Pipeline Operators News

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to maximize U.S. oil and natural gas production - already at record highs - in part by clearing away what he deems as unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy.Here are some of the energy-related executive orders Trump could announce during his first days in office, as he seeks to follow through on that promise.CLIMATE WITHDRAWALTrump could order the U.S. to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international pact to fight climate change and limit the rise in global temperatures by slashing fossil fuel-related emissions. Trump withdrew the U.S.

Total exports of Russian gas to European countries have so far been 18-20% higher this year than in 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.In January to November, supplies of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) exceeded 50 billion cubic metres, Novak said."Despite all the statements and sanctions pressure because gas is a highly ecological product, it is in demand. And Russian gas is the most cost-efficient, both in terms of logistics and the price…

Chinese government-linked hackers have burrowed into U.S. critical infrastructure and are waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow," FBI Director Christopher Wray said earlier this month.An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign known as Volt Typhoon has successfully gained access to numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators targeted, Wray said in a speech at Vanderbilt University on April…

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is recommending new notification alarms and procedures for potential incursions on pipelines and a change to an anchorage off the California coast following a crude oil release in 2021 caused by ship anchors damaging an underwater pipeline.NTSB investigators determined that the oil leak, which began on October 1, 2021, in San Pedro Bay, resulted from an anchor strike on the pipeline that occurred eight months earlier, when anchors…

The path to decarbonization is defined by partnership and fueled by government funding. This month we examine the players, partnerships, and evolution of Hydrogen Hubs in the Gulf of Mexico.The Green Shipping Challenge, organized by the United States and Norway at COP 27 held in late 2022, brought about dozens of announcements on maritime decarbonization. Among these was a joint statement from the Blue Sky Maritime Coalition (BSMC) – a consortium of North American shipowners and…

The National Transportation Safety Board issued 10 safety recommendations Tuesday during a public board meeting held to determine the probable cause of the fatal August 21, 2020, hazardous liquid pipeline strike and subsequent explosion and fire aboard the dredging vessel Waymon Boyd.The Waymon Boyd struck a submerged 16-inch hazardous liquid pipeline carrying propane during dredging operations in Corpus Christi, Texas. A geyser of propane gas and water erupted adjacent to the vessel. Shortly thereafter, propane gas engulfed the dredge and an explosion occurred.

At a time when the world has become more aware than ever before about the vital importance of the world’s ocean shipping fleet, which carried supplies, merchandise and much needed personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increased risk from a different threat, cyberattacks, presents a set of new challenges. According to Israeli cybersecurity specialist Naval Dome, since February 2020, there has been a 400% increase in attempted hacks on the maritime realm…

More than two dozen oil vessels were clustered off Louisiana seaports on Tuesday as the U.S. Coast Guard and port operators assessed damages wreaked by Hurricane Ida, according to sources and Refinitiv Eikon data.Dozens of ports from Louisiana to Alabama closed as Ida tore through the Gulf of Mexico and slammed into the coast on Sunday. A few have reopened with restrictions on vessel drafts.Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, packing 150-mile-per-hour (240 km-per hour) winds that knocked out power to a substantial part of the state.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest deepwater oil import and export terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has found no major damages to its marine operations during an initial review [of the impact of the hurricane Ida], but operations remain offline as assessments continue, according to a person familiar with the matter.Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Llc - a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Corp, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy Corp - has a crude oil loading and unloading facility 18 miles (29 km) off the coast of Louisiana.

The Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Port of Baltimore, officially joined the Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety (CDMCS), a national unified safety voice for the dredging and marine construction industry.The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest seaports in the United States, handling every type of cargo at its public and private terminals. Currently, Baltimore is in the execution phase of more than $200 million in marine construction, dredging and infrastructure upgrades at Seagirt, Dundalk and Locust Point Marine Terminals.

U.S. ports have worked toward increasing the depth and width of their channels to allow for larger ships with greater capacities. The equation is generally: bigger ships = more throughput = increased profitability. But what are the impacts around a channel after it’s widened? The ripple effects may go further than you think.Managing the Impact of Channel Improvement Projects on Structures and PipelinesWith more water to impact them, structures around an expanded channel may need improvements, and pipelines under the channel may need relocation to make way for dredging.

Enbridge Inc and Enterprise Products Partners LP on Monday signed an agreement to jointly develop a deepwater offshore crude oil export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico capable of loading Very Large Crude Carriers.Both pipeline operators will work to finalize an equity participation agreement that would provide Enbridge an option to purchase ownership interest in Enterprise's Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), subject to SPOT receiving a deep-water port license, Enbridge said in a statement.The companies would first jointly develop the SPOT project, and depending on how the export market grows, would utilize Enbridge's Texas COLT deep-water port or a similar project."Enbridge and Enterprise Products are partners in the Seaway Pipeline system.

Kinder Morgan Inc has dropped out of a recently proposed U.S. Gulf Coast deepwater crude export venture, the project's leader Enbridge Inc said on Monday.The $800 million project, known as Texas COLT, is one of eight similar projects proposing facilities that would move U.S. shale to overseas markets by loading supertankers able to carry up to 2 million barrels apiece.Pipeline operators Enbridge and Kinder Morgan disclosed plans to build an crude export terminal off Freeport, Texas, in January, and filed permit applications with the U.S. Maritime Administration. German oil storage firm Oiltanking Partners remains committed to the project, said Enbridge."The project does not align with our strategic priorities," Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Lexey Long said.

