Systems

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, last month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast said last Thursday.

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, earlier this month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, said the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast.

In the minutes leading up to the fatal explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems LLC power plant project in Middletown, CT, earlier this month, there was enough natural gas released into the atmosphere to fill an entire pro-basketball arena from floor to ceiling, said the Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) lead investigator into the blast.

An estimated $10 billion of floating production systems (FPS) designed to explore offshore for oil and natural gas failed to materialize as the global economy began to derail last year, but a recovery in the sector should begin in 2010, energy consultant Douglas-Westwood said in a new report. Projects worth an estimated $46 billion total are forecast to begin ramping up through 2013. Africa, North America and Latin America are expected to take 59% of the forecast global FPS capital expenditures, with an estimated 121 FPS facilities expected to be installed worldwide through 2013. Brazil’s national oil company Petroleo Brasilerio (Petrobras) is expected to be the biggest spender. Last year Petrobras was given approval by the Minerals Management Service to develop the first floating production storage offloading (FPSO) facility in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (see NGI, May 5, 2008). The FPSO is to be built in the Cascade-Chinook area in the Walker Ridge region of the Lower Tertiary trend, which is 165 miles offshore Louisiana in 8,200 feet of water.

DCP Midstream Partners LP’s Discovery offshore and Wyoming gas gathering systems have both been returned to full service, the partnership said Monday.

Restructuring energy use in the United States to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions through cap-and-trade systems or taxes on carbon dioxide will come at a high cost for the nation’s citizens, according to an analysis, “The Cost of Climate Regulation for American Households,” by two Clemson University economists.

FERC has approved a stipulation and consent agreement requiring NorthWestern Corp. and its subsidiary NorthWestern Services LLC (NWS) to pay a civil penalty of $450,000 for self-reported violations of the shipper-must-have-title (SMHT) requirement and to submit semiannual compliance monitoring reports for one year.

U.S. natural gas producers are touting a variety of innovative systems they use to recycle the huge amounts of water needed to hydraulically fracture their unconventional wells in the face of mounting pressure from environmental groups and the threat of more regulation.

Energy Transfer Partners LP last Monday said it completed two natural gas projects that add 875 MMcf/d of capacity to its existing transmission systems — the 42-inch diameter Carthage Loop pipeline in Texas and the 36-inch diameter San Juan Loop pipeline in New Mexico.