Infrastructure

Even as the list of proposed pipeline projects, expansions and reversals to deliver Appalachian gas and liquids to high-demand markets in the Southeast, Canada and Gulf Coast grows, the midstream industry remains focused on the region’s “backyard” in the Northeast.

Following up on a statewide natural gas transportation initiative (see Daily GPI, Aug. 8, 2013), Oregon regulators on Wednesday gave Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities approval to provide compressed natural gas (CNG) services in the areas in which it provides utility gas service in the state.

Ethane deliveries on Enterprise Products Partners LP’s (EPD) Appalachia-to-Texas Express (ATEX) pipeline are still limited days after a stretch of the line ruptured and exploded, according to a company representative.

Natural gas transmission pipeline integrity management (IM) programs required by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) since 2004 have kept the rate of corrosion failures and material failures of pipe and welds low, but there is no evidence that the overall occurrence of pipeline incidents in “high consequence areas” has declined, according to a report adopted Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

Sasol Ltd. is taking a pause on a final investment decision of its massive natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) complex planned for Westlake, LA “to conserve cash in response to low international oil prices.”

In another indicator of the fallout from lower global oil prices, gasoline and diesel transportation fuel is cheaper in some parts of Oklahoma than compressed natural gas (CNG), according to sources at Tulsa-based Heartland CNG.

The U.S. House of Representatives, by a 241-169 vote, agreed to consider a bill requiring the Department of Energy (DOE) to make decisions on certain applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) within 30 days, without specifying any additional details for the department to follow.

A network of publicly accessible natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling stations operated by San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) provided the equivalent of 3 million gasoline gallons of compressed natural gas (CNG) last year, the combination utility said.

Interstate natural gas pipelines should not be permitted by FERC to track and recover the capital costs of pipeline modernization through a surcharge mechanism proposed by the agency, the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) said in comments filed Monday.