Laser

University of Adelaide researchers in Australia are developing a new type of laser system that will monitor methane levels across large areas in order to monitor emissions of the greenhouse gas. The system has the potential to detect methane leaks from long-distance underground gas pipelines and gas fields, including coal seam gas extraction operations, and to measure methane emissions from animal production, the university said. “We hope to accurately measure methane concentrations up to a distance of 5 kilometers,” said project leader David Ottaway, senior lecturer in the university’s School of Chemistry and Physics. “This will give us an ability to map methane over an area as large as 25 square kilometers in a very short time. At the moment current technology only allows detection at a single point source as it blows past the detector.”

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has added a high-tech laser scanning device to its safety tool box for its pipeline systems. EXAscan, which is produced by Creaform in Quebec, may be placed a few inches above a section of pipe to produce 3-D views. It is said to be accurate within 40 microns (0.0016 of an inch) to detect potential corrosion, dents or warping. PG&E is able to capture information electronically for an entire pipeline section within minutes, a spokesperson said.

Royal Dutch Shell plc’s management team laid out its strategy plan last week, which remains laser focused on global natural gas.

Williams, which has been laser focused on building a midstream stronghold in the Marcellus Shale, last week added to its arsenal after agreeing to pay $2.5 billion to buy the midstream arm of privately held producer Caiman Energy.

Williams Partners LP, whose parent Williams has been laser focused on building a midstream stronghold in the Marcellus Shale, late Monday agreed to pay $2.5 billion to buy the midstream arm of privately held producer Caiman Energy.

With recent production from the Eagle Ford Shale and Niobrara Formation, Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. passed its target of 5,000 net b/d, the company announced Wednesday.

The state of Alaska said it will employ laser profiling as part of a major aerial survey of proposed routes for potential pipelines that would carry North Slope gas supplies to in-state and/or Lower 48 markets.