Storage
Enterprise Announces Acquisition of Eagle Ford Midstream Assets
HOUSTON – Enterprise Products Partners announced today it executed definitive agreements to purchase all member interests in Eagle Ford Shale gas-gathering company EFS Midstream from affiliates of Pioneer Natural Resources Company and Reliance Industries Limited for $2.15 billion.
In The News: Obama Gives Final Approval to Cove Point LNG Terminal
The Obama administration on May 7 granted final approval to a $3.8 billion natural gas export facility in Calvert County, MD – the first gas export site on the East Coast. Environmentalists sued within hours to stop the project.
Embracing Uncertainty: Reducing Risk by Working Together
It’s trite but true: The only thing constant is change. Especially in our industry, it seems. There’s always a new technology or tool to consider or a proposed regulation to ponder. Access to capital restricts and relaxes. Individual rig or well performance can vary widely. Even the location of our best prospects can confound us: North Dakota?
Southcross Holding Open Season To Transport Y-Grade
Southcross Energy Partners announced the launch of a binding open season to solicit commitments for its proposed Y-Grade pipeline. Once complete, the pipeline will allow Southcross to offer transportation services of Y-Grade from a point near Woodsboro, TX to a point near Robstown. The pipeline will have access to the Y-Grade pipeline of Southcross’ holding company that runs from Pettus to Robstown.
Plains All American/Delek Logistics Form JV To Develop Pipeline
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Delek Logistics Partners LP have formed Caddo Pipeline LLC, a 50/50 joint venture to develop the Caddo Pipeline. The 80-mile, 12-inch pipeline will run between Longview, TX and Shreveport, LA.
Midstream: Changing Routes, Emphasis for Energy Renaissance
As global oil prices were still falling and various parts of the U.S. oil/natural gas space were reassessing plans for 2015, the American Petroleum Institute (API) was reorganizing to better service one of the industry’s growth sectors – midstream. API said it was going to provide more attention to “pipelines and processing facilities” that connect oil and gas production with markets. The key is infrastructure, according to the globally recognized Washington, DC-based trade and standards-setting group.
Rangeland Lands Anchor Shipper for RIO Pipeline
Rangeland Energy has executed a long-term agreement with a subsidiary of Delek US Holdings, Inc. to be an anchor shipper of crude oil on the Rangeland Integrated Oil Pipeline (RIO Pipeline). The pipeline will connect production from the Delaware Basin to the crude oil market center in Midland, TX. Delek Logistics Partners LP, Delek US’s logistics arm, will own 33% of the RIO Pipeline and supporting terminals.
Making the Best of Evolving Midstream Infrastructure
The changing oil production and consumption landscape in North America has led to new developments in the infrastructure that brings oil to market – the pipelines, gathering systems, storage facilities, rail networks and marine-based transport networks that comprise the industry’s midstream oil infrastructure.
Editor's Notebook: Crude Exports More Important Than Keystone
I was driving to work this morning on Kamikaze Highway, officially known as I-10, and switched on the 9 a.m. news when a story so outlandish grabbed my attention, nearly forcing me into another lane of traffic, in which case I could not have written this column. The story, reported by Fox News, cited an increase in President Obama’s popularity that it attributed to lower gasoline prices. Say what? He being responsible for lower gas prices is like saying the API is non-political. It’s just not so, am I right, Jack Gerard?
Billions of Barrels of Oil Discovered Near London But There's A Catch
A small British oil company has found a bonanza of potentially billions of barrels of oil beneath a field near London’s Gatwick Airport. The only problem is how much of the oil is accessible. UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) said April 9 that 3,000 feet of exploratory drilling at Wytch Farm in the Weald Basin, a rural area just north of the airport, discovered a “world-class potential resource.” The area is now referred to as “Britain’s Dallas.” It was the deepest well dug in the region in three decades.
