September 2019, Vol. 246, No. 9

Things are heating up in Texas, and it’s not just the weather. There are numerous complexities surrounding the most prolific shale region in North America that has everyone working in the basin uneasy. Though the Permian Basin, in Texas and New Mexico, has pushed the U.S. past Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top crude producer, some headwinds have appeared that have this basin fluxed.

The Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC), long known as a research think-tank, recently formalized a training committee dedicated to expanding the breadth of its existing training programs to include the midstream sector.

Natural gas is an abundant fuel used for both industrial and residential energy and is one of the few energy sources delivered directly into our homes. Because it’s also a flammable, potentially explosive fluid, natural gas utilities and distribution companies are required to prioritize safety and devote focus to their protection systems to prevent over-pressurization accidents, even for systems operating at extremely low-pressure levels (< 1 psi).

In mid-2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) counted 200 liquid pipeline projects ongoing nationwide. At the same time, energy consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners tracked 79 separate legal appeals against liquid and natural gas federal permitting projects.

After scrambling to catch up with fast-growing Permian Basin crude oil production, pipeline operators appear to be entering a period of excess takeaway capacity with the completion of new and expanded systems this year.

Power generation in New England and New York is largely dependent on natural gas, which accounts for more than half of the region’s electricity generating capacity.

Wrinkle bends are ubiquitous in the United States, and many exist in lines that have been in service for decades. Continuous service and wear take their toll over time, but on wrinkle bends, which experience high strains resulting from bending and axial forces caused by shifting terrain and suffer in many cases from insufficient pipe support, there is concern about their continuing integrity.

The impact Brexit will have on the oil and gas industry will be influenced by a couple of factors, one of which will affect the majority of businesses in the United Kingdom: Will the country leaves the European Union (EU) with a deal in place.

There are two traditional schools of thought for monitoring internal corrosion in pipelines. One advocates the use of theoretical modeling techniques to predict the location, severity and behavior of corrosion; the other favors inline inspection (ILI) as a means to measure corrosion directly.

Despite the many advances in the electrification of Africa, much of the continent has yet to be connected to the grid or have access to reliable and affordable power supplies. According to World Bank figures, Africa’s electrification rate is just 42%.

Barely one year after the commissioning of East and Central Africa’s only refined oil transportation pipeline in Kenya, leakages have been reported, raising concerns about the ability of existing government agencies to monitor the safety of oil infrastructure at a time when similar projects have been unveiled across the region.

U.S. LNG exports have been growing steadily and reached a new peak of 4.7 Bcf/d in May 2019, according to the latest data published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy.

Williams acquired and placed into service the 16-inch Norphlet deepwater gathering pipeline system in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico constructed by operator Shell and CNOOC Petroleum Offshore.

Utility operator NiSource agreed to pay $143 million to settle class action lawsuits related to a series of gas explosions in three suburban Boston communities last year.

Gazprom has signed a five-year contract with Turkmengaz to purchase natural gas, the Russian gas producer sad.

Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said it has set a cap of $15 per barrel for compensation for damages stemming from contamination in its network.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee announced the agency is creating a new division in its Office of Energy Projects to accommodate the growing number and complexity of applications to site, build and operate liquefied natural gas export terminals.

Israel’s Delek Drilling said it has completed testing of a subsea natural gas pipeline to Egypt and expects to begin exports by year end. That schedule was reaffirmed by Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who told Reuters in late July that gas exports to Egypt would begin within four months.

State-owned freight logistics firm Transnet plans to launch a tender next year for South Africa’s first terminal to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Richards Bay port, with first gas expected to land in 2024, a senior official said.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund (GIC) is investing $600 million in Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNOC) crude pipeline infrastructure, raising total outside investment in the newly formed ADNOC Oil Pipelines to $4.9 billion.

Environmentalists are broadening their opposition to natural gas transportation beyond pipelines by opposing the shipment of LNG on rail cars.

House Democrats and Republicans have had trouble agreeing on a pipeline safety bill so far this year, but a second bill on pipeline security faces no such problem.

The Senate is looking to pass bipartisan water infrastructure bills aimed mostly at providing funding for dams, irrigation and water conservation, and rejuvenation projects in the Western U.S. under the auspices of the Bureau of Reclamation, an Interior Department agency.

An open season for Tellurian’s Permian Global Access Pipeline (PGAP) drew strong demand from West Texas natural gas producers seeking delivery to the rapidly growing natural gas market in Southeast Louisiana.

Russian gas producer Gazprom expects Denmark to agree to its route application for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany in October, the Russia International News agency (RIA) reported.

Libya’s national oil company said it reopened a pipeline that had been closed since the weekend and resumed production at the country’s largest oil field.

Plains All American Pipeline filed with U.S. regulators to remove a proposed surcharge on its Cactus II oil pipeline, tacked on as a result of the Trump administration’s tariff on imported steel.

Kinder Morgan is “moving along” with plans for a third major pipeline project from the Permian Basin – the newly named Permian Pass, which would deliver natural gas from West Texas to the Sabine area of the East Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, CEO Steven Kean said.

Blue Mountain Midstream announced its Wildcat subsidiaries launched an open season for new crude oil and water gathering systems and services in central Oklahoma.

A permit allowing Dominion Energy to build the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina has been vacated by an appeals court.

Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster has been awarded a contract valued at $162 million (145 million euros) for seabed intervention and shore-crossing activities for the proposed Scarborough export gas pipeline in northwestern Australia.

The second leg of the TurkStream gas pipeline is planned to go through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced, as Moscow prepares to phase out gas transit to Europe via Ukraine.

Tape wrap contends with higher technology pipeline joint coating solutions, in many contexts with a degree of success. Wrapped with skill, tape can offer the requisite protection a pipeline joint needs.

NACE International and The Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) said they have continued discussions of a potential merger and will ask their members to vote on the matter within a year.