December 2013, Vol. 240 No. 12

Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, December 2013, Vol. 240 No. 12.

GRAND CANYON – It’s just a couple days after the INGAA Foundation meeting in Scottsdale and Janet and I are extending our Arizona excursion with a few days in Grand Canyon sandwiched between stops in Sedona. The conference has filled my head with happy thoughts of natural gas, the environmentally friendly fuel now rewriting the history of energy in this country.

Mark Schach, assistant division sales manager for AMERICAN Steel Pipe, a division of AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company, headquartered in Birmingham, AL, recently talked with P&GJ about the $55 million expansion the company is undertaking on its steel pipe operations.

It’s been a long road to the top for Northern Natural Gas, which sits at the apex of the latest Mastio survey of top customer value rankings in both the overall legacy category, and among top mega and major pipelines. In fact, as recently as 2003, Northern ranked dead last in the rankings.

The value of governmental regulation cannot be denied. In addition to numerous safety and environmental benefits, it provides a benchmark for maintaining safety and stability during the completion of field work – be it new infrastructure integration or maintenance and repair.

Crestwood Midstream Partners increased its sizable holdings in the Bakken Shale with the acquisition of Arrow Midstream Holdings. The move, a continuation of its liquids-focused strategy, will allow Crestwood to service about 18% of current Bakken crude oil production.

From a little boy peppered with Band-Aids, the result of weekend mishaps from driving go-carts he’d build in the family’s garage, Larry Alexander went on to use his tenacity for design to build two highly successful companies.

This article explains a test methodology that could determine the design life of heat fusion fittings and joints at end user field conditions of operating stress, operating temperature and desired design life. The methodology is useful not only for design life based on internal pressure, which is the primary load, but also to determine the effects of secondary loads, such as bending, rock impingement, squeeze-off and deflection.

What many have called “the natural gas revolution” is a game changer not only for North American energy but potentially for the rest of the world. The two main factors in propelling commodities from local to global resources are logistics and technology.

The LDC remains the backbone of the nation’s natural gas distribution network. Natural gas utilities serve more than 71 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across the nation that is delivered through a 2.4-million-mile underground delivery system with an outstanding safety record.

The American Gas Association, founded in 1918, represents more than 200 local energy companies that deliver natural gas throughout the United States. There are more than 71 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers in the U.S., of which 92% – more than 65 million customers – receive their gas from AGA members. Today, natural gas meets almost one-fourth of the United States' energy needs.

Management systems are created to detail activities that an organization or its business units must implement to manage safety through the mitigation of business risk. Business risks are specific to each business unit and may include:

Our world is rapidly changing at an unprecedented pace, and the 21st century poses many challenges – food, water, education, poverty and war to name but a few. Faced with all of these, it is important that we not overlook the fact that one key challenge – meeting the global demand for energy sustainability – will be fundamental to meeting all other challenges.

In the fracking era, natural gas is playing an increasingly important role in domestic energy markets. The continuing surge in natural gas production from the boon of shale reserves will come hand-in-hand with a greater investment in gas logistics, including distribution networks, process efficiency and environmental regulation. One of the most important current areas of improvement is the odorization of natural gas, a critical safety measure, which allows humans to detect gas leaks by smell.

With about 1,700 miles of its12,000 miles of natural gas distribution and service lines made of cast iron, wrought iron, ductile iron and bare steel, PECO has undertaken an aggressive $34 million a year replacement program.

A training event put the focus on practical considerations of pipeline integrity in field conditions, offering detailed information on new construction issues, a regulator’s take on a spate of hydrotest failures, rehabilitation and replacement efforts on a 265-mile problem crude line, assessment of the sources of corrosion and remediation of cathodic protection over a 3,000-mile gas transmission system spread over three states.

A real estate investment trust (REIT) owns income-producing real estate and offers shares to investors — it allows people to buy an interest in many different individual properties in the same way a mutual fund sells shares composed of many different companies. Often REITs focus on familiar categories like shopping malls, hospitals or mortgaged homes. But pipelines also qualify as real estate for the purposes of a REIT, and one new trust is now interested in buying a selection of them as investments.

The Keystone XL is intended to transport oil from Canada to U.S. refiners on the Gulf of Mexico. The administration’s decision to delay approval for the construction of TransCanada’s proposed pipeline was based, in part, on concerns over the safety and reliability of oil pipelines. In announcing his decision, President Barack Obama called for a full assessment of “the pipeline’s impact, especially the health and safety of the American people.”

Pressure drop occurring in the cylinder gas passages, piping, vessels and coolers, as well as pulsation control devices, can cause extra power to be consumed. In a worst case scenario the additional power may overload the driver requiring a reduction in the compressor load step to reduce the flow being delivered by the compressor. This increase in power or reduction in flow come with a considerable cost or lost revenue opportunity. Therefore, accurate calculation of the pressure and power loss is required to properly size the compressor and driver.