Nimble by Nature: Pipeline Market in Transition
In an environment that is exhibiting disruption and change, being nimble is a necessity. The concept of being flexible rather than rigid in the face of change is one that for many industry participants is counterintuitive. Bruce Lee might have said it best when he suggested, “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
In the News: Price Declines Lower Tax Revenues in Production States
The Energy Information Administration reported March 12 that the decline in spot oil prices in the last half of 2014 and first month of 2015 has reduced oil and natural gas production tax revenues in some of the largest oil- and natural gas-producing states.
Can Shale Formations Enable U.S. to Become Oil Exporter?
In recent years, the technological advances in recovering hydrocarbons trapped in tight formations, like shale, using unconventional drilling methods (horizontal drilling in conjunction with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing) have made U.S. oil production grow dramatically.
Crude Oil Export Ban: Dated Policy with Real-Life Implications
If you are lucky enough to have grown up in Texas, you are all too familiar with how popular culture, particularly Hollywood, has glamorized the life of a wildcatter or roughneck. The movie Giant depicts James Dean on a windswept Texas countryside, sopping head to toe in newly discovered oil. While maybe a compelling drama, as a Texas Railroad Commissioner, I can tell you this is far from reality.
Falling Oil Prices Exert Influence on Utility Construction
The free-falling oil price caught many observers off guard. Historically, crude oil and natural gas prices tend to stay in alignment as the imbedded energy content is the defining characteristic. Since 2010, when the price of these commodities separated, many observers anticipated upward volatility in the price of gas to realign it with the price of oil. Few analysts anticipated oil falling to realign with low-cost natural gas.
Forget About Keystone XL Canadian Crude Is Coming
While Congress and the White House continue to wrangle over the Keystone XL pipeline extension, the oil industry is taking matters into its own hands. Markets are primed for an influx of Canadian crude oil, but with pipeline transport off the table for the foreseeable future, producers have built alternative modes to meet the demand. The problem is, recent disasters have soured legislators and environmentalists on road and rail for moving oil.
Pipeline Moving Canadian Crude to Gulf Coast Refineries Starts
Crude from the Canadian oil sands deposits gained an additional major outlet in the U.S. when the joint venture of Enbridge, Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. completed construction of its Cushing-to-Texas pipeline and started deliveries in December to Gulf Coast refineries. The new pipeline’s operations and routes are very similar to TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline project for bringing oil sands crude to the Gulf Coast.
EnLink Landman Follows Family Tradition
Recently EnLink Midstream invited me out to West Texas to see my first pipeline spread – the Martin County Extension Pipeline. On the way to the line we stopped by the Deadwood gas plant where I met Chris Coleman, EnLink Midstream’s senior landman. He was amiable, genuine and welcoming, even letting me ride shotgun in his work truck, which I had to jump to get into. As we drove across the flat Texas land, kicking up a flurry of red dirt, he began telling me about his job.
Cathodic Shielding Effects Tested: PipePillo vs. Foam
Perhaps one of the most important safe guards put in place to maintain the long-term integrity of buried pipelines is a cathodic protection system. Cathodic protection (CP) is an anti- corrosion technique used to prevent the corrosion of metals such as steel and iron in electrolytically conducting environments such as seawater and soils containing water.
Wood Mackenzie: Oil Market Concerns Inescapable in 2015
Global consulting company Wood Mackenzie has drawn on the knowledge and expertise of senior analysts in compiling a new report, Horizons: What To Look For In 2015. In discussing the report, Paul McConnell, principal analyst for Global Trends at Wood Mackenzie, pointed out that oil market concerns will be inescapable in 2015. “With no sign that OPEC is reconsidering its decision to leave production targets unchanged, the impetus falls on non-OPEC producers to limit supply growth and bring the market back into balance,” he said.
