Leaks

The natural gas bonanza brought about by unconventional drilling may be displacing coal and diesel as a “cleaner” fuel, but methane leaks from the surge in drilling and processing destroy that advantage, according to the environmental think tank World Resources Institute (WRI).

The natural gas bonanza brought about by unconventional drilling may be displacing coal and diesel as a “cleaner” fuel, but methane leaks from the surge in drilling and processing destroy that advantage, according to the environmental think tank World Resources Institute (WRI).

Stiff new fines are in store for sloppy digging or other misbehavior — by any company or person — that causes leaks and spills from Canadian long-distance pipelines under federal regulation,

Stiff new fines are in store for sloppy digging or other misbehavior — by any company or person — that causes leaks and spills from Canadian long-distance pipelines under federal regulation,

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said it met an industry-leading 30-minute response time criteria for handling natural gas leaks 85% of the time in August. The response time compares to a 58.4% result in August 2011. The San Francisco-based combination utility said it is now ranked in the top quartile for meeting benchmarking criteria established by the American Gas Association (AGA). PG&E applied a more stringent standard in seeking to meet the 30-minute response time, given that the industry and AGA use 60 minutes as the usual test of responsiveness, said a PG&E spokesperson. Executive Vice President Nick Stavropoulos said the utility is seeking to “ease any anxiety” for customers regarding leaking gas.

Range Resources Corp. Tuesday was cleared of fouling North Texas water wells with natural gas by a unanimous vote of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). It was vindication for the Fort Worth, TX-based producer and an informal indictment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — not that anyone from the federal agency was at the meeting in Austin, TX, to hear it.

Limited curtailments this winter, up to 300 new shutoff valves, and new leaks identified and repaired on parts of the major natural gas transmission pipeline system in the greater San Francisco Bay Area were documented in reports released late Monday by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Noting that it is currently repairing leaks in the TL-264 segment, Dominion said Tuesday it was hoping to make the repairs without shutting in production. However, line pressures behind Cornwell Station got too high and it became necessary that production in bubbles 2207, 3225 and 3226 behind Cornwell’s No. 9 unit and in bubbles 2205 and 2206 behind Cornwell’s No. 7 and 8 units be shut in immediately until further notice.

Responding to comments on its report on methods for evaluating the hazards of LNG leaks from tankers, FERC staff last week said it was modifying certain analysis elements and would continue to use updated methodologies in individual cases as new technical information becomes available.