Tank

Led by the recent announcement that Portland, OR-based NW Natural and a Seattle-based storage tank manufacturer are partnering on an effort to allow more compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles on the road, the Easter week provided a number of advancements in the CNG part of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) space. Some of the others were centered on advances for CNG in trucking.

The source, but not the cause, of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tank explosion and fire in Washington state has been found, a Salt Lake City-based spokesperson for Williams’ Northwest Pipeline Co. told NGI on Friday. More definitive information is probably still 10 to 14 days away, she said.

In a meeting hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Thursday, rail and oil industry representatives pledged to improve the safety of rail transport of U.S. crude oil. Following the meeting, however, news media reported criticism among the various representatives.

In the wake of two derailments involving tank cars loaded with crude oil, and concern over an expected increase in crude oil shipments by rail, Canadian regulators have proposed tougher construction standards for tank cars and additional certifications.

Pro-business Washington, DC, think tank American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) has a new paper extolling the benefits of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) that it hopes will light a fire under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its export approval process.

The compressed natural gas (CNG) sector has seen no shortage of supporters, with continuing interest in new fleet orders, technology advancements in fuel tank design and governmental/utility initiatives, as witnessed at the recent Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Washington, DC.

The railroad transportation of Bakken oil supplies continues to grow, and transporters are investing in new facilities on a pace with pipeline takeaway growth, according to the latest statistics from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the state pipeline authority.

A policy analyst for a conservative think tank in Ohio blasted Gov. John Kasich’s plans to levy new severance taxes for natural gas, accused the Obama administration of waging a “war on coal” that hurts the state and urged legislators to repeal renewable energy requirements.

Incremental Northeast gas production during September will be driven by gathering system tie-ins, Bentek Energy LLC said in a Natural Gas Production Monitor market note. Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco) is expected to add connections to two Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP gathering systems and additional compression on Williams’ Springville system is to come online this month, Bentek said. “Combined delivery capacity to Transco from the new tie-ins and compression upgrades will amount to more than 1 Bcf/d; however, Transco will likely not be able to accept more than 0.4 Bcf/d with a substantial portion of the Leidy Line capacity reserved for no-notice service,” the firm said. It expects Northeast production to add 0.2 Bcf/d during September, with the remainder of the Transco capacity filling through October. In November, the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Supply Diversification and the National FuelGas Co. Northern Access expansions are expected to support a winter production growth rate of about 0.2 Bcf/d each month through January (see Shale Daily, July 18), Bentek said.