Storage broker: Global IT outage of July caused California fuel storage problems
Storage broker The Tank Tiger said this week that the CrowdStrike IT failure last month, which grounded scores of flights, created new problems in California's fuel markets. U.S. traders were forced to store jet fuel bound for California on waterborne tanks, forcing them to store fuel for California on tankers. The Californian policies to end fossil fuel use have made it difficult to set up new oil and gas pipelines. The Tank Tiger, a clearinghouse for terminal storage in the United States, said that there was no space in California to store petroleum products. California is a major oil trading hub on the U.S.
Protecting Offshore Energy Sources via USV
When most people discuss energy sources such as fossil fuel and green energy, it is from an “either-or” perspective. Some favor the former while others advocate for the latter. However, what is often lost in the arguments on both sides is that regardless of the type of energy being extracted or generated, those platforms that are offshore, especially oil rigs, oil and gas pipelines, and wind farms, are incredibly vulnerable to anyone who wants to attack these sources in wartime, or just to make…
PipeChina to Buy $56B Worth of Pipelines
China took a major step in the reform of its national oil and gas pipeline network, with newly formed PipeChina agreeing to buy pipelines and storage facilities valued at 391.4 billion yuan ($55.9 billion).Under the deal, PipeChina, known formally as China Oil and Gas Pipeline Network, will take over oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities from state-owned energy giants PetroChina and Sinopec, in return for cash and equity in the pipeline company.The creation of PipeChina is aimed at providing neutral access to the country's pipeline infrastructure…
Texas Pipeline Blast Injures 7, Explosions Probed
Authorities on Thursday morning were investigating what caused a fire and a series of natural gas pipeline explosions on Wednesday in Midland County, Texas, which sent seven people to the hospital and shut down five lines before being extinguished late in the evening.Workers and firefighters were responding to a leak when the blast occurred, Midland County Fire Marshal Dale Little said on Thursday.Five workers with critical injuries were airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas…
U.S. Energy Pipeline Developers to Seek Exemptions to Steel Tariff
U.S. energy pipeline developers say they intend to pursue exemptions to the Trump Administration's proposed steel tariffs, as concerns grow for those companies and from key exporters to the United States like South Korea. "We have a number of pipeline projects that would be impacted significantly by this cost increase," said Adam Bedard, chief executive of Arb Midstream, an energy transportation and marketing company. He was referring to the U.S. Commerce Department's effort to devise a procedure for companies to apply to avoid paying a 25 percent tariff on imported steel or 10 percent on imported aluminum.
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.
Reopened Libyan Ports Hope Foreign Staff Will Return
Ports still operating well below capacity; infrastructure damaged by conflict, neglect. Guards and officials at major ports in Libya's eastern Oil Crescent say they are hoping foreign workers will soon return as they struggle to build on output gains with meagre resources. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) reopened three ports in the curve of coastline south of Benghazi in September, after the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar seized them from a rival faction. The lifting of a long blockade at the ports helped Libya's oil output to more than double to over 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).
DNV GL makes Pipeline Risk Analysis Cost Effective
Running a quantitative risk analysis (QRA) of a pipeline has always been resource and time intensive. DNV GL’s new release of Phast and Safeti hazard and risk assessment software cuts calculation times to a fraction with a completely new pipeline risk model, enabling more efficient, speedy and cost-saving analysis. Pipeline accidents often result in significant losses. Just in the United States there have been over a hundred accidents in the past twenty years, and each one represents losses of up to millions of dollars.
Oil Sags on China Fuel Exports, U.S. Rig Count
Refined product glut ongoing as China exports soar; U.S. drillers add rigs for eighth consecutive week. Oil prices fell nearly 3 percent on Monday as China ramped up exports of refined products, U.S. oil producers added rigs for an eighth consecutive week, and prospects emerged for increased exports from Iraq and Nigeria. Brent crude futures were trading at $49.39 per barrel at 1028 GMT, down $1.49 from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.27 at $47.25 a barrel.
Nigerian militants Agrees on Ceasefire
A Nigerian militant group, which has claimed a wave of attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, said it was ready for a ceasefire and a dialogue with the government. The restive southern swampland region has been rocked by violence against oil and gas pipelines since the start of the year, reducing the OPEC member's output by 700,000 barrels a day to 1.56 million bpd. Any ceasefire agreement would be very difficult to enforce as the militant scene is divided into small groups dominated by unemployed youth driven by poverty, who are difficult to control even by their "generals".
