Pipeline & Gas Journal articles from May 2004

Pipeline & Gas Journal archives from May 2004

National Gas Rodeo to introduce 2-person team competition.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... The Midwestern Energy Association's National Gas Rodeo will introduce a special 2-person team competition in addition to the regular 4-person team competition at the upcoming 10th Annual National Gas Rodeo. Competition for the 2-person teams...

Columbia Transmission opens data room.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. will open a data room on May 17 to provide information to natural gas producers, marketers and others potentially interested in buying three natural gas pipeline systems in Ohio. The facilities consist of 218...

KMP receives decision on phase one in SFPP rate case.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... The FERC has approved Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (KMP) draft order for Phase I of the Commission's adjudication of complaints against the rotes charged by SFPP, L.P. for the interstate transportation of refined petroleum products on...

Calpine cancels LNG terminal plans.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Calpine Corporation has withdrawn its plans to proceed with a LNG terminal at Samoa Point in Eureka, CA. Based on feedback from the community and public officials, Calpine said the decision was in the best interest for evewone involved.

Pearpoint's flexidata[TM] product line acquired by PipeLogix Inc.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Pearpoint, Inc. recently announced that its flexidata[TM] pipe survey software product department will branch off from Pearpoint, Inc. and Radiodetection to become PipeLogix Inc., a privately held, employee-owned corporation located in Palm...

El Paso selling Australian assets.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... El Paso Corporation will sell its one-third interest in a portion of its Australian pipeline holdings to Hastings Funds Management. Included are 1,180 miles of pipeline in South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia. The transaction is...

GTI studies three-layer PE pipe coatings.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... In a major industry initiative, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is evaluating the ability of three-layer polyethylene (PE) pipe coatings--the predominate type used in the international market--to resist corrosion and to function compatibly with...

DCA gives endorsement for Wisconsin Senate candidate.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... The Distribution Contractors Association (DCA) has given its unanimous endorsement and support for its member Tim Michels, of Michels Corp., Brownsville, WI, in his bid for the 2004 Wisconsin Senate race. Michels is co-owner and vice president...

Shell to sell Gulf of Mexico assets.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Shell US Gas & Power LLC has announced the proposed sale of its Gulf of Mexico natural gas pipeline business unit, Shell Gas Transmission, LLC. SGT owns or has an interest in 17 Gulf of Mexico natural gas pipelines in operation or under...

Targa Resources acquiring assets from ConocoPhillips.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Targa Resources, Inc., an independent company formed in 2003, has signed an agreement to acquire midstream assets owned by ConocoPhillips. The transaction involves 1,900 miles of pipeline and five processing plants in Texas and Louisiana. The...

Falcon gains 100% ownership of Greyhawk.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Falcon Gas Storage Company, Inc., through a wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired Emera's 5.0% interest in Greyhawk Gas Storage Company, LLC. Greyhawk was formed by the two companies as a joint venture in 2001 to acquire, develop, own and...

Ritchie Bros. holds two record-setting auctions.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers recently held two, multi-day unreserved auctions which generated combined gross sales exceeding $60 million, livid in Chicago and Olympia, WA, both auctions had record-setting attendance for their regions. Combined...

Producers, users want more information from pipelines.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Pipeline customers want a closer look at the books kept by the interstates. That is the explanation for the request by a number of natural gas groups that want FERC to revisit Order 646 just published in February. That order instituted a new...

Alaska pipeline shooter ordered to pay $17 million.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... Daniel Lewis, convicted of shooting the Trans Alaska oil pipeline and causing a 285,000-gallon crude oil spill, has been ordered to pay $17 million in restitution. Lewis, who is serving a 16-year prison term, was ordered to pay for the October...

TEPPCO to acquire assets in Mont Belvieu.(Newsreel)
May 1, 2004... TEPPCO Partners, L.P., operator of Mont Belvieu Storage Partners, LP., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire storage assets in Mont Belvieu, TX, from ConocoPhillips. Mont Belvieu is a major LPG and NGL storage and fractionation hub. The...

Editor's notebook.
May 1, 2004... What a difference a few years makes. This column represents two anniversaries: my 100th issue of P&GJ since I joined Oildom Publishing and this month also marks my 20th anniversary in Houston. When I moved down from the Northeast--a...

