May 2021, Vol. 248, No. 5

A recent vote of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may have come out favorably for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), but 3-2 wins like this for midstream companies will likely become a much rarer commodity this summer.

A Republican commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took the unusual step of advising interstate pipeline and LNG companies to get ready to have pending applications for construction upended by the order FERC issued on March 23 by a vote of 3-2.

In this interview, SGA Chair and Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline President and CEO Jimmy Staton discusses the concerns of the SGA membership, adapting to a new president’s agenda, improving the public’s perception of the natural gas industry and other topics.

Cautious optimism appears to be the name of the game for operators and others associated with the Marcellus and Utica Shales, according to representatives of key coalitions in the regions.

State energy officials have been laser-focused on the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leasing on federal lands because it could eventually curtail Bakken production by more than 100,000 bpd.

While no one can dispute that 2020 was not a good year for midstream, there has been some positive movement concerning natural gas pipelines – despite a year characterized by pricing woes and a crippling pandemic.

PRCI has advanced the development of its research portfolio through the establishment of Strategic Research Priorities (SRP) that will have a key impact on our members and the pipeline industry.

Despite climate change, and uncertain futures for both demand and supply, some financial investors have become enthusiastic about gas pipelines.

In late 2019, struggling Saudi Aramco (Aramco), the world’s largest oil company, completed the biggest initial public offering of shares to raise $25.6 billion, with additional shares sold, bringing the total raised to a hefty $29.4 billion.

Western Gas and APA Group are undertaking a development and marketing study to deliver Equus gas to Australian customers and markets via a 130-mile (210-km) offshore pipeline and a transcontinental pipeline, the companies announced.

For decades, rupture disks have served the oil and gas industry as an effective, passive safety mechanism to protect against overpressure or potentially damaging vacuum conditions.

The benefits of drone technology are especially apparent in large-scale infrastructure projects with high regulatory burdens and high consequences if something goes wrong.

Ameren Illinois began Phase 2 of a $65 million project to modernize its natural gas energy delivery infrastructure in and around Belleville, Ill., the company said.

U.S. natural gas production – as measured by gross withdrawals – averaged 111.2 Bcf/d (3.15 Bcm/d) in 2020, down 900 MMcf/d (25 MMcm/d) from 2019 as result of a decline in drilling activity related to low natural gas and oil prices in 2020.

EIA forecasts a decreased total U.S. natural gas consumption in 2021 and 2022, following a decline in 2020. Consumption in 2020 was 1.9 Bcf/d lower than the all-time high of 85.1 Bcf/d set in 2019.

PennEast Pipeline still expects to put the first phase of its $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline project in Pennsylvania in service in 2022 and complete the second phase from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in 2024.

Amid growing PHMSA regulation and evolving technology, gas utilities are being called to modernize and improve business processes to meet safety and compliance goals. Going through this process will cause organizations to experience change on many levels.

Baker Hughes said it reached a technology milestone by finding a way to overcome flexible pipe stress corrosion cracking (SCC) tendencies in high carbon dioxide (CO2) content fields, such as those found in Brazil’s pre-salt offshore developments.

News from IDEC, Denso, Trimble, NDT Global, Endess+Hauser and Caterpillar are included in this month's What's New.

The Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) is pleased to announce that David Schramm, vice president–senior consultant with EN Engineering, is the recipient of the 2021 NACE R.A. Brannon Award.

Large pressure faced by oil and gas companies from environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movements is increasing and inarguably being felt across midstream and all other sectors of the energy value chain.