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  4. January 2013, Vol. 240 No. 1

Business Meetings & Events

Oklahoma City-based Access Midstream Partners, L.P. announced Dec. 13 that it has agreed to acquire Chesapeake Midstream Operating, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.L.C., from Chesapeake Energy Corp. for $2.16 billion in cash.
Canyon Midstream Partners, LLC has received a capital commitment of $300 million from Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Canyon management to support Canyon's strategy to develop, acquire and operate midstream energy assets and businesses.
Advertisers from the print edition of Pipeline & Gas Journal, January 2013, Vol. 240 No. 1.
Macro Enterprises Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiaries will acquire the business owned and operated by North American Pipeline Inc. and North American Fleet Co. Ltd. of constructing, installing, maintaining, testing and repairing of oil and gas pipelines and facilities in western Canada along with other assets including pipeline construction machinery and equipment.
When Delaware Storage & Pipeline Co. agreed to participate in a field test of newly enhanced software from Siemens for its existing leak detection system, they discovered that the new solution offers a simplified, comprehensive and customizable view of pipeline operations.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. has agreed to acquire four operating crude oil rail terminals, one terminal under development and various contractual arrangements from U.S. Development Group for $500 million.
Targa Resources Partners will acquire 100% of Saddle Butte Pipeline, LLC's ownership of its Williston Basin crude oil pipeline and terminal system and its gas gathering and processing operations for $950 million.

Editor's Notebook

Pot is in and Twinkies are out. Such a crazy world, I am thinking on this brisk Dec. 5 afternoon as the mini-bus carries six of us media types through the hinterlands of western Pennsylvania to our next stop during this state-sponsored tour of the Marcellus Shale.

Features

This article highlights new developments and lessons learned from recent experiences in the pipeline industry in relation to 1) the selection, 2) the design, 3) the manufacturing, 4) the anti-surge systems and 4) the operation of axial compressors.
In this second of a two-part series, Senior Research Leader Brian N. Leis, Ph.D., who directs Battelle Pipeline Technology Center in Columbus, OH, discusses several projects the Center has become involved with following the recent spate of widely publicized pipeline incidents. He also talks about the Center’s work with other research entities, the effects of the shale revolution, and the future of research in including funding issues.
News1 /
Between expanding markets and a wave of retirements, the energy industry faces the possibility of a worldwide shortage of labor. In the upstream oil and gas press, it has been called the “Great Crew Change.” Due to age demographics in the industry, many experienced workers will be eligible to retire in the next few years, potentially creating a drastic loss of experience and expertise that also coincides with a low number of younger individuals entering the industry.
Naples, FL--The annual meeting of the INGAA Foundation at the Ritz Carlton Naples Beach Resort Nov. 1-3 was attended by a record of more than 300 Foundation members and guests. Officials said at least 40 more would-be attendees had to cancel because of the damages caused by Hurricane Sandy earlier in the week.
This article is excerpted from a presentation concerning mechanical, microstructural and electrochemical evaluation of girth welds of welded API 5L X-52 steel pipe with one, two, three and four SMAW repairs in the same area. According to the results obtained, it can be concluded that:
Hannibal Pipes SA was established in 2009 and designed to become the first state-of-the-art Spirally Welded Steel Pipe Mill in the South of Spain serving the local market as well as the international one with particular respect to Mediterranean area.
Other than when dealing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, it takes longer to gain the necessary interstate gas pipelines permits from federal agencies than it did prior to the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, according to a new study by INGAA Foundation.
News1 /
When Nick Stavropoulos, executive vice president in charge of natural gas operations at San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) looks back on his 33 years in the industry that have spanned the country, he remembers all the oil burned in homes and businesses throughout the Northeast where he grew up.
News1 /
No matter what you may hear tonight, tomorrow or the next day, the story is going to change. That’s the state of our industry today and if our industry, government lawmakers and regulators handle development properly, this really can recharge our economic engine for years to come.
The transformation potential of shale oil and gas to the American energy, manufacturing, chemical, and pipeline industries is nothing short of revolutionary. As part of this revolution, the U.S. can form a competitive advantage versus other global economies lasting for the next generation… if government leaders and entrepreneurs demonstrate the courage necessary to tread this path.
TMK IPSCO is one of the largest North American producers of welded and seamless pipe and premium connections for the oil and gas industry as well as industrial markets. It operates 11 state-of-the-art facilities located in key energy-producing regions of North America.
The revolution in unconventional oil and gas production is fundamentally changing the U.S. energy outlook, generating significant job creation, economic growth and government revenues, according to a new IHS, Inc. study.
One company making an undeniable splash in the North American pipe business is V&M Star, a joint venture between Vallourec, France (80%) and Summitomo Corp., Japan (20%). On Nov. 5, 2012 the company showed its faith in the long-term development of the shale revolution with the opening of a $1 billion state-of-the-art steel mill in strategically located Youngstown, OH.

