May 2020, Vol. 247, No. 5

Well, if nothing else, the Paradox pipeline has at least turned out to be aptly named, though no one involved with the 21-mile (34-km) natural gas conduit, including regulators, is smiling.

In the early weeks of the coronavirus (COVID-19) onslaught, Mike Chadsey, communication director for the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA), was trying to figure out how his world had flipped so completely in such a short time.

Diane Leopold became chair of the American Gas Association just in time for an unprecedented economic shutdown in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The circumstances present significant challenges to utilities, and all of their stakeholders have forced a shift in priorities. Few in the industry would be as well-prepared to help lead the organization through troubled times.

After months of speculation, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) posted the UP Energy Task Force’s draft recommendations for Line 5, the 30-inch (762-mm), light crude and natural gas liquids pipeline owned by Enbridge.

Deploying teams of people on the ground and helicopters in the air to cover the length of the pipeline network is a major cost for North America’s pipeline industry. That is likely to change as drone regulations ease.

Over the last 25 years, I have been involved with designing and inspecting horizontal directional drills (HDD) for pipeline construction, attending numerous seminars, purchasing many texts and reading countless white papers related to the subject. Of much more educational value (and fun) is the many hours spent on drilling sites, asking questions and listening intently to the folks running the drill.

As natural gas assets are beginning to age, there is a larger need for integrity solutions in this area. The challenge with these assets is that they often operate at lower pressures, which can make running a conventional inline inspection tool difficult.

The task of replacing a pipe sounds simple enough. However, it became much more complicated when that pipe was 50 feet (15 meters) high in an offshore vessel surrounded by other pipes and equipment in a room nearly 100 feet (30 meters) high, 33 feet (10 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) wide.

Eni completed construction on the gas pipeline connecting Bir Rebaa Nord (BRN) and Menzel Ledjmet Est (MLE) fields in the Berkine Basin, in southeastern Algeria. The 16-inch, 115-miles (185-km) pipeline has with a transport capacity of 7 MMscm/d of gas.

ExxonMobil has released a model framework for industry-wide methane regulations that includes specific guidance related to transmission pipeline blowdowns between compressor stations.

Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI) is pleased to announce that its Executive Assembly has approved the development of Strategic Research Priorities (SRPs).

Offshore aviation company Bristow Group said it has deployed specially-equipped helicopters from its Search and Rescue (SAR) fleet to transport offshore workers with suspected cases of the novel coronavirus in the North Sea and Americas regions.

During uncertainty and significant risk to people’s health, robust and accurate screening and testing of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is needed now more than ever.

It’s a common refrain among investors that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” meaning the share prices of similar companies tend to act in unison. Unfortunately, that’s equally true of falling tides, as demonstrated by the performance of North American midstream equities in recent weeks.

Enterprise Products Partners’ outspoken co-CEO Jim Teague used an April 29 conference call with investors as an opportunity to comment on the U.S. economic shutdown while reflecting on his personal experience during the 1950s polio epidemic and as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam in relation to the COVID-19 response.

Responding to market conditions with cost-cutting across its business lines, Phillips 66 has announced that the Red Oak Pipeline, Liberty Pipeline and Sweeny Hub fractionation expansion have all been postponed.

As crude oil demand and storage availability hit bottom, there are signs of hope for natural gas.

In Washington, on Feb. 22, Christy Goldfuss, former managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) under President Obama, stepped to the microphone during a public hearing and attempted to drive a rhetorical stake through the heart of the U.S. interstate pipeline industry.

Laying a cross-country pipeline is expensive. Many hours of engineering and planning must meet certain standards and regulations and receive federal government approval before starting construction. It costs approximately $100,000 per diameter-inch-mile to build a pipeline in a reasonable lay area. This number can easily triple in marsh lands, hills, mountains and rocky terrain. In those areas it could cost about $20 million to lay 100 miles (161 km) of 20-inch pipe.

As a longtime observer of the Alaska energy scene, Larry Persily has the rare perspective of someone who has viewed his subject matter as a journalist, educator and as public policy worker at the federal, state and municipal levels, including federal coordinator for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, 2010-2015.