Integrity
Inline Inspection, Pigging Methods For Managing Pipeline Integrity
Corrosion, erosion and other forms of material degradation can cause critical damage to steel pipelines and riser systems, potentially resulting in health and safety hazards and costly repairs for oil and gas operators. Inspection technologies are available to evaluate pipeline integrity, and as a result, maximize the economic recovery of oil and gas reserves.
NTSB Study Seeks Changes to Gas Transmission Integrity Programs
A new National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) study calls for major changes to integrity management (IM) programs of gas transmission pipelines in high-consequence areas (HCAs).
Illinois Oil Train Derailment Involved Safer Tank Cars
GALENA, Ill. (AP) — The two rail cars that split open and burst into flames during a western Illinois oil train derailment were retrofitted with protective shields to meet a higher safety standard than federal law requires, the railroad said. Thursday's accident in a rural area south of the city of Galena is the latest failure of the safer tank car model and raises more concerns that even tougher requirements are needed.
Government: Proposed Obama Methane Emissions Plan Lacks Details
The Obama administration announced a plan to cut methane emissions from pipeline operations but gave no specifics beyond the federal agencies which would handle rule-makings. The technical details of those rule-makings and the extent of the cut of methane emissions they seek to produce won't be known for some time.
Pipeline Stress Corrosion Cracking: Detection and Control
Corrosion of underground natural gas and liquid petroleum pipelines occurs in a variety of forms and requires specialized mitigation methods to detect and control. First identified in the 1960s, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a form of corrosion that results in clusters or colonies of cracks on the external surface of the affected pipeline.
Facility Expansion Underway At CDI
CDI, one of the world’s leaders in pipeline pig detection, recording and locating technology, broke ground recently for its expansion project in Broken Arrow, OK.
Poplar spill fueling worries about Dakota Access; replacement announced
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A pipeline oil spill in Montana that contaminated a river and a city's drinking water supply is adding to fears about a proposed pipeline to carry oil from western North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois for distribution to refineries in eastern states.
Achieving Vital Security With Cloud Services
Are your company’s business systems connected in any way to the industrial control systems (ICS), including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), which are used to manage the company’s critical infrastructure? If they are, and the best guess is they are, then the ICS/SCADA could be vulnerable to cyberattacks in addition to the business side of the networks.
Editor's Notebook: Local Updates
I hope the industry is paying attention to some regionalized developments that could hamper activity, at least in the short term.
Energy Providers, Including Pipelines, Vulnerable To Malware
Financial services firms may have a slight edge in security readiness over their energy sector counterparts, but not by much. These two industries – highly targeted by cybercriminals – must move quickly to address their cybersecurity deficiencies and shore up their defenses against advanced malware threats.
Improving Cybersecurity Defenses In Oil And Gas Applications
In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile, advanced malware threats that targeted or attacked the energy sector such as Dragonfly, Stuxnet, Flame and Shamoon. And while these threats need to be taken into account when analyzing and preparing for potential security risks, they actually only account for a low number of overall threat sources.
In Turnaround, FERC Proposes to Allow Surcharges to Fund Modernization
In a departure from past policy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is considering allowing interstate pipelines to recoup the costs of complying with federal environmental and safety regulations.
50 homes evacuated after Missouri pipeline break
BOWLING GREEN, Mo. (AP) — More than four dozen homes near the town of Bowling Green in northeast Missouri have been evacuated due to the rupture of a natural gas pipeline.
Concerns about water quality after MT pipeline rupture
GLENDIVE, Mont. (AP) — Workers recovered about 10,000 gallons of oil from a ruptured pipeline that spilled crude into Yellowstone River and contaminated the drinking water supply of an eastern Montana city downstream.
Cold Weather Can Play Havoc On Natural Gas Systems
Cold weather can produce threats to the integrity of distribution pipeline systems. Integrity management (IM) concepts required an operator to identify threats as a necessary step to prioritizing integrity assessments and developing mitigations.
Pipeline Engineering Quality Management System
I’ve only been working in the pipeline engineering business for a short time, but have noticed a disparity between how the quality systems of the two main portions of the business are structured. This, even though corporate quality and construction quality systems both follow the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001:2008 format of quality standards.
Leak Detection Systems Critical To Pipeline Safety
Selecting a suitable leak detection system is not an easy task for pipeline operators. The system must meet the needs of the particular application and comply with relevant regulations. The most advanced technology available uses the extended real-time transient model (E-RTTM) model, which guarantees reliable leak monitoring for various types and lengths of pipelines, even under transient operating conditions.
Gas Infrastructure Aging Gracefully Despite Flawed News Story
While statistically pipelines remain the safest method to transport natural gas and liquids, growing demands on the aging infrastructure has increasingly pointed to the need for upgrades – sometimes tragically so.
