Leak

The natural gas storage well that has leaked for weeks at California’s largest underground gas storage facility is being plugged and eventually will be abandoned in the days ahead, but it is only one of 115 similar wells at the Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) 86 Bcf Aliso Canyon underground site that was once a producing oilfield.

Since its discovery almost three weeks ago, a leak at Sempra Energy Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) 100 Bcf Aliso Canyon underground storage field has tied up the utility and a cadre of outside well experts who have so far been unable to stop the seepage.

California lawmakers on Wednesday sent a second pipeline safety measure toward the governor’s desk, passing a methane leak reduction bill (SB 1371) with strong support from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Despite some media reports to the contrary, there were no complaints about possible gas leaks from residents of the two buildings destroyed by an explosion and fire in New York City Wednesday in the months preceding the incident, other than one called in just minutes before the blast, according to Con Edison and New York City officials.

While there is no consensus on the causes or the best way to deal with the problem of methane emissions, state officials said Wednesday that recent major pipeline failures have put much more emphasis on accelerated programs to beef up gas pipeline safety.

UGI Corp.’s Pennsylvania-based natural gas utility has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle allegations that it failed to adequately maintain and repair a 50-year-old high-pressure gas main in Wilkes Barre.

A flood debris-driven sour gas leak on a wellhead pipeline in the Turner Valley south of Calgary was brought under control at midday Friday, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator and the natural gas production operator, Calgary-based Legacy Oil & Gas Inc.

Due to a possible leak, ANR has shut in the offshore Garden Banks 426 receipt point until further notice.

Transco said it is conducting unplanned maintenance to repair a leak on its Southeast Louisiana Lateral in Terrebonne Parish, LA, and asked operators of receipt points upstream of the affected area to shut in immediately. The outage affects flows of about 100,000 Dth/d, and Transco said effective Tuesday it was not scheduling or confirming quantities at the upstream points until the maintenance is complete, which it estimated will take seven days.