Major

Responding to major pipeline accidents in California and Pennsylvania over the last few years that caused 22 deaths, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Monday issued recommendations for natural gas pipelines to preserve and verify records related to maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) and advised hazardous liquid pipeline operators to adhere to the same standards for maximum operating pressure (MOP).

Major oil and natural gas groups continued to lobby the White House last week to change pollution standards for oil and gas operations, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to issue Tuesday (April17). They called for the administration to postpone the final rule on the standards until more accurate emissions data is gathered.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) gained more fans along the East Coast last week, while the use of CNG vehicles by a major rental car operator also was launched.

The recent fire at the Lathrop natural gas compressor station in northeastern Pennsylvania, which forced a major Marcellus Shale producer to reroute gas supplies for several days, is highlighting a gap in pipeline safety legislation passed earlier this year.

The recent fire at the Lathrop natural gas compressor station in northeastern Pennsylvania, which forced a major Marcellus Shale producer to reroute gas supplies for several days, is highlighting a gap in pipeline safety legislation passed earlier this year.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline group has called on FERC to “reconsider and revise” its approach to reservation charge crediting, claiming that it is not right to require pipelines to credit reservation charges for outages that occur during systemic upgrades to comply with the new pipe safety act and environmental laws.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline group and gas utility association have called on FERC to conduct regional technical conferences to address coordination issues between the gas and electricity markets, while a group of New York Transmission Owners (NYTO) recommended that independent system operators/regional transmission organizations (ISOs/RTOs) be required to submit compliance filings identifying how they plan to respond to coordination problems.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline group and gas utility association have called on FERC to conduct regional technical conferences to address coordination issues between the gas and electricity markets, while a group of New York Transmission Owners (NYTO) recommended that independent system operators/regional transmission organization (ISOs/RTOs) be required to submit compliance filings identifying how they plan to respond to coordination problems.

A unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) has a tentative agreement with Port of Corpus Christi, TX, administrators to acquire a major portion of the former U.S. Naval Station Ingleside. Oxy’s Ingleside Property Holdings LLC would acquire more than 1,200 acres for $82.1 million. Completion of the deal is subject to approval of the Port Corpus Christi commission and the company’s board. “Definitely, Eagle Ford Shale is part of the opportunity that plays into this strategic investment,” Paul Thomas, manager of Oxy Chem’s existing Ingleside, TX, plant told the Corpus Christi Caller Times. An Oxy spokesman would not provide additional information when contacted by NGI’s Shale Daily.