Inch

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) experienced leaks and a resulting fire in its two-inch diameter plastic distribution main at the end of last month. As a result, it is facing the prospect of stepping up surveying and maintenance of its 40,000-mile distribution pipeline system. The company’s transmission pipelines have been under scrutiny following a deadly explosion one year ago.

A proposed rule in Texas to require public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid contents was approved for publication Monday by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

El Paso Corp. last Thursday placed into service its 680-mile, 42-inch diameter Ruby Pipeline, which will ship Rockies natural gas to West Coast markets in direct competition with Canadian gas. Ruby is the largest gas pipeline project to serve the West since the expansion of the Kern River Gas Transmission in 2003, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

El Paso Corp. said Thursday it has placed into service its 680-mile, 42-inch diameter Ruby Pipeline, which will ship Rockies natural gas to West Coast markets in direct competition with Canadian gas.

FERC Wednesday gave El Paso Corp.’s Ruby Pipeline the go-ahead to begin service on the 680-mile, 42-inch diameter line that will deliver Rockies natural gas to West Coast markets.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking initial public comments as it begins an environmental assessment (EA) on the proposed Western Expansion Project II, a 95-mile, 16-inch diameter natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline proposed by Enterprise Mid-America Pipeline.

Despite production rates that would have been considered impressive under different circumstances, Penn Virginia Corp. (PVA) on Tuesday expressed disappointment in results from its first three horizontal wells on its Marcellus Shale leasehold in Pennsylvania.

A rupture on Enterprise Products Partners LP’s 20-inch diameter South Texas pipeline system in Wilson County southeast of San Antonio shut down a stretch of roadway Thursday afternoon, but there were no injuries and only one producer was affected, an Enterprise spokesman said. “We don’t know what happened, but shortly before 1 [p.m. Thursday] our control room personnel detected a pressure drop on that line and immediately began shutdown procedures…” spokesman Rick Rainey told NGI. “There was no ignition…but the line did rupture. A couple of county roads were shut down for a brief period. Repairs were expected to be completed by last Saturday morning. Rainey said there was no excavation going on in the area as far as Enterprise officials knew. The cause was under investigation.

June natural gas futures managed to inch higher following the release of mildly supportive inventory figures Thursday. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that 70 Bcf was injected for the week ending May 6, slightly less than consensus estimates closer to 73 Bcf. At the close June had risen 1.3 cents to $4.194 and July gained 1.5 cents to $4.256. June crude oil managed a modest gain of 76 cents to $98.97/bbl. after plunging $5.67 to $98.21/bbl in Wednesday’s chaotic oil trading.