Restart

In a major speech on national energy security Wednesday, President Obama promoted natural gas as a way forward for the United States and said he has directed Energy Secretary Steven Chu to work with other agencies, the natural gas industry, states and environmental experts to improve the safety of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Lower natural gas prices and the approach of the spring planting season prompted Terra Industries to restart ammonia production on March 1 at its plants in Yazoo City, MS, and Billingham, Teesside, UK.

Lower natural gas prices and the approach of the spring planting season have prompted Terra Industries to plan the restart of ammonia production on March 1 at its plants in Yazoo City, MS, and Billingham, Teesside, UK.

Coming at a difficult time for the energy markets, which are seeing high, and in some cases record breaking commodity prices, Shell said last Tuesday that it expects its Mars tension leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Mexico to be down for another two to three weeks.

Coming at a difficult time for the energy markets, which are seeing high, and in some cases record breaking commodity prices, Shell said Tuesday that it expects its Mars tension leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Mexico to be down for another two to three weeks.

Repair of the second rupture on TransCanada Pipeline Ltd.’s Nova system is progressing and the company said it expects that the section will be ready “sometime Thursday” for commercial operation, barring any unforeseen delays.

An explosion rocked a portion of Colorado Interstate Gas Co.’s (CIG) mainline in Colorado on March 23, but it did not interrupt natural gas deliveries to the region or cause any injuries, according to the pipeline. On Friday, a spokesman for El Paso Corp., which owns CIG, said repairs on the damaged section of the pipeline had been completed, and the company was awaiting clearance from the federal Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to begin flowing gas through the affected line.

Plummeting gas prices have prompted a large number of idled ammonia producers to restart operations this month, after lengthy downtime due to last winter’s record gas price increases. Houston-based Industrialinfo.com, which tracks manufacturing, said most of the Gulf Coast and Midcontinent plants are at partial or full capacity.

Plummeting gas prices have prompted a large number of idled ammonia producers to restart operations this month, after lengthy downtime due to last winter’s record gas price increases. Houston-based Industrialinfo.com, which tracks manufacturing, said most of the Gulf Coast and Midcontinent plants are at partial or full capacity.