Projects

The divisive Keystone XL pipeline project got a big boost when the US House of Representatives passed a bill last week approving its construction.

Russian oil giant Rosneft and the Russian oil pipeline operator Transneft have agreed on a long-term pipeline tariff to be paid by Rosneft to underwrite the design and construction of an offshoot to the East Siberian - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) trunk pipeline to the Komsomolsk refinery in the Russian Far East.

Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) AG, a joint venture company established with the purpose of planning, developing and building the TAP natural gas pipeline from the Shah Deniz II natural gas reservoirs in Azerbaijan to Europe, has launched its pre-qualification process for onshore line pipes and bends.

The Arcelor Mittal steel plant in Bremen has secured a landmark $7 billion order for 310,000 tons of steel for the proposed 2000 km Azerbaijan - Turkey - Europe natural gas pipeline. The steel provided will constitute one-third of the overall amount necessary to complete the project. Deliveries will begin this year and continue until 2017.

Invitations to Tender (ITT) covers 55 valves at 48” and 36”, class 600 and 900. The requirements and quality of the large diameter ball valves and actuators include significant safety features of a high engineering standard in order to ensure the highest quality of the TAP pipeline in relation to technical quality and safety.

Countering Russian President Vlamimir Putin's assertion this week that the $40 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline project was dead in the water, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker declared the project was very much alive and can go ahead.

Ukrtransgaz, the Ukrainian pipeline operator, has secured a 150 million euro loan from the European Investment Bank to upgrade a 120 km section of its transnational gas pipeline including two compressor stations to Europe. Similarly the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to lend the Ukraine 163 million euros for this purpose later this month.

Russia and Turkey have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to construct a new offshore natural gas pipeline from the Russian Federation across the Black Sea to Turkey. The pipeline will have a capacity of 63 billion cubic meters per annum with 14 billion cubic meters envisioned for the Turkish market and some 50 billion cubic meters for Europe.