Energy
Shale Plays Boost Track Trencher Market
Oil and gas shale production plays in several regions of the United States are having significant economic impact on the areas of activity and organizations that provide the equipment and services involved in tapping these rich sources of natural gas and oil.
Surviving An Exceptional Funding Drought
As last summer’s drought conditions wore on, I learned that there is a condition even worse than “extreme.” There is an “exceptional” drought category, which essentially means “pending devastation if you don’t get rain fast.” The impact of this drought, when finally broken, will be felt for years.
Rule Changes, Proposals Could Prove Significant For 2012 Underground Market
The One-Call and excavation damage provisions included in the new pipeline safety bill passed by Congress in December will trigger a number of state and federal responses in 2012. However, a rule allowing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to impose civil penalties on excavators -- ordered by the 2006 pipeline safety bill but never finalized -- would be even more significant. A proposed rule moving that requirement forward is expected this year, finally, perhaps as early as this winter.
Successful water treatment begins at Marcellus Shale
A Pennsylvania regulation became law in August that will help prevent the discharge of incompletely treated frac water from natural gas drilling into area rivers. Altela Inc., a water treatment company based in Albuquerque, NM, has begun implementation of the solution to the frac water problem at a plant in Williamsport by treating 100,000 gallons a day of frac water to better than drinking water standards.
Integrity Management Expansion Stirs Controversy In Congress
Two House committees are attempting to combine slightly different pipeline safety bills while Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is preventing a Senate vote on a bill passed by the Commerce Committee last May. All three bills are moderate, and make changes around the edges of current law, both with regard to natural gas and oil pipelines.
Gas Industry Associations Investigate Safety Models
In an effort to learn continually from other operators and to improve North America’s pipeline system safety, the American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, together with the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, have initiated a comprehensive study to explore safety models and procedures currently utilized by other industry sectors in an effort to deliver natural gas and pipeline-transported liquids more safely and reliably.
Modern HDD Tech Finally Brings Gas To Branson
Branson is a popular Southwestern Missouri family vacation center, home to Silver Dollar City, hotels, fine restaurants, more than 50 live performance centers, a dozen championship golf courses and a host of other attractions. Yet city homes and businesses are just now being connected to natural gas.
New rich gas gathering system planned in Texas
Meritage Midstream Services LLC is planning to build a new rich gas gathering system in Webb County, TX. Escondido Resources II LLC will serve as the system’s anchor tenant and will have firm capacity on Meritage’s existing Eagle Ford Escondido Gathering System to move its Eagle Ford volumes.
NTSB Recommendations On San Bruno Put Pressure On Congress, Administration; Keystone XL Decision Coming
The pipeline safety recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Aug. 30 puts significant pressure on both Congress and the Obama administration to respond to the problems discovered as part of the NTSB investigation of the PG&E San Bruno explosion in December 2010.
Missouri Rock, Ozark Mountains Big Challenge To Gas Line Installation
Challenging underground projects attract interest -- contractors who complete difficult jobs like to talk about them and manufacturers of equipment used are quick to tout the capabilities of their products.
Official San Bruno Report Clears Pipe Bursting, Faults Utility And Oversight
On Aug. 30, the National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the fatal pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA, that occurred on Sept. 9, 2010. The report named Pacific Gas & Electric's "lax approach to pipeline safety" and the failure of overseeing bodies to check that approach as the main factors in a preventable accident.
Joint venture to build 530-mile pipeline in the works
Energy Transfer Partners and Regency Energy Partners will spend $700 million in a joint venture to build a 530-mile pipeline to carry natural gas liquids from Winkler County in West Texas to a processing plant in Jackson County, east of Victoria.
Alliance Pipeline to build natural gas lateral in North Dakota
Alliance Pipeline L.P. has announced plans to develop a pipeline and associated facilities in North Dakota to transport liquids-rich natural gas.
Hydrofracking changes water wells
A study by Duke University researchers has found high levels of leaked methane in well water collected near shale-gas drilling and hydrofracking sites.
Safety, Shale, Midstream Construction Discussed At Pipeline Opportunities Conference
The seventh annual Pipeline Opportunities Conference, presented by Pipeline & Gas Journal and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), was held April 19 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston.
Federal Fracking Initiatives Starting To Gel; PHMSA Reforms Uncertain; DOE Allowing More LNG Exports
The fracking debate is moving forward on two separate stages in Washington. The Department of Energy's natural gas subcommittee is expected to make recommendations on fracking liquid disclosure in August.
Gild Members Gather at AGA
Members of the Gild of Ancient Supplers of Gas Appliances, Skills, Gins, Accessories and Substances gathered at the recent AGA Operations Conference in Nashville, TN, to make their traditional charity donation to a group selected by the recipient of this year’s Award of Merit Recognition.
