Cuba and Florida prepare for Tropical Storm Helene's impact
The U.S. National Weather Service reported that Tropical Storm Helene will cause mudslides, flooding and major hurricane-like conditions in Cuba. It is then expected to reach major hurricane status on Thursday when it reaches Florida with a life-threatening ocean tide. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Helene was moving northwest at a speed of 45 mph with sustained winds up to 72 kph. Forecasters say Helene is expected to strengthen rapidly over the warm waters of Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a major hurricane with winds up to 115 mph. State and national authorities in the U.S.
EXIM Bank Amends Mozambique LNG Loan. Earmarks $1.8B for Offshore Work
The U.S. EXIM Bank has amended its previously approved September 2019 direct loan supporting U.S. exports for the development and construction of the Total-operated LNG project located on the Afungi Peninsula in northern Mozambique.The original scope of the $4.7 billion loan for the project has been amended from exclusively the onshore portion of the LNG plant and related facilities to also allocate an estimated $1.8 billion to support the project’s offshore production. "As a result, the transaction now will support an increased number—16…
Alberto Moves Inland, Flash Floods Threaten Alabama
Subtropical storm Alberto fizzled into a subtropical depression as it rolled into Alabama on Tuesday but forecasters warned of potentially dangerous flash floods even as winds dropped to 30 miles per hour (48 km per hour). At its height, Alberto, the first storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, blasted sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph) with gusts that packed full hurricane punches of 75 mph (121 kph), said meteorologist David Roth of the National Weather Service. "It's slowly weakening and it's not regaining any strength," Roth said.
EPA Announces Funding to Reduce Diesel Emissions
Preference given to fleets in areas facing air quality challenges. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of grant funding to modernize the nation’s diesel fleet by retrofitting or replacing vehicles with cleaner, more efficient diesel engines. EPA anticipates awarding approximately $40 million in Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA) grant funding to eligible applicants, subject to the availability of funds. “These grants will incentivize improvements to aging diesel fleets and improve air quality throughout the country,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Colonial Allocates Cycle 20 Shipments
Colonial Pipeline Co is allocating space for cycle 20 shipments on Line 1, its main gasoline line, and for cycle 21, on its Line 20 distillate pipeline, according to separate company notices sent to shippers on Tuesday. Committed information for Line 1 will be available on Thursday, and for Line 20, on Wednesday, the company said. Colonial's Line 1, with a capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day, runs from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina. The current allocation is for the pipeline segment north of Collins, Mississippi. Line 20 carries distillates from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee.
Colonial Allocates Cycle 12 Shipments on Distillate Line 20
Colonial Pipeline Co is allocating space for Cycle 12 shipments on Line 20, which carries distillates from Atlanta to Nashville, Tennessee, according to a notice sent to shippers on Thursday. Committed information will be available on Friday, the pipeline operator said. The company generally announces allocations when nominations, or requests for space to ship petroleum products on its lines, exceed its ability to meet the five-day lifting cycle. The company's cycles are five-day periods when a sequence of all in-season products is pumped. Colonial pumps the same sequence of products every five days.
US Solar Industry's Growth Region: Trump Country
President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to revive the coal industry, challenged climate-change science and blasted renewable energy as expensive and dependent on government subsidies. And yet the solar power industry is booming across Trump country, fueled by falling development costs and those same subsidies, which many Republicans in Congress continue to support. Data provided to Reuters by GTM Research, a clean energy market information firm, shows that eight of the 10 fastest-growing U.S.
Coal's Problem is Not Climate Change: Kemp
U.S. coal companies blame climate campaigners and the Obama administration for waging a war on coal that has cost thousands of jobs and threatened struggling mining communities. But coal’s long-term problems stem not from politics but from physical properties that make it an inferior source of energy compared with oil, gas and (arguably) renewables. Coal has been losing the “war” for market share since the middle of the 20th century as other sources of energy have become cheaper and more abundant.
Harvey Drenches Louisiana, Sparks Blast at Texas Chemical Plant
The remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey drenched northern Louisiana on Thursday as it moved inland, leaving behind record flooding that paralyzed the U.S. energy hub of Houston, killed at least 35 people and drove tens of thousands from their homes. Two explosions were reported at a flood-hit chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Houston, with one sheriff's deputy sent to the hospital after inhaling toxic chemicals. The Arkema SA plant had lost power as a result of the storm, causing the organic peroxides stored onsite to warm to combustible levels.
