recently made history by completing the first true beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight under the small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) rule.

While new pipelines continue to be constructed the world over, the vast majority of them were laid in the 40s, 50s and 60s, often in remote or isolated areas. Today, operators are constantly facing an uphill battle of maintaining infrastructure well past its shelf life.

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to inspect pipelines is one of the most promising uses of new technologies that our industry has ever seen. Unmanned aerial vehicles, often called drones, can be launched from nearly any location, controlled remotely and programmed to operate autonomously.

A year after selling its Trans Mountain Pipeline system and expansion project to Canada’s government for $4.5 billion, U.S. operator Kinder Morgan is making its final exit from the “Great White North” with the $3.3 billion sale of Kinder Morgan Canada and the Cochin Pipeline system to Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline.

Enbridge asked Canadian energy regulators not to intervene in the company’s proposal to restructure contracts on its Mainline network.

After striking out on its U.S. Commerce Department request for exemption from steel tariffs, Plains All American tried a new approach this year – and promptly whiffed again.

Europe’s two biggest suppliers of pipeline gas lost market share for the first time in at least four years as LNG imports into the region tripled between October and August.

The operator of the Polish section of the Druzbha oil pipeline said it could take up to a year to completely clean its part of the network after a major Russian oil contamination this year, the RIA news agency reported.

BP said it will sell all its Alaskan properties to Hilcorp Energy in a $5.6 billion agreement and exit the region where it has operated for 60 years.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving ahead with an effort to prevent states from blocking pipeline projects by delaying or rejecting Clean Water Act certifications.

The Senate and House appear to be on a bit of a collision course with regard to reauthorization of the pipeline safety program at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Key committees in each of the two houses of Congress have passed bills that have different provisions and share only a few provisions.

Williams said it has successfully placed into full service its Rivervale South to Market project – an expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline system – to meet growing heating and power generation demand for northeastern consumers.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has filed a motion to intervene on a proposed expansion of the Dakota Access pipeline. The tribe, which led original opposition to the pipeline, petitioned for status as an intervenor in the case before the Public Service Commission.

Tellurian has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to initiate a review of its proposed Permian Global Access Pipeline (PGAP) following an oversubscribed open season for the 625-mile natural gas project from West Texas to Southeast Louisiana’s growing LNG export market.

Federal regulators have cleared the way for a Williams Partners natural gas pipeline to move forward despite New York’s denial of a water quality permit that had blocked the project.

A court in Nebraska affirmed an alternative route in the Midwest state for TC Energy Corp’s Keystone XL oil pipeline in the latest chapter in the nearly 10-year legal fight over the Canada to Texas pipeline.

Trans Mountain Corp restarted construction on parts of its pipeline to nearly triple the flow of crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the British Columbia coast roughly a year after the project’s latest regulatory setback.

LM Energy Holdings said it has completed first phase of its Touchdown Crude Oil Gathering System in the northern Delaware Basin and will begin transporting crude oil shortly for contracted customers in Eddy County, N.M.

The leader of a company invested in Nord Stream 2 said the project’s completion date has not been changed and the pipeline could still be delivered on time and budget, despite Denmark’s long-pending decision on a construction permit.

Clariant opened its next high-throughput experimentation (HTE) laboratory Sept. 5 in Houston.

Tube Tech International Ltd. (TTIL) launched its next-generation cleaning robot, which the company said is capable of eradicating more than 90% of heat exchanger fouling.

Allseas installed WFS Technologies’ Seatooth Pipelogger for the real time measurement of process temperature on a subsea pipeline system. The pipeline system is designed to have a total gas throughput capacity of 31.5 Bcm per year.