Annual Gas Distribution Survey
Each day, close to 70 million customers in the United States depend upon the nation’s natural gas distribution network, including gas distribution companies and pipelines, to deliver gas to their home or place of business. These customers currently consume approximately 20 Tcf of gas per annum, accounting for about 22 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States each year.
Investigators probe San Bruno explosion
Investigators, including the National Transportation Safety Board, are looking at whether repair work on a sewer pipeline close to a gas transmission line was responsible for a deadly explosion that shook a San Bruno, CA, neighborhood on Sept. 9, killing four people and injuring several others.
Congress To Ponder Flurry Of New Integrity Management Proposals, San Bruno Cause Still Unknown
Congress may vote during the lame duck session after the November congressional elections on the biggest pipeline safety bill since the 2002 amendments established integrity management programs for distribution, transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines. Then again, a major reform bill may be delayed until the next Congress.
Approvals For TransCanada Tar Sand Pipeline Gets Sticky; Plus PMHSA Low-Stress Tug-Of-War And FERC Posting Edict
Despite criticism of his company's proposed, nearly 2000-mile pipeline, Robert Jones, vice president, Keystone Pipelines, TransCanada Corporation, says he is very confident that the U.S. State Department will approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
$7 Billion Keystone XL Labor Agreement Announced
A $7 billion project labor agreement (PLA) was signed September 14 between the United Association and TransCanada Corporation to begin construction on the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion Pipeline (Keystone XL). In a time when the contruction industry is facing record unemployment, this project is expected to create thousands of jobs for the members of labor organizations.
Small Business Jobs and Credit Act Extends Depreciation Credit
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act passed by the U.S. Senate Sept. 16 will extend the 50 percent bonus depreciation deduction for 2010. Additionally, it includes approximately $12 billion in tax relief for small businesses and a $30 billion lending fund that will be administered by the Treasury Department.
New Congressional Inquiries On Hydraulic Fracturing
Congressional concern about "fracing" took another step forward when the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to eight companies asking for details on the chemicals they use during horizontal drilling of shale gas deposits. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the committee, implied in a memorandum to committee members that the "Big Three" of fracing may have violated a voluntary memorandum of agreement they signed with the EPA in 2005.
Investments In Natural Gas Infrastructure Needed To Meet Projected Growth
Projected growth in North American natural gas supplies and market growth in the U.S. and Canada will require billions of dollars of additional investment in pipeline, storage and other midstream infrastructure through 2030, according to a new study released by the INGAA Foundation Inc.
First step
I’ve been hearing some encouraging housing news. Economic experts are reporting that the devastating housing meltdown the country has been experiencing for some time has just about reached its economic bottom, or is in the process of bottoming out.
Demand, Maintenance To Keep Gas Distribution Market Stable In ’09
<em>Underground Construction</em>’s latest survey figures indicate gas utility spending to serve new customers and rehabilitate, repair and replace the nation’s mains and services, meters, valves, regulator, cathodic protection, SCADA networks and peak shaving facility will total about $12.1 billion in 2009, compared to $11.9 billion in 2008.
Last Minute Bush Rule On Endangered Species Could Speed Gas Projects
A last-minute rule from the Bush administration limits the ability of federal wildlife officials and environmentalists to throw a monkey wrench into an application for construction of new gas transmission lines and LNG facilities.
Workforce Crisis: GTI Program Aims To Pre-empt Worker Shortage
The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has developed a Certified Operators Technician Training Program to introduce students to the natural gas industry and combat future labor shortages.
EIA Report Says Planned U.S. Pipelines Carry $28 Billion Price Tag
Despite turmoil in the financial markets and oil prices that are the lowest since 2003, the U.S. natural gas industry appears likely to remain one of the stronger performers in the energy sector. Supporting this is the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) report, Additions to Capacity on the U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Network: 2007.
- Trench collapse kills one construction worker in Houston, Texas
- Intrepid Fiber breaks ground on fiber optic network in Superior, Colo.
- Excavator collides with I-95 overpass in Henrico, Va., causing multi-vehicle crash
- Shrewsbury, Mass., expands sewer inspections and cleaning efforts
- Construction worker killed in trench collapse near Prosperity, S.C.
- Final construction phase kicks off for Indianapolis deep rock tunnel
- Texas contractor penalized by OSHA for repeated trench safety violations
- Trench collapse kills one construction worker in Houston, Texas
- WES tunnel boring machine retrieved from Oregon river after seven-month project
- Illinois overhauls Peoples Gas pipeline program, mandates focus on high-risk pipes