News

The flag of the USA (copyright by Shutterstock/Graeme Dawes)
The flag of the USA (copyright by Shutterstock/Graeme Dawes)

The Feds Put U.S. Pipeline Operators On Notice: Minimize Natural Gas Releases

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has submitted an advisory bulletin to the Federal Register underscoring to pipeline and facility operators requirements to minimize methane gas emissions in the Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2020.

Sign of Kinder Morgan at Company headquarters in Houston, US (copyright by Shutterstock/JHVEPhoto)
Sign of Kinder Morgan at Company headquarters in Houston, US (copyright by Shutterstock/JHVEPhoto)

Pipeline Operator Kinder Morgan To Spend $1.23 bln To Buy Stagecoach Gas Services

Houston based energy exporter and pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc, recently announced that it intends to buy New England regional gas storage and distributor Stagecoach Gas Services LLC, for the sum of $1.23 billion. At present, Stagecoach Gas Services is a joint venture between Consolidated Edison Inc and Crestwood Equity Partners Ltd partnership.

Strait of Hormuz on a map (copyright by Shutterstock/Jarretera)
Strait of Hormuz on a map (copyright by Shutterstock/Jarretera)

New Iranian Pipeline Skirting Troubled Strait Of Hormuz

This week Iran’s Energy Ministry announced that it had begun to transmit crude oil along the recently completed Goreh-Jask pipeline, which links oil fields near the Iraqi border with the Gulf of Oman port of Jack, thereby bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

Hydrogen molecules (copyright by Shutterstock/Anusorn Nakdee)
Hydrogen molecules (copyright by Shutterstock/Anusorn Nakdee)

Hydrogen Innovation Center Launched In Italy By Snam

Gas pipeline operator Snam, has initiated establishment of Italy’s first national research centre for hydrogen related technologies. The Hydrogen Innovation Centre will be based at the University of Modena with sister research campuses in Milan and Rome. In time, similar hydrogen innovation centres could be set up elsewhere in Italy to encourage start-ups.

Route of Nord Stream 2 (copyright by Shutterstock/MurzilA)
Route of Nord Stream 2 (copyright by Shutterstock/MurzilA)

Russia Sees Light At The End Of The Nord Stream 2 Tunnel

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said yesterday that Nord Stream 2 is almost complete with a mere 100-km left to build, according to TASS.

"We hope that construction works on Nord Stream 2 will be completed by the end of this year," Novak told reporters of progress on the pipeline, which will allow Russia to ship more gas to Western Europe, while bypassing Ukraine.

German Federal Minister of the Economy, Peter Altmaier, presenting the German National Hydrogen Strategie (copyright by BMWi/Susanne Eriksson)
German Federal Minister of the Economy, Peter Altmaier, presenting the German National Hydrogen Strategie (copyright by BMWi/Susanne Eriksson)

Germany Aims To Be No 1 in Next Generation Hydrogen Technologies

"We want to be Number 1 in the world with Hydrogen Technologies," says the German Federal Minister of the Economy, Peter Altmaier.

Flag of Myanmar (copyright by Shutterstock/esfera)
Flag of Myanmar (copyright by Shutterstock/esfera)

Offshore Natural Gas Pipeline In Myanmar Caught In The Country's Geopolitical Thicket

Chevron's recently assembled activist Board of Directors  is moving the oil giant to suspend payments from a gas joint venture involving an offshore gas pipeline in the Yadana fields in southwest Myanmar that would have reached Myanmar's military junta.  French energy major Total has joined Chevron in shutting down the money flows to the junta.

Judge's gavel on the table (copyright by Shutterstock/FabrikaSimf)
Judge's gavel on the table (copyright by Shutterstock/FabrikaSimf)

Oil Giants Reel From Landmark Court Case And Activist Shareholders

In a judgement reverberating through the world of petroleum companies and their suppliers, a court in the Netherlands has ruled that Shell must cut its CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels, legally obliging for the first time a company to align its policies with the Paris climate accords.

Department of Homeland Security Seal located outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, DC (copyright by Shutterstock/Mark Van Scyoc)
Department of Homeland Security Seal located outside the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, DC (copyright by Shutterstock/Mark Van Scyoc)

New Directive From The DHS To Protect U.S. Pipeline Infrastructure

For the first time the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving to regulate cybersecurity in the pipeline industry.  The agency is responding to a computer attack on Colonial Pipeline's East Coast network that crippled nearly half of the company's fuel supply this month – an incident that highlighted the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to online attacks.

The flag of Poland in the sky (copyright by Adobe Stock/FOTOWAWA)
The flag of Poland in the sky (copyright by Adobe Stock/FOTOWAWA)

Poland Sees Nord Stream 2 As Geopolitical Threat

In the wake of the Biden administration's decision to waive sanctions on Nord Stream 2's parent company, Nord Stream AG, Poland has come out strongly against the U.S. move, saying the completion of Nord Stream 2 would threaten energy security in central and eastern Europe.

