December 2021, Vol. 248, No. 12

When the Supreme Court refused to stay a lower court decision that vacated a federal permit allowing Spire’s STL pipeline to operate, it opened a door that could threaten natural gas supplies to residents during St. Louis’ notoriously bitter winter.

German Regulator Stalls Nord Stream 2, Ida Reduced Gas Production More Than Any Hurricane in Past Decade, Israeli Energy Minister Proposes Ending UAE Pipeline Deal and more are included in this month's global headlines.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission continues to hesitate in determining whether greenhouse gas emissions from new pipeline projects are a “significant” contribution to climate change.

The Biden administration proposal to limit methane emissions from pipeline transmission compressors and pneumatic controllers goes beyond what the Obama administration had put in place in 2017.

Michels Completes 15,000-Plus Foot HDD Crossing, Turkmenistan Officials Discuss Work on TAPI Gas Pipeline, Russian Gas Flows to Germany Through Yamal Restart and more are included in this month's project news.

In this interview, Alonzo Weaver, chairman of APGA and senior vice president and COO at Memphis Light Gas & Water, discusses APGA’s priorities for the coming year, helping members who are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and engaging the public concerning natural gas and other topics.

Increased attention is being focused on minimizing or removing human presence in extreme environments by using remote operations and assistive technologies for monitoring and decision support.

Fatigue is one of a controller’s greatest threats. Despite restrictions that have transpired for monitoring and mitigating controller fatigue in the past decade, fatigue is not a new worry within the oil and gas industry.

Climate change projections are useful for strategic planning by governments, regulatory agencies and the global maritime industry. They are all trying to assess the potential for expanded Arctic marine operations in the coming decades.

Mostly groundwater naturally occurring deep in oil and gas reservoirs, produced water also can include water previously injected into the formation during well treatment or secondary recovery to increase production.

While not as volatile as the previous 12 months, 2021 brought its share of anxiety as we in the energy industry – midstream in particular – worked to recover from the fallout caused by the COVID-19 virus. There were also victories along the way.

While the amount of work to replace cast-iron and bare-steel pipe has declined in volume since the implementation of the Gas Distribution Integrity Management Program in 2009, there is still plenty of construction left to be done.

Repercussions from an offshore oil spill along part of the Southern California coast in the fall, even though overestimated fivefold, could be long-lasting and significant for the oil and natural gas industry in climate change-driven California.

Carbon capture, (use), and storage is particularly suited for operators because of their vast expertise in managing large and complex infrastructure, industrial gas treating, pipelines and reservoir management.

Much of today’s energy piping infrastructure is made of polyethylene, polyamide, and spoolable composite piping. More and more new piping systems are made from plastic pipe, but there is a lot of work to be done on the renewable energy front.

Geospatial analytics has come a long way from its inception in the early 80s. Today’s high-resolution satellites can survey each square foot of the entire earth’s surface and can do so daily.

The Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline, which delivers crude oil from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin, became fully operational on Oct. 1, increasing the pipeline’s capacity to 760,000 bpd. Before the replacement, Enbridge Line 3 had a capacity of about half that amount.

Slug catchers are used at the terminus of large gas condensate transmission pipelines to catch large slugs of liquid, to hold these slugs temporarily, and to allow them to follow into downstream equipment and facilities at a rate at which the liquid can be properly handled.

Med-Red Land Bridge Company signed its first contract for a vessel to use the recently recommissioned 150-mile (242-km) pipeline owned by Europe Asia Pipeline Company.

Proper storage and maintenance are important to ensure the optimal performance and condition of urethane pigs.

News from Dekotec GmbH, AIO, Sensor Networks, Endress+Hauser, Farwest, Weldcote and Honeywell.

Maggie O’Connell is the new director of Security, Reliability and Resilience at INGAA. Her a background is as a policy analyst and regulatory affairs specialist.