From the Burner Tip

Government

In The News

A 20-inch natural gas pipeline exploded near Charleston, WV Dec. 11, setting nearby buildings on fire and injuring several people, authorities said. The blast, on Nisource Gas Transmission and Storage’s Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline, occurred 1 p.m. near Sissonville, about 10 miles north of Charleston.
ITG Investment Research announced the release of a survey of leading buyside energy investors which indicated that the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas ranked as the leading North American play.
Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. and Regency Energy Partners LP recently announced that the Lone Star West Texas Gateway NGL Pipeline is in service. The 570-mile, 16-inch pipeline owned by Lone Star NGL LLC, a joint venture between the two partnerships, transports natural gas liquids produced in the Permian and Delaware basins in West Texas to Mont Belvieu. The West Texas Gateway was originally scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.
TEAK Midstream L.L.C. has begun operation of more than 250 miles of gas gathering and residue delivery pipelines and the adjoining Silver Oak 200 MMcf/d cryogenic gas processing plant in South Texas to serve gas producers operating in the Eagle Ford play and surrounding area.

Projects

International Pipelines reports that Japanese companies are willing to invest $5 billion to construct a 1,400-km gas pipeline running directly from Sakhalin to Ibaraki Prefecture (near Tokyo).
BP PLC is reportedly in talks with the OAO Gazprom-led Nord Stream pipeline consortium that ships Russian natural gas into Europe, over an extension of the link to carry the gas straight into the UK.
APA Group announced a gas transportation agreement with EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd. The agreement provides for delivery of gas sourced from Victoria into New South Wales via APA’s Moomba Sydney Pipeline and Victorian Transmission System.
Gazprom broke ground Dec. 14 on construction of South Stream gas pipeline in Russia. The final go-ahead was reached in November when Bulgaria, agreed to construction of the pipeline on its soil. Turkey last year granted Gazprom permission to run the pipeline under the Black Sea in its territorial waters.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. was awarded a contract from Santos GLNG Project in Australia to provide support for its coal seam gas field development. Officials said the duration of the contract is three and a half years with a one-year extension option.
El Paso Natural Gas (EPNG), owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. and Kinder Morgan, Inc., has entered into a 25-year transportation precedent agreement in connection with plans to build a pipeline to serve customers in Mexico.
ONEOK Partners did not receive sufficient long-term transportation commitments during its recently concluded open season for the Bakken Crude Express Pipeline. As a result, the partnership will not to proceed with plans to build the pipeline.
Piedmont Natural Gas, through its wholly owned subsidiary Piedmont Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC, joined Williams Partners L.P. and Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation as a 24% equity participant in a joint venture project to construct the Constitution Pipeline, and will invest an estimated $180 million in the project.
Russian companies appear eager to gain new ground in Africa and plan to build two pipelines on the continent. The firms pursuing projects in the Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe are Rosneft and privately held Stroitransgaz.
Wood Group Mustang has completed the Phase 1 concept study for Ecopetrol's Oledocucto del Pacifico pipeline to transport crude from the oil-rich Llanos, Caguan and Putumayo basin of eastern Colombia across the Andes Mountains to either Tumaco, in Nariño province or Buenaventura, in Valle del Cauca province, Colombia's two largest Pacific ports.