Water

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) has issued a final rule that amends pipeline safety regulations to require operators of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines to prepare and follow procedures for periodic inspections of facilities located in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and its inlets.

The pace and scale of negative rating actions in the United States utility industry (electric, gas, pipeline, and water companies) have significantly diminished following a tumultuous three years, according to a report published Thursday by Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P).

Shell’s Mars platform in the Gulf of Mexico was shut down Saturday after a “sheen [of oil] was observed on the water,” a Shell spokeswoman said. At the time of the shut-in, Mars was producing 150,000 b/d of oil and 170 MMcf/d of gas.

Despite numerous attempts to water down its final anti-manipulation order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday upheld the bulk of its November 2003 ruling that barred companies holding natural gas blanket marketing certificates from acting in a way that would manipulate energy prices and markets.

Despite numerous attempts to water down its final anti-manipulation order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday upheld the bulk of its November 2003 ruling that barred companies holding natural gas blanket marketing certificates from acting in a way that would manipulate energy prices and markets.

TGT’s Airways Delivery Meter Station to the Memphis Light Gas and Water citygate is out of service through May 31 for facility modifications. Tennessee Valley Authority’s Allen Power Plant is served through the station.

Tennessee has scheduled about 12 hours of pigging activity March 8 on part of its Blue Water System offshore Louisiana. Specifically, Line #523M-100 will be pigged from Vermilion 245 to Ship Shoal 198. Only a Shell Oil meter (#012435) will be shut in during the work, but other meters in the area likely will experience higher than normal pressures, Tennessee said.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the nation’s largest municipal utility, is near the end of a three-month request for proposals (RFP) seeking a pre-paid firm 15-year deal on 10,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas. The bidding process has been narrowed to two potential suppliers and negotiations with each are under way, a high-ranking LADWP official told NGI in a brief interview Wednesday.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the nation’s largest municipal utility, is near the end of a three-month RFP-process seeking a pre-paid firm 15-year deal on 10,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas. The bidding process has been narrowed to two potential suppliers and negotiations with each are under way, a high-ranking LADWP official told NGI in a brief interview Wednesday.