Impact of natural gas prices on manufacturing starting to sink in.(Government Guidelines)
May 1, 2004... The start of the 2004 presidential campaign may do for natural gas supply issues what four years of industry pleading to Congress never could. The dire straits faced by U.S. manufacturing, the contribution of high natural gas prices to those...

OPS on LNG safety.(Government Guidelines)
May 1, 2004... While environmental concerns have stymied the start of some new LNG plants in the U.S., regulatory uncertainty has been a barrier for others. That latter problem just diminished substantially now that the Office of Pipeline Safety published a...

Ritchie Bros. holds successful Middle East auction.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers held a successful auction in the Middle East that resulted in more than $20 million in gross auction sales. The unreserved auction attracted more than 600 bidders from 49 countries and resulted in more than 600...

Pipeline construction and rehab projects for Willbros RPI.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... Houston-based Willbros RPI Inc'. has won a contract to construct the Energy Transfer Pipeline. The route of the planned Texas-based line will extend from Jewett to near Roans Prairie. The right-of-way extends through rolling hills, creek...

GE contract for Qatar LNG project.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... The supply of Qatar LNG to the UK market may be a step closer to reality with the recent award of a contract to GE Energy, Florence, for the supply of liquefaction train equipment. According to Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, partners in...

NUI-Duke Energy hold open season.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... NUI Corporation and Duke Energy's interstate natural gas transmission unit held a month-long opera season for shippers interested in reserving firm gas storage capacity at the company's facility in Saltville, VA. On offer is 1 Bcf of capacity....

Cheniere holds open season for two pipelines.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... Cheniere Energy, Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiaries, Cheniere Sabine Pass Pipeline Company and Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline Company, recently initiated open seasons for two planned natural gas pipelines: a 16-mile, 42-inch diameter line from...

Energy Transfer/TXU to build $50 million pipeline.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... Energy Transfer Partners and TXU have announced plans to build a $50 million pipeline to transport the 30 Tcf of reserves in Texas' Barnett Shale natural gas field. Located in Tarrant, Wise and Denton counties in north central Texas, it is the...

Transwestern to expand Juan lateral.(Projects)
May 1, 2004... Transwestern Pipeline Company has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand its San Juan lateral. The $138.4 million San Juan Expansion will provide approximately 375 MMcf/d of additional firm...

Socotherm plans coating factory in NWT.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... The Italian company Socotherm has announced a major expansion into North America with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Deh Cho Pipe Company, a northern aboriginal company based in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada, to...

Iraq seeking new pipeline with Iran.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Despite tense relations between the U.S. and Iran, the occupying Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has backed plans for Iraq to connect its oil supply to Iran with a new pipeline. CPA officials in Baghdad confirmed that a Memorandum of...

Russians now eyeing new pipeline route in Far East.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Japanese officials now think Russia is likely to choose a new export pipeline route via Nakhodka (convenient for Japan) instead of via Datsin in China. A Transneft representative also said that the company plans to build the pipeline to...

Spanish company invited to join consortium.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Spanish gas transport company Enagas was invited by other partners to join the consortium that is building the Medgaz pipeline. Enagas does not plan to enter the consortium but is cooperating at the technical level. The 200km, US$600 million,...

Algeria constructing new oil pipeline.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika inaugurated on Feb. 24 the launch of construction of the Haoud El Hamra-Arzew oil pipeline (OZ2). In a first stage, the pipeline will be able to transport 21 million tons a year of crude oil, rising to 34...

Natural gas flows in Israel.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Natural gas has begun flowing for the first time in Israel. The natural gas flows through an undersea pipeline built by Yam Thetis from its Mary fields offshore from Ashkelon to Israel Electric Corporation's (IEC) Eshkol power plant in Ashdod....

West-East pipeline to be commissioned early.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... China's US$5.2 billion, 4,000-km West-East gas pipeline will be commissioned in October, a year ahead of schedule. Deliveries actually began in January. Some 20 sales contracts had been secured but despite the progress, would-be partners Royal...

Gazprom plans investment in pipeline repair.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Gazprom will invest $776 million in repair of pipelines this year. The total length of pipelines owned by Gazprom exceeds 150,000 km and carrying capacity exceeds 600 bcm per year. In 2002 Gazprom approved a plan to rebuild its gas...

Kazakh oil company now backing Russian pipeline plan.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... Officials of Tengizchevroil, operators of Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz oil field, said they now favor a pipeline through Russia to transport its growing output of crude oil rather than U.S.-backed plan to use a pipeline from the Caucasus to...

