Materials

The U.S. energy pipeline sector’s oil contingent is expressing concerns about the studies used by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to develop new safety requirements for natural gas pipelines.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) agrees with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that pipeline wall thinning may have significantly contributed to the rupture on the Columbia Gas Transmission in West Virginia last month.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) agrees with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that pipeline wall thinning may have significantly contributed to the rupture on the Columbia Gas Transmission in West Virginia earlier this month.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an interim update of 18 studies that have been undertaken in its multi-year review of the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale gas wells on public drinking water.

Halliburton Co. reported Wednesday that its profits fell in 3Q2012 from a year earlier in part because of inflated raw materials, but the company also took a sharp hit from the decline in U.S. onshore drilling, which likely won’t accelerate until next year, company executives said Wednesday.

The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is seeking comments on a request it plans to make to the Office of Management and Budget to gather information on excess flow values (EFVs). The agency said it wants to collect data on operators’ experiences, practices, benefits and costs associated with the use of ETVs. An EFV is a device designed to limit the impact of a potential leak or explosion by restricting the flow of natural gas if a line is broken or damaged. The information to be collected is necessary to conduct a cost-bnefit analysis of requiring an expansion of the use of EFVs, the PHMSA said. Comments should be submitted by July 16 to http://www.regulations.gov or by mail to the Docket Management Facility; DOT, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is seeking comments on a request it plans to make to the Office of Management and Budget to gather information on excess flow values (EFVs). The agency said it wants to collect data on operators’ experiences, practices, benefits and costs associated with the use of ETVs. An EFV is a device designed to limit the impact of a potential leak or explosion by restricting the flow of natural gas if a line is broken or damaged. The information to be collected is necessary to conduct a cost-bnefit analysis of requiring an expansion of the use of EFVs, the PHMSA said. Comments should be submitted by July 16 to http://www.regulations.gov or by mail to the Docket Management Facility; DOT, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

In response to major pipeline accidents in California and Pennsylvania that caused 22 deaths, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) last week 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).

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).