Kinder Morgan Shutting Down Pipelines, Gas Facilities due Harvey
Kinder Morgan has started shutting down parts of its KMCC pipeline system for crude and condensate, its Double Eagle pipeline, several gas storage facilities and compressor stations due to Hurricane Harvey, the firm said on Friday. The pipeline operating firm said the measures have been taken in preparation for high winds and heavy rain, which could affect portions of its Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), Texas Interstate system and its Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL), the largest transporter of gas into Chicago. Reporting by Marianna Parraga
Wind, Solar Do Not Harm Power Grid Reliability -Draft US Study
The growth of renewable power, including wind and solar, has not harmed the reliability of the U.S. electricity grid, according to a draft U.S. Department of Energy study, echoing the findings of grid operators across the country. The conclusion of the draft, dated July and viewed by Reuters, could ease fears in the renewable energy industry that the widely anticipated study would be used by President Donald Trump's administration to form policies supporting coal plants at the expense of wind and solar.
Tropical Storm Cindy Rolls in on US Gulf Coast
Tropical Storm Cindy is likely to hit the Gulf Coast near the Texas-Louisiana border on Wednesday night, threatening to bring flash floods from Texas to Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. Cindy was located about 165 miles (265 km) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, early on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles (95 km) per hour, the NHC said. The storm was moving northwest at nearly 8 miles (13 km) per hour, and forecasters said they expected this motion to continue until it hits the coast.
TransCanada to Shed U.S. Northeast Pipeline Stakes
TransCanada Corp said it has offered to sell stakes in two natural gas pipelines that serve the U.S. Northeast to TC PipeLines LP, U.S.-based master limited partnership in which it holds a 27 percent stake. TransCanada said it would sell its 49.3 percent stake in the Iroquois gas transmission system and the remaining 11.8 percent stake it holds in the Portland natural gas transmission system. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "This offer demonstrates the meaningful role that TC PipeLines…
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.
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.
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.
U.S. Pump Prices Up as Colonial Fixes Pipeline
Gasoline prices in the southeastern United States kept rising on Monday as Colonial Pipeline Co continued to fix a more-than-week long disruption on a key gasoline line that has led to complaints of long waits and price gouging at the pump. The leak, which was discovered on Sept. 9, released about 6,000 to 8,000 barrels (252,000-336,000 gallons) of gasoline in Shelby County, Alabama. The partial shutdown of the damaged Line 1, which carries about 1.3 million barrels per day of gasoline from the refining hub on the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, also roiled the markets.
Southern, KMI finalize Southern Natural Gas Pipeline venture
Southern Company and Kinder Morgan, Inc. today announced the closing of their natural gas pipeline venture through Southern Company’s acquisition of a 50 percent equity interest in the Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline system through a subsidiary of Southern Company Gas. As previously announced, Kinder Morgan will continue to operate the system and the companies are pursuing specific growth opportunities to develop additional natural gas infrastructure for the strategic venture. Southern Company…
BSEE Evaluates Oil Spill Response Exercise
Engineers and analysts from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE) Gulf of Mexico and Alaska Regions recently evaluated Spill Response Operations Training and Equipment Verification exercises conducted by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and its oil spill removal contractor at the Port of Morgan City, La. These exercises are required periodically to test spill response team training and resource availability, as part of each operator’s Oil Spill Response Plan. The exercises were held in mid-May on board two responder vessels of Clean Gulf Associates…
Son of Circus Thrives as Crude-Oil Traffic Cop
The rows of traders who line the massive trading floor at Mercuria Energy Group's Houston headquarters rely on a string of modern conveniences to execute deals across the globe. But when they're under the gun to deliver oil fast, they call one person: Tim Holan. That's because Holan, the head of logistics for the trading firm, cut his teeth on moving an even heavier cargo: elephants. They, along with lions, clowns and other performers were part of the mile-long moving city that Holan spent nearly two decades shuttling around the country as logistics manager for the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