Financing set for South African gas project.(International Highlights)
May 1, 2004... A leading international law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, said it recently completed work as adviser in the financing of a US$1.2 billion natural gas pipeline project from Mozambique to South Africa, including the upstream production...

Enbridge finds plenty of profit staying with its pipeline niche.(Growing Force In North America)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... Patrick D. Daniel runs a company that is as vertically integrated as a pipeline company can be. Enbridge Inc. boasts of many valuable assets spread over three continents and a chief executive who continues to carefully guide his company in its...

Pipeline safety laws, regulations in flux.
May 1, 2004... Laws and regulations governing the assurance of pipeline safety have undergone considerable discussion and change in the last two years. Some of the major legislative and regulatory changes are discussed here. Legislation During 2002,...

HubLine interconnect poses multifaceted challenges for HDD contractor.(HDD Construction)
May 1, 2004... The successful installation of seven horizontal directionally drilled (HDD) crossings has demonstrated the growing variety of demands contractors face in the installation of high-pressure natural gas pipelines. The crossings were completed...

HDD pipeline installation carried out in Iran.(HDD Products Line)
May 1, 2004... DrillTec Gut GmbH recently completed a horizontal directionally drilled pipeline installation in Iran. The contract awarded to NSCC, an Abu Dhabi-based subsidiary of DrillTec and civil contractor, required installation of a 1.657-foot, 32-inch...

Successful installation of large diameter pipelines in sugar sand.(Preventing Pipe Flotation)
May 1, 2004... Large diameter cross-country pipelines know no bounds when it comes to in. When going from point 'A' to point 'B,' these pipelines have to cross whatever is in the way and the pipeliner must figure out how to keep them underground once the...

Energy costs reduced on gas preheat systems.(Variable Frequency Drives Save)
May 1, 2004... Variable Speed Drives (VSD) can help utilities reduce electrical, gas and maintenance costs associated with natural gas preheating systems at metering and regulating stations. At a meter and regulator station, the pressure of the natural...

Deadly LNG incident holds key lessons for developers, regulators.(Understanding Skikda)
May 1, 2004... When the Skikda gas-liquefaction plant in Algeria exploded in January, the blast shook buildings and shattered windows more than a mile away. But for the LNG industry, the reverberations and repercussions of Skikda are being felt halfway around...

Improving employee communications: Buckeye uses e-mail archiving solution to protect data, reduce storage.
May 1, 2004... Buckeye Partners, L.P., one of the nation's largest independent transporters of refined petroleum products, found itself straggling to control a geyser of e-mails. The company's Microsoft Exchange e-mail environment plays an integral role...

Pumpex, Inc.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... For the trenchless construction and rehabilitation market, Pumpex pumps offer continuous operation to manage fluctuating flows that range from normal to high heads. It describes its P and SP lines of submersible portable sludge and dewatering...

VISTA Training, Inc.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... VISTA's new video teaches methods to safely reveal buried services. The video was done in cooperation with utility owners, contractors and trade associations and is based oft a study, sponsored by the U.S. DOE, Office of Pipeline Safety, in...

Metrotech Corporation.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... Metrotech Corp. has introduced the 810 Dx Pipe and Cable Locator, a single frequency high productivity instrument designed for locating all types of buried utilities. The Model 810 Dx continues three decades of success by introducing the...

McLaughlin Mfg. Co.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... McLaughlin Mfg.'s model McL-48/54 is capable of cased boring sizes ranging from 16 to 60 inches diameter. The new quick-connect split-design feature enables machine components to individually be moved in and out of the trench, reducing required...

Ophir Corporation.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... Ophir Corp. says it has successfully demonstrated a liquids pipeline leak detection system called duoThane[R] over an oil slick area in the Santa Barbara Channel off the California coast. Ophir says the test simulated an oil spill on water and...

Vacuum Source, Inc.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... VaXcavator[R] Hydro Excavation Systems are said to offer a practical, non-destructive solution for exposing existing utilities, as now required in many areas prior to excavating or boring operations. Only a small excavation or "pothole" is...

Flowserve Pump Division.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... The Flowserve Corporation has published a 20-page Mining and Mineral Processing brochure that showcases the Pump Division's full range of mining and mineral processing pumps for such services as benefication, hydrometallurgy and refining. The...