Distribution Delivers Innovation To Pipeline Replacement Prioritization
Ian Davidson, member of Parliament: “Let me be clear. If the [natural gas distribution] companies find themselves in a position where the number of health and safety breaches is increasing, a plausible defense for them is to say that they cannot afford to do it because you are squeezing them too tightly.”
UGI Gets Aggressive With Pipeline Replacement Program
In some ways UGI Utilities is fortunate to be so far ahead of the game when it comes to infrastructure replacement. The natural gas distributor, which serves 600,000 customers in 45 eastern and central Pennsylvania counties and one county in Maryland, has about 86% of its 12,000 miles of pipeline already constructed of contemporary materials.
Study Finds Fracking Not At Fault For Water Contamination
A study has pinpointed the likely source of most natural gas contamination in drinking-water wells associated with hydraulic fracturing, and it’s not the source many people may have feared. What’s more, the problem may be fixable: improved construction standards for cement well linings and casings at hydraulic fracturing sites.
PG&E, others appeal $1.4 billion penalty
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and others on Thursday appealed a proposed $1.4 billion penalty against PG&E in a deadly 2010 gas-pipeline explosion, in a case that has raised repeated accusations of cozy relations between the utility and state regulators.
Add Longer-Term Value To Inline Inspection Through Mapping
Natural force damage from earth movement and heavy rains or floods accounts for only 8% of all pipeline failure incidents. However, these type of incidents account for 34% of all property damage.
Corrosion Management Of Duplex Stainless Steel Gas Flowlines
The most commonly used materials for gas flowlines are carbon steel (CS) and duplex stainless steel (DSS). Selection of flowline materials should take into account the service for which the flowline is intended, the operating envelope and the life cycle costs (LCC). For highly corrosive environments corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs), in particular DSS, remains the most cost-effective option since the risk of corrosion failure on CS lines is high and use of corrosion inhibition with CS is often either impractical, costly or poses too high a risk.
Traceability: A Technology, Requirement And Future For Pipelines
<em>“The overriding lesson: great software can fail if it is not paired with industry expertise.” – Brett Vogt, Project Consulting Services, Inc. </em> Whether they are people, places or things, there is nothing that can escape electronic scrutiny in the 21st century, pipelines included. With the right planning, personnel and software systems, both industry and government representatives agree that the tools are in place to maintain control and complete records for the North American, if the not the world’s, oil and natural gas pipelines.
EDF/Google Earth Outreach Map Gas Leaks Under City Streets
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently unveiled interactive online maps showing natural gas leaks beneath the streets of Boston, Indianapolis and New York City’s Staten Island. Leaks like these rarely pose an immediate safety threat, but the leaking natural gas – which is mostly methane – has a powerful effect on the global climate, carrying 120 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide.
FERC Commissioner Concerned About Pipeline Adequacy In Face Of Utility Carbon Restrictions
There is at least one raised eyebrow at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over the EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan, the subject of a proposed rule issued on June 2. The plan would force electric utilities to reduce carbon emissions to advance President Obama's Climate Action Plan, which seeks to lower air emissions of the six greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide is the major member. The plan foresees individual states devising separate, and perhaps different, plans for reducing carbon emissions from electric utilities.
Workplace Air Quality In Welding, Fabrication Environment
Welding and fabrication generate lots of heat, dust and fumes that carry hazardous substances. If air quality is not controlled, these often carcinogenic and toxic substances can lead to serious illness. Obviously, suitable systems to air quality at acceptable levels are needed.
Chinese Pipeline Damaged, 20,000 Evacuated
A leaking oil pipeline caught fire in the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian on July 1, forcing the evacuation of nearly 20,000 residents. According to press reports, the pipeline was damaged by construction work, allowing oil to flow into a sewage pipe, and catch fire. No deaths or injuries were reported. However, China National Petroleum Corp. reported 20,000 nearby residents had to be evacuated.
Editor's Notebook: North Dakota Making News
I’ve never been to North Dakota; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone from that state. Now, one of the great oil discoveries of recent years, the immense Bakken Shale, has put the upper Plains state on the map for all to see.
- Freeport LNG Plant Runs Near Zero Consumption for Fifth Day
- Biden Administration Buys Oil for Emergency Reserve Above Target Price
- Mexico Seizes Air Liquide's Hydrogen Plant at Pemex Refinery
- Kinder Morgan Declares Force Majeure on West Texas Gas Pipeline After Fire
- Enbridge Picks Contractors for Great Lakes Tunnel Project, Securing Line 5 Pipeline Route
- Pipeline Hydro Test Pressure Determination
- Venezuela Proposes Alternative Payment Plan as Weak Bids Surface in Citgo Auction
- Baker Hughes Wins Contract for Huge Aramco Gas Expansion Project
- Japan Looks at Developing Domestic Pipelines Sector
- Enbridge Picks Contractors for Great Lakes Tunnel Project, Securing Line 5 Pipeline Route
