US Regulator to Allow Freeport LNG to Resume Partial Operations in October
The second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter on Wednesday said it reached an agreement with a federal regulator that will allow it to resume some operations at its Quintana, Texas, plant in October.Freeport LNG shut the plant, which supplies about 20% of U.S. LNG exports, following an explosion and fire on June 8. Its closure helped to push up LNG prices in Europe and Asia, and dampening U.S. natural gas prices.The operator reached a consent agreement with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that included corrective measures the company must take to allow it to resume partial operations…
Cheniere Seeks U.S. OK to Return Louisiana Sabine LNG Tank
Cheniere Energy Inc asked U.S. energy and safety regulators to approve a process that would allow the company to return to service a storage tank that leaked at its Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Louisiana:* Cheniere, the biggest U.S. LNG exporter, said in a filing earlier this week that its proposed process would prioritize work on one tank, known as S-101, and allow that tank to return to service in the near term.* The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) ordered Cheniere to shut two tanks at Sabine on Feb. 8, 2018, after plant workers on Jan.
Keystone Pipeline Still Closed, ND Leak Source Unclear
The precise source of a leak on TC Energy Corp's Keystone oil pipeline in North Dakota has not yet been identified, a spokesman for the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said on Monday.There is no estimated timeline for restart of the pipeline and the company is continuing excavation work to isolate the affected part of the pipeline, the spokesman said by phone.Clean-up crews in Walsh County, North Dakota, have been working to plug the Keystone pipeline after a more-than 9,000-barrel oil leak last week.Work continues to progress at the site with about 200 personnel focused on clean-up and remediation activities…
Eagle LNG Receives Draft EIS
Eagle LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, informed that the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted the company their draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).The draft EIS puts Eagle LNG on a clear path to FID on the Jacksonville Export Project and continues Eagle LNG’s success in using small-scale LNG to supply bunkering to the marine industry and to provide small scale LNG cargoes to markets in the Caribbean.“Our customers, and potential clients, join us in being encouraged that FERC has released the DEIS ahead of schedule.
US Oil Pipeline Companies, Producers Seek Relief from Steel Tariffs
Major U.S. energy companies including Plains All American Pipeline, Hess Corp and Kinder Morgan Inc are among many seeking exemptions from steel-import tariffs as the United States ratchets up trade tensions with exporters including China, Canada and Mexico.There have been nearly 21,000 requests overall for exclusions submitted to the U.S. Commerce Department since the Trump administration imposed levies this year. Of those, more than 500 petitions involve pipes and related materials.Initial decisions are expected this month, offering the first clues as to how the administration will balance an agenda favoring oil and gas exports while also supporting the U.S.
US Lifts Keystone Pipeline Pressure Restrictions
Pressure restrictions on TransCanada Corp's Keystone oil pipeline was lifted on May 1 in a letter issued by U.S. pipeline safety regulators, a spokesman for the agency told Reuters on Thursday.It was not immediately clear what current rates are, said Darius Kirkwood, a spokesman for U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).The company had shut down its 590,000 barrel-per-day Keystone pipeline, which links Alberta's oil sands to U.S. refineries, in November after a spill in South Dakota.(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
US Oil Industry Set to Break Record, Upend Global Trade
Surging shale production is poised to push U.S. oil output to more than 10 million barrels per day - toppling a record set in 1970 and crossing a threshold few could have imagined even a decade ago. And this new record, expected within days, likely won't last long. The U.S. government forecasts that the nation's production will climb to 11 million barrels a day by late 2019, a level that would rival Russia, the world's top producer. The economic and political impacts of soaring U.S. output are breathtaking, cutting the nation's oil imports by a fifth over a decade…
PHMSA Orders Further Keystone Analysis, Studies
A U.S. regulator's preliminary investigation into the biggest oil pipeline spill this year has raised a red flag that could trigger an extensive and costly inspection of tens of thousands of miles of underground energy lines. The 5,000-barrel leak on TransCanada Corp's Keystone pipeline on Nov. 16 in South Dakota might have stemmed from damage caused by a weight put in place when it was built in 2008, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in a report published on Tuesday. Weights are used to prevent pipelines from moving and reduce the risk of damage or ruptures when water tables rise.
TransCanada to Restart Keystone Pipeline on Nov. 28
TransCanada Corp will restart its Keystone crude oil pipeline at reduced pressure on Tuesday after getting approval from U.S. regulators, the company said on Monday. Calgary-based TransCanada shut down the 590,000 barrel-per-day pipeline, one of Canada's main crude export routes, on Nov. 16 after 5,000 barrels of oil leaked in South Dakota. Keystone carries crude from Alberta's oil sands to U.S. refineries. The company said its repair and restart plans were reviewed by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration…
A Great Lakes Pipeline Stirs New Protest
The growing protest movement against U.S. oil and gas pipelines has so far focused on stopping or delaying new construction, with some high-profile successes. Now, in Michigan, a broad coalition of opponents is entering a new frontier: Pushing to rip out and reroute an existing pipeline - Enbridge Inc.'s aging Line 5, which crosses the Straits of Mackinac. They fear the pipeline will leak into the Great Lakes, which contain about a fifth of the world’s fresh water and sustain the state’s second- and third-largest industries, agriculture and tourism.
