Interstate

The House of Representatives could vote out pipeline safety legislation “as early as next week,” said an official with the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America said Friday.

FERC Friday approved Empire Pipeline Inc.’s request to begin service on its Tioga County Extension to transport Marcellus Shale production in Pennsylvania to the U.S.-Canadian border.

Improved integrity management principles should continue to be favored, rather than prescriptive rules, to ensure pipeline safety, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said in comments filed Wednesday on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) (see NGI, Aug. 25).

Improved integrity management principles should continue to be favored, rather than prescriptive rules, to ensure pipeline safety, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said in comments filed Wednesday on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) (see Daily GPI, Aug. 25).

Enterprise Products Partners LP’s $1.5 billion, 270-mile Acadian Haynesville Extension pipeline has entered service, linking producers in the Haynesville/Bossier shale play with new markets.

Water services company Heckmann Corp. reiterated its emphasis on serving shale gas and oil developers in the United States in announcing the divestment of China Water & Drinks Inc. through the sale of nine of its 25 Chinese legal entities to Pacific Water & Drinks (HK) Group Ltd. (PWD). The deal closed Sept. 30, and Heckmann will no longer have business exposure in China except through its equity holding in PWD. “With our positive view of our current core water business and the growth opportunities in the United States, we are pleased to put the China experience behind us,” said CEO Richard J. Heckmann. “We now have almost 1,100 employees in the U.S., up from fewer than 30 a year ago. We believe that the water business as it relates to shale gas and shale oil production will continue to drive our growth. In addition, the customer reaction to our conversion to LNG [liquefied natural gas] powered vehicles [see Shale Daily, Aug. 23], which we are now putting in service, has been very positive.”

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Thursday denied two requests to reconsider its decision to grant public utility status to a Marcellus Shale gathering project currently under construction.

Federal regulators are seeking to toughen regulations for interstate natural gas pipelines following two deadly explosions that rocked the West and East Coasts within the past year.

The American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, together with the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, have initiated a study to explore safety models and procedures in other sectors for use in the delivery of natural gas and pipeline-transported liquids. The study will complement the investigative initiative of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportation’s regulatory initiatives, which currently are under way. The study is expected to be completed as early as February.