The most used and recognized offshore pipeline standard in the world has been updated to reflect the latest pipeline research and developments by DNV GL, the quality assurance and risk management company, and other leading industry players. The standard, previously called DNV-OS-F101 is now renamed DNVGL-ST-F101. Around 65% of all new projects globally are designed according to the standard, first issued in 1976. The new revision reflects the conclusions of joint industry projects (JIPs) by DNV GL and other leading industry players such as DNV GL’s JIP providing guidance for installation of rigid and flexible pipes, umbilicals and power cables.

Growing global energy demand and requirements for additional pipeline capacity are driving the pipeline segment. However, pipeline related innovation is prioritized by only 4% of senior oil & gas professionals, according to research by DNV GL, the technical advisor to the oil & gas industry. Further, the research shows that nearly one in five oil & gas companies (18%) do not have a strategy in place to maintain innovation. Six in ten (61%) respondents agree that operators will increasingly push to standardize their delivery globally, up from 55% in 2015 and 52% in 2014. The most common strategy for maintaining innovation with lower budgets is to increase collaboration with other industry players (45%).

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed his natural resources minister to "modernize" Canada's independent pipeline regulator, said a letter released on Friday that gave details on the newly elected leader's environmental plans. Trudeau asked Natural Resources Minister James Carr to ensure the Calgary-based National Energy Board (NEB) has a balanced representation from across the country, as well as sufficient expertise in environmental science, community development and indigenous traditional knowledge. The Liberal prime minister on Friday published all of the mandate letters sent to his cabinet ministers, which instructed several of them to restore environmental legislation that was changed by the previous Conservative government.

The Coastal and Marine Operators (CAMO) group has announced it has successfully completed the first step in rolling out an initiative to protect the safety of mariners, the environment and hydrocarbon pipelines from being damaged. The CAMO group began transmitting Automatic Information System (AIS) safety messages directly to mariners in two charted pipeline corridors in Port Fourchon, significantly improving their situational awareness by providing immediate alerts for vessels in close proximity to submerged pipelines.

Sour service fluids from wells place significant demands on pipeline material, particularly in deeper water. This can present major technical and financial challenges for pipeline operators as the fluids can cause fractures and cracks which affect pipeline performance and reliability. DNV GL has now launched a joint industry project (JIP) to develop a methodology to evaluate fractures and cracks using a Single Edge Notched Tensile (SENT) test designed specifically for sour service environments. Eight participants are on board and the JIP is still open for new participants. A pipe material and weld that performs well in air will be significantly less tough and resistant in a sour environment.

Sheriff Craig Apple assured a room of concerned citizens that county emergency crews were prepared to handle an oil-train accident involving three or four tank cars. Firefighters have been training to combat railcar fires with foam, and evacuation plans are detailed in a 500-page emergency response plan, Apple told residents in a May 12 address. Albany's tracks handle as much as a fourth of the oil pumped from North Dakota's booming Bakken Shale, or up to several 100-car trains per day, each carrying 70,000 barrels. It is one of several spots along North America's new oil-by-rail corridors where residents and officials are restless, following six fiery derailments in the past 10 months.

Slovakia and Ukraine have reached an agreement on opening up limited capacity for reverse flow of natural gas from central Europe to Ukraine and will sign the deal on Monday, the Slovak Economy Ministry said on Saturday. Ukraine is trying to secure alternative supplies to those from Russia's Gazprom since Russia annexed Crimea last month and Gazprom nearly doubled prices for its gas to levels Ukraine is refusing to pay. Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine has set off the most serious East-West rift since the end of the Cold War, resulting in EU and U.S. sanctions and raising the threat of interruption of gas supplies from Russia to Europe.

NuStar Energy says it has completed construction of a private marine loading dock at its North Beach Terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, and has its first ship at the dock to be loaded with crude oil. Originally scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of this year, NuStar expedited the project in order to meet strong customer interest in using the dock to transport shipments of Eagle Ford crude oil by water. The new dock project includes a series of 30-inch and 12-inch pipelines that move the crude oil from incoming pipelines or tanks within the terminal to the new dock…

Tecnitas, the marine advisory arm of leading international classification and verification group Bureau Veritas (BV), has launched a new technology simulation system for pipeline damage assessment, in collaboration with Total. This system, EMPREINTE, helps pipeline operators to determine safe operating pressures after a pipeline is damaged. It is a software suite which provides a decision making tool which, according to BV, aims to save operators money and cut downtime for pipeline repairs.

DNV GL Software’s new release of Synergi Pipeline software includes Geographic Information System (GIS) integration, providing pipeline operators better analyses and decision-making based on geographically referenced and visualized data via the web interface. Obtaining and managing correct and valid information about a pipeline’s risk and condition, including linked geographic information, is a constant challenge in integrity management. Synergi Pipeline, DNV GL’s pipeline integrity management and risk assessment software solution…