The Pioneering Spirit laying the pipeline in Swedish waters (copyright by Nord Stream 2/Axel Schmidt)
The Pioneering Spirit laying the pipeline in Swedish waters (copyright by Nord Stream 2/Axel Schmidt)

The Biden Administration's Muddle Of Nord Stream 2 Policy

The Biden administration, in a move nobody anticipated, will lift sanctions on Nord Stream AG, the company based in Switzerland and currently building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.  Sanctions will also be waived against Matthias Warnig, CEO of Nord Stream and ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

 Spilled oil around the oil pipeline (copyright by Shutterstock / Leonid Ikan)
Spilled oil around the oil pipeline (copyright by Shutterstock / Leonid Ikan)

New Russian Pipeline Spill Imperils The Komi Region

Rosprirodnadzor, the Russian regulator part of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, has reported a pipeline spill of some 100 tons in Russia's northwestern region of Komi. The leak flowed into Kolva, a local river, creating an oil slick requiring immediate attention.

Hacker getting money (Shutterstock/Elnur)
Hacker getting money (Shutterstock/Elnur)

New Details Are Emerging After The Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack

News outlets are reporting that Colonial Pipeline paid nearly $5 million to Russian hackers responsible for the attack on Colonial's pipeline network.

The hackers, known worldwide as The DarkSide and apparently originating from Eastern Europe, has told hacking associates that it is shutting down, according to security research firms. Its website has been down since last Thursday.

Pipeline valve being opened (copyright by Shutterstock/Oil and Gas Photographer)
Pipeline valve being opened (copyright by Shutterstock/Oil and Gas Photographer)

Largest Pipeline in The United States Re-Opened By Colonial Pipeline

With some 60 percent of gas stations in metro Atlanta out of gasoline and 43 percent in Georgia and South Carolina overall without fuel, Colonial Pipeline began to restart the nation's largest operating pipeline of 8851-km as the Southeast United States began to get out from under.

3D image of a AUV over a pipeline (copyright by ROSEN)
3D image of a AUV over a pipeline (copyright by ROSEN)

ROSEN Leads The Pipeline Industry Underwater With The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)

The Rosen Group, the world's premier provider of in-line inspections of pipelines, is one of nine companies participating in the CIAM ("Cooperative Development of a Comprehensive Integrated Autonomous Underwater Monitoring Solution") project during an online event on 30 April.

Pipeline in the sunset (copyright by Shutterstock/Dabarti CGI)
Pipeline in the sunset (copyright by Shutterstock/Dabarti CGI)

Board Approval Granted To Sell A Stake In NTS Pipeline Unit By Brazil's Petrobras

State-owned Brazilian Petrobras, has gained government approval to sell its remaining 10% stake in the country’s natural gas pipeline operator, Nova Transportadora do Sudeste (NTS), for $337m (BRL1.8bn).

A man in a business suit offers money (copyright by Shutterstock/Oleksandrum)
A man in a business suit offers money (copyright by Shutterstock/Oleksandrum)

East African Oil Pipeline Compensation Costs Go Up To 65Bn Ugandan Shilling

Robert Kasande of the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has announced that compensation to those affected by the Ugandan section of the planned East African Crude Oil pipeline could reach the equivalent to $18 million.

Honeywell HQ in Prague (copyright by Shutterstock/josefkubes)
Honeywell HQ in Prague (copyright by Shutterstock/josefkubes)

Methane Gas Emissions From Leaky Pipelines Are Taken On By Honeywell

Honeywell, a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions for buildings and industry, is introducing an automated methane monitoring solution to help European companies better address their climate goals.

STREICHER HDD rig (copyright by STREICHER)
STREICHER HDD rig (copyright by STREICHER)

New Fully Electric HDD Rig Developed By STREICHER For Pipeline Construction

In a long-standing partnership with Bayernwerk Netz GmbH, MAX STREICHER GmbH & Co. KG aA is building a ring line in the town of Plattling (around 130 km east of Munich) to strengthen the regional power network.

 Steel pipes (copyright by Shutterstock/khan3145)
Steel pipes (copyright by Shutterstock/khan3145)

More Hydrogen Pipelines Needed In Europe

If Germany and the rest of Europe are to become climate-neutral by 2050 while maintaining their industrial might, they will have to import vast amounts of hydrogen.  To this end the Port of Rotterdam is already exploring how hydrogen can be imported from a large number of countries around the world.  It is also setting up Porthos, a carbon transport and storage system.  Porthos i

Flags of Zambia and Angola (copyright by Shutterstock/esfera)
Flags of Zambia and Angola (copyright by Shutterstock/esfera)

Marathon Talks Concerning Products Pipeline End Between Oil-Rich Angola and Zambia

More than ten years of complex negotiations between Angola and neighboring Zambia have resulted in a $5 billion deal to build a products pipeline between Lobito and Lusaka.

At the signing ceremony in Luanda, the Zambian government was represented by Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa, with Angola represented by Petroleum Minister Diamantino Pedro Azevedo.

CO2 Pipeline Testing at DNV Test Centre (copyright by DNV)
CO2 Pipeline Testing at DNV Test Centre (copyright by DNV)

CCS Recommended Practice Updated By DNV As The Energy Transition Picks Up The Pace

Norway-based energy industry consultants DNV, forecast a marked expansion in the amount of CO2 emissions that will need to be transported from where it is captured to where it will be stored.