Infrastructure

U.S., Canadian LNG Exports Risky in Different Ways

Would-be exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada’s West Coast and from the Lower 48 face multiple challenges. Up north the main worry is pricing and securing contracts to support the project, while down south the main threat is of a regulatory/political nature, according to an analysis by the International Gas Union (IGU).

August 26, 2013

Canadian Senate Report on Safety: Pipelines Outclass Rail

TransCanada Corp. won a national political boost Thursday for the proposed partial conversion of its natural gas Mainline to oil service from the Canadian Senate’s energy, environment and natural resources committee.

August 26, 2013

Progress Made on CNG in California and Las Vegas

On a national basis, compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative transportation fuel continued to make progress in mid-August, with developments including new conversion standards in California to hip SUV fleets on the Las Vegas Strip.

August 23, 2013

PG&E CEO: Proposed $2.25B Pipe Penalty May Mean Bankruptcy

PG&E Corp. CEO Anthony Earley in a Wall Street interview Wednesday held out the possibility of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the company’s giant San Francisco-based combination utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), if a proposed $2.25 billion penalty by state regulatory safety staff is upheld by the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

August 23, 2013

UGI NatGas Utility Fined $1M for Inadequate Pipe Repair

UGI Corp.’s Pennsylvania-based natural gas utility has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle allegations that it failed to adequately maintain and repair a 50-year-old high-pressure gas main in Wilkes Barre.

August 22, 2013

BC LNG Project Proposed for Wealthy Area

The number seven is a symbol of fortune and intelligence in China and that luck is being pressed by the Asian-owned seventh proposal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the Orient from the Pacific Coast of British Columbia (BC).

August 19, 2013

Kinder Pipes’ North-South Expansion Draws A Crowd

Units of Kinder Morgan’s El Paso Pipeline Partners LP business said that during recent open seasons, plenty of customers stepped up for incremental long-term transportation capacity from the Marcellus Shale region to serve markets in Georgia, South Carolina and northern Florida.

August 16, 2013

Gulf Coast Ethane Cracker Cleared to Begin Construction

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued air permits to Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. (CPChem) LP, moving plans for a 3.3 billion pounds/year ethane cracker and two new polyethylene facilities on Texas’ Gulf Coast one step closer to reality, the company said.

August 16, 2013

Industry Brief

While still awaiting aU.S. State Departmentgreen light on another U.S.-Mexico gas pipeline border crossing, Sierrita Lateral (seeDaily GPI,Aug. 13),Kinder Morgan’sEl Paso Natural Gasunit has moved ahead with the start of operations at its Norte Crossing facilities near El Paso, TX (seeDaily GPI,June 18). Up to 366 MMcf/d can now flow to a new delivery interconnection with the Tarahumara Pipeline at the U.S.-Mexico border beneath the Rio Grande River. Ultimate end-users include five new gas-fired power plants scheduled to be developed during the next 15 years by Mexico’s state-ownedComision Federal de Electricidad. The Norte II power plant was slated to start up earlier this month, drawing its fuel from the Norte Crossing tie-in.MGI Supply Ltd., a firm shipper on El Paso’s system, has a new agreement for capacity at the proposed Norte Crossing facility, allowing MGI to export gas from the United States to Mexico to serve the Norte II CFE power plant.

August 16, 2013

MARAD OKs Retirement of First LNG Deepwater Facility

In a notice published in theFederal RegisterWednesday, the Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced its final authorization of the decommissioning of the Gulf Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port, the first deepwater liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility of its kind in the world. The Excelerate Energy LP facility is being retired just eight years after it went into service in the Gulf of Mexico.

August 15, 2013