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US-President Donald Trump announced Friday to double tariffs on steel imported from Turkey to 50%. This could put additional pressure on Kinder Morgan’s proposed Gulf Coast Express Pipeline and dampen prospects for future US natural gas projects. Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., which moves more than a third of the gas consumed in the US, is sourcing 144,000 mt of steel pipe from Turkey, which is nearly half of the required steel. It is planned to be used for Gulf Coast Express. An American company is set to produce 175,000 mt for the mentioned pipeline.

Canadian energy infrastructure operator TransCanada Corporation has awarded a contract to a joint venture made up of Spiecapag Canada Corp, a VINCI subsidiary and operational leader, and Macro Pipelines Inc. to build two sections of gas pipeline in the province of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The C$900 million (about €585 million) contract includes the construction of more than 166 kilometres of gas pipeline as part of the 670 km Coastal GasLink Pipeline. The contract amount is split, with 60% going to Spiecapag and 40% to Macro Pipelines Inc.

The joint, nationwide market area to be established in Germany will presumably start operations on 1 October 2021. This is the date the German gas transmission system operators (TSOs) have agreed with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), the national regulatory authority. The TSOs believe that the planned timing, which coincides with the start of the gas year, is the most convenient solution for market participants from an operational perspective.

The Trump administration, seeking to justify its fascination with coal, a product that is increasingly out of favor with most other industrialized countries worldwide, is arguing that gas pipelines are too vulnerable to hacking, threatening American energy security. Therefore, the United States, it is argued, need more coal in the energy mix. Why a hacker intending to disrupt energy security in the United States could not also hack into a coal-fired plant was not addressed by Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

The Organization of Oil-producing Countries (OPEC) tries to convince Russia to a closer cooperation. For this reason, Saudi Arabia proposed granting Russia observer status. A Russian representative confirmed the offer to the press: "This option exists and is under consideration. We are currently studying this question carefully," said the confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The project of the Russian edition of the Pipeline Technology Journal (ptj) published by EITEP (Hanover) was presented in Moscow during the MOIGE International Oil and Gas Exhibition.

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) has issued an updated 2016 infrastructure report which depicts the massive changes in store for energy infrastructure in the United States and Canada. INGAA Foundation President Don Santa says "while we are now in the midst of a remarkable expansion of the pipeline network ... there will remain a need for new pipeline infrastructure.

The international publishers EITEP (based in Germany) and Radiofront (based in Russia) have agreed to implement a Russian-speaking edition of the globally recognized Pipeline Technology Journal (ptj). Both companies are committed to meet the high demand for top-class pipeline technology case-studies, technical articles and current international industry news in Russia. The new Russian edition (“ptj-Вестник трубопроводных технологий”) will be available in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

China is seeking to revise ownership of its huge gas pipeline network due to the fact that more and more private and industrial customers convert from coal to gas.

For several years China has been investigating the merger of the oil and gas pipeline assets of three of its state energy giants: China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

While US-President Trump is imposing tariffs von steel and alluminium on American key allies Canada, Mexico and the EU and furthermore pressing the European countries to stop the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Project, Austria has welcomed Russian President Wladimir Putin on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the sign

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which shall deliver 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to the EU every year, has already been approved by Germany, Finland and also by Sweden. However, the United States assumes that the Project will increase Europe's dependence on Russian oil & gas, leading to an increased energy dependency and thus to a severe political disadvantage for the EU and its allies.

Canada's government is intervening in the conflict over the construction of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Expansion Project with an unusual decision. To ensure the construction of the controversial pipeline, it is purchasing the whole project and the infrastructure needed to expand the pipeline from Kinder Morgan for 4.5 billion Canadian dollars (about 3 billion euros).