Pipeline Fight Moves from Dakotas to Louisiana
When Hope Rosinski's father gave her a six-acre plot in Louisiana more than a decade ago, she was surprised to find oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing the property. Pipeline companies later secured her permission for two more lines, one of which has since caused flooding and consistently leaves her land saturated. Now she's had enough. Rosinski is fighting the latest request for a right-of-way, this time from Energy Transfer Partners - the company behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. She said ETP declined to make contract changes she wanted or to properly compensate her for lost property value.
U.S. Regulators Issue Pipeline Safety Rule
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said on Thursday it issued a rule to improve pipeline operational safety, including a requirement for faster notification following a spill. The rule says the operator must electronically or telephonically report notice of an accident or incident within one hour of confirmation, PHMSA said in a statement. There have been rising concerns regarding the safety of pipelines transporting hazardous liquids, after activists spent months protesting plans to route the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation…
North Dakota Pipeline Spill Cleanup Still Ongoing
Roughly a third of the more than 3,000 barrels of oil that spilled into a North Dakota creek following a pipeline leak last week has been recovered, a local official said on Tuesday. An estimated 4,200 barrels of oil leaked from the Belle Fourche Pipeline on a hill just above the Ash Coulee Creek, and an estimated 3,100 barrels made it into the water, said Bill Seuss, a program manager for the North Dakota Department of Health. The leak was first reported to regulators on Dec. 5, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
Dakota Denial Dampens U.S. Pipeline Outlook
The U.S. Army's denial of an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, after permitting and legal obligations were followed, sets an uncertain precedent for new projects despite President-elect Donald Trump's promise to support energy infrastructure. The decision came after months of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others who said the line could desecrate tribal grounds, or a spill could contaminate drinking water. While most of the 1,172-mile (1,885-km) pipeline is complete, Energy Transfer Partners, the line's owner, needed an easement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to drill under Lake Oahe.
Colonial Pipeline Could Reopen Gasoline Line by Saturday
Excavator hit line on Monday, triggering explosion; gasoline off highs as Colonial does not expect long outage. A major gasoline pipeline that is a crucial supply source for the U.S. East Coast could reopen as early as Saturday after an explosion in Alabama killed one worker and injured five others, Colonial Pipeline Co said on Tuesday. The blast on Monday occurred several miles from its biggest gasoline spill in nearly two decades in September. That spill caused a 12-day interruption in the flow of about 1.3 million barrels per day of the fuel from the refining hub on the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.
U.S. Task Force: 44 Recommendations to cut NatGas Leaks
A U.S. interagency task force on Tuesday issued recommendations aimed at reducing the risk of incidents involving natural gas facilities in the wake of a major leak from the Aliso Canyon storage facility in California last year. Operators should phase out 'single point of failure' designs, that hindered the ability to swiftly control and repair the leak at Aliso Canyon, at storage facilities, except under limited circumstances, the task force put together in the wake of the 2015 incident said in a report. The task force was co-chaired by Franklin Orr, Under Secretary for Science and Energy at the U.S.
Colonial Expects Restart of Gasoline Line on Wednesday After Leak
Colonial Pipeline Co said it expects a full restart of its gasoline line by Wednesday evening after its biggest leak in nearly two decades squeezed supply and led to increased prices at the pump in southeast United States. The biggest refined products system in the U.S. restarted parts of the line a few days after a leak was discovered on Sept. 9. The damaged section of the 1.3 million-barrel-a-day line that connects the refining hub of the Gulf Coast to the East Coast has been shut for more than 12 days. Motorists have faced long lines and shortage of fuel in many states across the southeast, such as North Carolina and Tennessee.
Plains Pipeline Cited in Santa Barbara Spill
Numerous lapses in safety measures, judgment and planning by Plains All American Pipeline LP led to and worsened a major oil spill last year that fouled miles of shoreline and ocean near Santa Barbara, California, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday. The agency said it would focus next on "enforcement options" against the Houston-based company for the rupture of an underground petroleum pipeline that federal inspectors have found was severely worn by corrosion. In their final report on the spill, federal investigators concluded that Plains "failed on multiple levels to prevent…
TransCanada Obtains Keystone Pipeline Restart Approval
TransCanada Corp said it received authorization from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Saturday evening to restart the 590,000 barrel per day Keystone crude pipeline at reduced pressure. The Canadian pipeline company said that regulator PHMSA has approved a return to service plan for a controlled start. It was not immediately clear when and if the pipeline had restarted. The pipeline, which delivers light and heavy crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Cushing, Oklahoma, and Illinois, was shut last Saturday after a potential leak was discovered in South Dakota.
Regulators tell Plains to Purge Shut California Oil Pipeline
U.S. pipeline regulators have ordered Plains All American Pipeline LP to purge a California pipeline system of crude to prevent corrosion after a separate pipeline ruptured and fouled Santa Barbara County shores last May. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said Plains must purge oil from Line 903, a 130-mile (209 km), pipeline that runs from Gaviota, California inland to Kern County. Plains also must purge three shut offshore oil pipelines operated by Freeport McMoRan that normally feed Line 903.
