Portion

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) said last Friday that a slow drop in pressure occurred during a hydrostatic pressure test on a portion of the same 30-inch diameter transmission pipeline (Line 132) involved in last year’s deadly San Bruno rupture near Palo Alto. It turned out to be a small pinhole leak of approximately one millimeter in diameter, a situation that PG&E stressed was safe with no customer impacts. This is the second recent incident in the utility’s ongoing intensive pipeline testing program prompted by San Bruno (see Daily GPI, Oct. 26). PG&E said the water leak was detected during the initial phase of a hydrostatic pressure test at 75% of the test pressure for one hour. The pressure at the time of the leak was 525 psig; Line 132’s maximum allowable operating pressure is 400 psig. Its normal operating pressure is 375 psig and it is currently operating at a reduced pressure of 300 psig, mandated since the San Bruno incident. PG&E said it will identify the exact location of the leak in the next few days, excavate, make repairs and then reconduct the hydrostatic pressure test.

Two days after a portion ruptured in a hydrostatic pressure test, replacement work was completed Wednesday on a one-mile segment of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) 34-inch diameter transmission pipeline (Line 300B) that is part of a link to southwestern supply basins.

The natural gas industry will miss out on the prize of shale if it can’t convince the public that development is safe, a Chevron Corp. executive told a Pittsburgh audience Thursday.

Natural gas producers can thank the hot summer for helping to burn up a large portion of the country’s growing gas production during the third quarter, according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, released last Wednesday.

Oil and gas companies operating in North Dakota’s portion of the Bakken Shale are spending about $3 billion on infrastructure projects to capture natural gas currently being lost to flaring at oil drilling sites.

Natural gas producers can thank the hot summer for helping to burn up a large portion of the country’s growing gas production during the third quarter, according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, released Wednesday.

Oil and gas companies operating in North Dakota’s portion of the Bakken Shale are spending about $3 billion on infrastructure projects to capture natural gas currently being lost to flaring at oil drilling sites.

The outlook for oil output from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas is strong enough to cause analysts at Wood Mackenzie to predict that it will rival the Bakken Shale by 2015 as North America’s leading tight-oil producer.

Landowners in Belmont County, OH, which has become a hotbed of activity for prospective shale exploration, are signing leases with ExxonMobil Corp. subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. to allow drilling to begin on their acreage, the company has acknowledged.