Nigerian Protesters Widen Demonstration against Chevron
Protesters blocked the gate to offices of U.S. oil company Chevron in Nigeria's Niger Delta on Monday, widening a week-long demonstration to demand jobs and housing, a protest organizer and a community leader said. Youths, most of them unemployed, have also blocked the entrance to Chevron's Escravos oil storage tank farm since last week, claiming the facility had destroyed their housing settlement. "What we shut down on Monday is Chevron's administrative and logistics office in Warri that serves Escravos," said Collins Edema, a protest leader.
Militants Blow up Nigeria Crude Pipeline
Militants blew up another crude pipeline in Nigeria's Niger Delta, a youth and protest leader said on Thursday. Protesters also continued to block the entrance to a Chevron oil depot in the restive southern region for a third day. On Wednesday, a previously unknown group called Delta Greenland Justice Mandate said it had attacked a crude pipeline belonging to state oil firm NNPC and local firm Shoreline Natural Resources in Urhobo in Delta state. "It is true but I don't have details yet," said Collins Edema, a youth leader.
Protesters Block Chevron Facility in Nigeria
Protesters blocked the entrance to a Chevron oil facility in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta on Wednesday, demanding jobs and housing, a protest leader said. "Chevron has not fulfilled many of its promises," said Collins Edema, a youth and protest leader in the Ugborodo Itsekiri community in Delta state, home to Chevron's Escravos oil depot. Edema said the facility had been blocked and that more than 300 people, mostly local unemployed youths, had joined the protest, but Reuters could not confirm that figure. He said the U.S.
Sinopec to Sell Gasline Unit Stake
China's Sinopec Corp said on Tuesday it would sell half of its premium natural gas pipeline business to investors, a move spurred by Beijing's reform push to boost efficiency and increase infrastructure investment in cleaner fuel. Sinopec, the country's second-largest oil and gas group, said it would hold 50 percent in the Sichuan-East China pipeline project after the completion of the divestment plan that has won board approval. It did not give a value of the target assets, or a timeline for when the sale would be completed.
Turkey Reopens Key Shipping Route After Coup Attempt
Turkish maritime authorities have reopened Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers after shutting it earlier on Saturday for several hours following what the government said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military. The Bosphorus is one of world's most important chokepoints for the maritime transit of oil with over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also ships vast amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.
Canada Energy Regulator is Monitoring Pipelines Poorly
Canada's energy regulator is doing a poor job of monitoring pipeline firms, an official watchdog said on Tuesday in a report that could bolster support for government plans to reform how major oil and gas projects are approved. Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand said the National Energy Board (NEB) did not properly check whether companies were sticking to the approval conditions for projects and did not consistently check that problems had been cleared up. The new Liberal government plans to revamp the NEB, which is responsible for approving federally regulated projects and then monitoring them.
Statoil Awards Johan Sverdrup Pipeline Contracts
The total contract value is estimated at slightly less than NOK 2.5 billion, the three contracts cover both the oil and the gas export pipelines for Johan Sverdrup. The linepipe fabrication contract for the export pipelines was awarded to Mitsui & Co. Norway A.S. Mitsui will deliver 220 000 tonnes of steel for the oil and gas pipelines, totalling 430 kilometres. Linepipe production will start at Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (NSSMC) steelworks in Japan early in 2016. Wasco Coatings Malaysia Sdn…
SunEdison's Problems May Impact Solar Yieldcos
SunEdison Inc's decision to halt sales of solar power plants to its dividend-paying "yieldco" units has drawn attention to the company's missteps at a time when the oil price slump has claimed renewable energy stocks as collateral damage. So-called yieldcos are publicly traded entities that house solar and wind projects sold to them by their parent companies. These units have long-term agreements to sell power, giving them stable cash flows, but they are dependent on the transfer of assets from their parents to increase dividends.
JP Morgan Hires Two Oil and Gas Bankers
U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co has hired two bankers, Mark Deverka and Jonathan Sloan, to expand its coverage of oil and gas in Houston, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Friday. Deverka and Sloan join from Catalyst Energy Advisors, a company Deverka founded and where Sloan was serving as chief financial officer until their hire by JP Morgan. A JP Morgan representative confirmed the contents of the memo. The two bankers will focus on "acquisitions and divestitures" (A&D) for oil and gas companies.