Latest Price Shock Offers Some Midstream Bright Spots
The price of oil may have fallen to its lowest level in six years, but this “price shock” is different than the 2008-’09 variety, according to analysts at Pace Global. “The current low-price situation is likely to persist for several years unless geopolitical events shift the market psychology from one of surplus to one of shortage,” Jim Diemer, vice president and head Pace Global-Siemens’ Energy Consulting Company, told PG&J.
Newsreel: Northeast Utilities Becomes Eversource Energy
Northeast Utilities, which operates New England’s largest energy delivery company, has become Eversource Energy. All of the company’s subsidiaries, including Connecticut Light and Power Co., NSTAR Electric, NSTAR Gas, Public Service Co. of New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts Electric Co. and Yankee Gas Services Co. have begun operating under the Eversource brand. The company serves more than 3.6 million electric and natural gas customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and employing a workforce of more than 8,000 New Englanders.
Editors Notebook: The Silver Lining Pipelines Work
You already know that Houston is the energy capital of the nation, most likely the world. But did you know that Houston is also the violent bank robbery capital of the nation with no close second?
Russias Pipeline Dreams Under Threat
Russia is the second-largest producer of dry natural gas and the third-largest liquid fuels producer in the world, and these products are inextricably intertwined with its government. State-controlled company Rosneft dominates oil production while Transneft owns and operates Russia’s oil pipelines. Gazprom is the country’s dominant gas producer and pipeline operator, and the Ministry of Finance admitted in February that oil and gas royalties, taxes and dividends account for at least 50% of the Russian government’s revenue.
Study: Mariner East To Add $4.2 Billion To Pennsylvania Economy
Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East projects are expected to add up to $4.2 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy and create 300-400 permanent jobs, according to a study by Philadelphia-based Econsult Solutions, Inc. released Feb. 5. Commissioned by Sunoco Logistics, the economic forecast projected construction of the projects will generate $23 million in personal income tax in the state, as well bringing in $62 million in tax revenues from vendors, employees and related activities.
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.
Meritage Midstream Announces NGL Pipeline Extension
Meritage Midstream has begun operations on the first leg of the 108-mile Thunder Creek NGL Pipeline. The pipeline will be owned and operated by Thunder Creek NGL Pipeline, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meritage.
Enterprise Products Seeks Shipper Support For NGL Pipeline Expansion
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. recently sought shipper support for a proposed expansion of the portion of its Panola Pipeline Company, LLC natural gas liquids system between Carthage and Mont Belvieu, TX.
British Columbia Prohibits Oil Or Bitumen Transport Through LNG Pipelines
British Columbia has adopted a regulation to ensure pipelines built to support LNG facilities will not be permitted to transport oil or diluted bitumen. This follows concerns expressed in environmental assessments and by First Nations about the long-term pipeline use.
Energy Forecast Predicts Rising Gas, Oil Demand As Global Middle Class Grows
ExxonMobil’s 2015 energy forecast posits natural gas as the fuel with the most demand growth between now and 2040, overtaking coal as the second most popular energy source with a 65% gain vs. its 2010 levels. By the end of the period, the report predicted more than 125 Bcf/d will be shipped by LNG or inter-regional pipeline.
- Keystone Oil Pipeline Resumes Operations After Temporary Shutdown
- Biden Administration Buys Oil for Emergency Reserve Above Target Price
- Freeport LNG Plant Runs Near Zero Consumption for Fifth Day
- Enbridge to Invest $500 Million in Pipeline Assets, Including Expansion of 850-Mile Gray Oak Pipeline
- Williams Delays Louisiana Pipeline Project Amid Dispute with Competitor Energy Transfer
- Evacuation Technologies to Reduce Methane Releases During Pigging
- Editor’s Notebook: Nord Stream’s $20 Billion Question
- Enbridge Receives Approval to Begin Service on Louisiana Venice Gas Pipeline Project
- Mexico Seizes Air Liquide's Hydrogen Plant at Pemex Refinery
- Russian LNG Unfazed By U.S. Sanctions
