Inch

Penn Virginia Corp. (PVA) has paid $14.5 million for approximately 4,100 net acres in Gonzales County, TX, bringing its total net Eagle Ford Shale acreage to about 10,900 acres, and has seen success with its initial Eagle Ford well, the Radnor, PA-based company said.

After a delayed start pushed into mid-January (see Daily GPI, Jan. 19), TransCanada Corp. has its new 303-mile, 30-inch diameter Bison Pipeline operating at near 90% capacity bringing Rockies supplies to the Midwest via an interconnection with Northern Border Inc., a U.S.-based company executive told NGI Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford nuclear compound in Washington state is in the very early stages of planning to run a six-inch diameter natural gas pipeline under the Columbia River to supply a massive wastewater treatment plant during the next eight years. The 28.5-mile, $22 million project would be facilitated with the local utility Cascade Natural Gas Co., tying into its existing pipeline system on the Oregon side of the river and then connecting to the still-to-be-built water treatment facility. The plant was originally planned to operate with diesel, but the proposed pipeline would permit it to have dual fuel capability, operating mostly on natural gas, a Hanford facility spokesperson said. The gas line would provide more cost savings and environmental advantages, greatly reducing the proposed plant’s greenhouse gas emissions. “The gas also can help support steam generation for [onsite] electricity and also heat for 11 different facilities,” he said. Plans call for the pipeline to be permitted and built during the next four years, and the wastewater plant to begin operation in 2019, turning high-level waste into glass. “It’s really a glass-making plant,” the spokesperson said.

A segment of the 36-inch diameter Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) owned and operated by El Paso Corp., exploded and caused a fire at about 10:30 p.m. EST Thursday near Dungannon, OH, a spokesman told NGI Friday.

A segment of the 36-inch diameter Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) owned and operated by El Paso Corp., exploded and caused a fire at about 10:30 p.m. EST Thursday near Dungannon, OH, a spokesman told NGI Friday.

An investigation is under way after a 12-inch diameter natural gas main exploded late Wednesday night, killing five people, including a four-month-old child, in Allentown, PA. A fire following the explosion affected a total of 47 properties, including 10 businesses, and forced more than 750 people to evacuate over a three-block area.

Tennessee declared a force majeure event of an unspecified nature Friday for the 26-inch diameter 523M-100 line south of Cocodrie, LA. Tennessee said it has isolated the pipe section and is in the process of lowering the pressure for further analysis. Five Ship Shoal and two South Pelto meters were required to shut in, but Tennessee said it is allowing associated nominations to remain in place at this time.

A 12-inch diameter high-pressure natural gas main ruptured in a northeast Philadelphia neighborhood Tuesday night, killing one Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) employee and critically injuring three others.

Williams Partners LP’s Northwest Pipeline GP has received authorization from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to place its 30-inch diameter mainline loop, known as the Sundance Trail Expansion, into service. The project includes about 15.5 miles of pipeline and related facilities that will provide 150,000 Dth/d of firm capacity from the Greasewood and Meeker/White River hubs in Rio Blanco County, CO, to the Opal Hub area in Lincoln County, WY. Northwest replaced and added compression at its Vernal Compressor Station in Uintah County, UT. The project cost about $56 million.