This article looks at the various ways of writing specification documents for compressors and turbines and compares the effect of three distinct approaches on the process of equipment definition.

U.S. market demand for high quality oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and steel line pipe products is growing due to the development of shale oil and gas reserves. The shale play has also given life to new pipe mills focused on reducing lead times and serving U.S. customers with a full range of locally manufactured seamless, welded and premium products, in a market where imported products account for more than 50% of total consumption.

Which of the following statements best reflects the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) view of spectrum requirements in the energy industry?

World demand for oil and gas pipe is expected to increase 5.3% per year, reaching 51.8 million metric tons in 2017 as high oil prices and increasing demand for energy spur new development.

The federal pipeline safety agency is opening a new front in its efforts to improve gas and oil pipeline safety. The integrity verification process (IVP), previewed this summer by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), would be an “add-on” to the existing Integrity Management (IM) program, which obligates pipelines to test segments in “high-consequence areas (HCAs).” There are 18,000 miles of pipeline in HCAs.

President Enrique Peña Nieto's promised energy reform amendment to Mexico's constitution passed Congress Dec. 12, paving the way for state governments to ratify the amendment and new rules for the country's energy production and transportation to be written in the 120 days following.

L.B. Foster Co. has acquired Ball Winch Pipeline Services LLC., a privately-owned company that applies specialty pipe coatings and provides field services for the oil and gas, mining, water and waste water industries.

With the National Energy Board continuing its hearings on Enbridge's proposal to reverse the flow of Line 9B, TDT Crews Ltd. is urging Ontarians to support the project because of the economic benefits and job opportunities the project would bring to Ontario workers.

Enbridge Inc. been selected by the Fort Hills partners (Suncor Energy Inc., Total E&P Canada Ltd. and Teck Resources Limited) as well as Suncor Energy Oil Sands Limited Partnership to develop a new $1.6 billion pipeline to transport crude oil production under long term transportation commitments to Enbridge's mainline hub at Hardisty, Alberta.

Unity Pipeline Company, LLC, a Harvest Pipeline Company, Somerset Gas Transmission Company and Crossroads Pipeline Company, part of NiSource’s Columbia Pipeline Group, are holding a two-phase open season for prospective shippers seeking transportation service on its proposed, 380-mile diluent pipeline.

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. extended its open season to solicit capacity commitments from shippers to transport refined petroleum products to Little Rock, AR.

Phillips 66 plans to develop an LPG export terminal in Freeport, TX. The new terminal is intended to help meet growing global market demand for U.S.-supplied products.

Spectra Energy Corp. has completed its New Jersey-New York expansion project. “Successfully completing this pipeline is a testament to our ability to secure, permit and execute on large and complex growth projects,” said Greg Ebel, president and CEO of Spectra Energy.

Technip has been awarded two contracts by Tullow Ghana Limited for the TEN project, located 60 km off Ghana in water depths reaching up to 2,000 meters. Together, the two contracts have a combined value of about US$1.23 billion, with a Technip share of about US$730 million.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P., placed the fully subscribed Northeast Upgrade Project (NEUP) in service Nov. 1.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P., Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P., Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and DCP Midstream Partners LP announced the start of service on the Texas Express NGL pipeline from Skellytown, TX to the NGL fractionation and storage complex in Mont Belvieu, TX.

Thunder Creek NGL Pipeline, LLC, a subsidiary of Meritage Midstream Services II, LLC, held a binding open season for a new interstate, common-carrier pipeline system that will transport unfractionated NGLs produced in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to potential delivery points on the Overland Pass Pipeline near the Colorado-Wyoming border and the Front Range NGL Pipeline near Lucerne, CO.

Williams Partners L placed into service on Nov. 1 the remaining capacity of its Northeast Supply Link, after bringing half the capacity into service three months ahead of schedule in response to customer demands.

Carolyn Heath Haag may have only been named president of Heath Consultants, Inc., in 2012, but there’s plenty of history behind her leadership of the Houston-based leak detection, line locating and product development company.

Cat dealer Foley Equipment, operating in Kansas and northwest Missouri, provides complete services on all Cat engines and engine components from its 127,000-square-foot rebuild center in Park City, KS.

Harsco Industrial Air-X-Changers has shipped the largest coolers in the Tulsa-based company’s 60-year history. Weighing in at 180,000 pounds, the Model 204-3Z coolers are 75 feet long, 25.9 feet wide and 14 feet tall. In late September, Harsco AXC shipped the first of four units to be delivered by the end of the year for a customer that will use the coolers in offshore natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. A second unit left the Harsco AXC plant in mid-October.

New products from Twisted Pair, Weiler, Rhino Markers, Andy J. Egan Company, Inline Services, Pentair, ClockSpring and more.

Pigging technology and services from Russell NDE, ROSEN, Greene's Energy Group, Enduro, Inline Services, Clock Spring, NDT Systems & Services, Team Industrial Services and GeoCorr.