Infrastructure

A petition challenging FERC’s order granting a certificate to build a natural gas pipeline that would connect New York and New Jersey was rejected Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Colombia Pipeline LLC filed an application with FERC on Tuesday to construct a border-crossing pipeline from Texas to Mexico that would allow Eagle Ford Shale natural gas to supply power generation and other demand in Mexico.

With a mitigation agreement with local county officials signed in mid-June, Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KM) proposed Sierrita Pipeline link to new natural gas transmission pipelines in northern Mexico won FERC approval Tuesday to begin construction, opening the door wider to future U.S. natural gas exports.

Increasing demand from gas-fueled power generation has prompted Spectra Energy Corp. and Spectra Energy Partners to expand the Algonquin Gas Transmission and Maritimes & Northeast pipeline systems, the companies said Tuesday, with plans to add up to 1 Bcf/d of power generation-dedicated capacity.

Market segments for natural gas transportation keep changing, broadening and readapting to technology advances, but the basic question of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) is still evolving, according to a Pace Global consultant focused on small-scale U.S. LNG production developments.

Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) chief and the state’s attorney general will lead a multi-agency government task force that will examine oil and natural gas pipelines.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) plans to construct a 2.2 Bcf/d pipeline to carry Marcellus and Utica shale gas from area processing plants to multiple markets, first by accessing its existing Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line (PEPL) and other Midwestern pipelines, and later accessing the Dawn Hub in Ontario via a new pipeline segment.

General Electric Co. (GE) continues to make inroads into the U.S. energy industry, announcing Thursday a partnership with the University of Notre Dame and four public entities to build a research and test facility in Indiana for natural gas turbine engines used by commercial and military aircraft, power plants, and the oil and gas industry.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill streamlining the approval process for oil and natural gas pipelines, and other energy infrastructure, that cross the borders with Canada and Mexico, and removing a requirement that the Department of Energy (DOE) approve oil and gas imports/exports to those countries.