TT Technologies.(What's New In Piercing Tools, Pipe Bursting And Ramming)
May 1, 2004... The new Grundoburst 2500G from TT Technologies is for large-diameter pipe bursting, steel and ductile iron pipes ranging from 24-48 inches in diameter. Specially designed cutter heads are available for the large diameter pipes. At 625,000 lbs...

Pipeline construction scorecard: projects planned and under construction.
May 1, 2004... Pipeline Construction Scorecard Projects Planned And Under Construction Company Name Project Name Length And/Or Location (Miles) NORTH AMERICAN...

Company listings.(Pipeline & Gas Journal's 2004 Buyer's Guide)
May 1, 2004... The most comprehensive source for: Equipment, Contractors, Services, System Manufacturers & Suppliers 3M 6801 River Place Blvd. Austin, TX 78726 Ph.: (512) 984-7801 Fax: (512) 984-6296 www.3M.com/corrosion 3P...

Product classifications.(Pipeline & Gas Journal's 2004 Buyer's Guide)
May 1, 2004... Abrasive blast cleaning Commercial Coating Services, Inc. CRC-Evans Pipeline International, Inc. Abrasive water jetting CRC-Evans Pipeline International, Inc. Abrasive wheels, brushes FLEXOVIT USA INC. Metabo...

Municipal utilities' president lists their concerns.(Distribution Forum)
May 1, 2004... The American Public Gas Association or APGA, represents the nation's municipally owned gas utilities. What with natural gas prices at sustained high levels, APGA has much on its agenda these days. It recently increased the size of staff and is...

Exposing underground pipelines: no problem.(Tech Notes)
May 1, 2004... Trying to expose underground pipelines can be a scary and costly experience, to say the least. Risk of damages and accidents makes excavating around buffed pipelines a concern we'd all like to do without. Increased risk of personal injury,...

Pipeline Equipment, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Pipeline Equipment, Inc., now provides SISCO extrusions. They can be manufactured in a wide variety of carbon steels, stainless steels, alloy steels, nickel alloys, chrome-nickel alloys and many other ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Circle...

Central Plastics Company.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Central Plastics says its service head adapters are designed around the same principle as the company's riser and transition fittings. Once assembled, the design offers a joint that is stronger than the PE pipe itself. The company offers...

Reynolds Equipment Company.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Reynolds Equipment Co. recently introduced the RECOR 325 CDR Chartless Data Recorder. Originally designed as a direct replacement for mechanical chart recorders, it is among the most full featured data loggers on the market today, yet...

Metrix Networks, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Metrix Networks is offering FB300EFM, a custody transfer quality electronic gas flow measurement meter with integrated satellite communications and Internet-based data retrieval. The FB300EFM comes with Orbcomm satellite telemetry for gas...

Gas Products, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Gas Products, Inc. has increased the size range of its Tracer Snap[TM] line. The device, which prevents the service line tracer wire from being accidentally damaged by yard tools and protects it from the elements, has been expanded to handle...

Cyclonic Valve Company, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Cyclonic Valve Co. offers a color brochure describing the features of its high-performance control valves, safety-engineered ball and check valves operated manually or automatically. John Graves started the company in 1991 when he perceived...

GE Energy.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... GE Energy's oil and gas business has launched PipeView Integrity, a new software tool to help transmission pipeline operators and local distribution companies assess and manage the integrity of their pipelines. PipeView Integrity is the first...

CRC-Evans Pipeline International, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... CRC-Evans now offers a broad range of ditch padding equipment, including vibrating screen machines and crushing machines. The range includes the Self-Loading Superscreen, the newest generation of self-loading padder. It is self-propelled and...

Iveco Motors of North America, Inc.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Iveco Motors of North America, Inc., (part of Italy's Iveco), has unveiled the NEF series of diesel engines. The 3-,4- and 6-cylinder diesel engines can be configured to meet any application in the industrial, agricultural, marine and power...

Flowserve Corporation.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... Flowserve Corporation unveiled its new Prima3 Power End. Fashioned after the field-proven and widely accepted Durco ANSI 3A power end, the heavy-duty Prima3 is adaptable to any ANSI chemical process pump, regardless of original manufacturer....

MSA Instrument Division.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... MSA Instrument Division announces the Universal Pump Probe for the Solaris Multigas Detector. The optional powered sampling pump is contained within the sampling probe accessory, and can be used with as much as 50 feet of tubing for remote...

The Project Group.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... The Project Group, Inc., provider of project management services, has been chosen lot inclusion in Microsoft's "Oil and Gas Solutions Directory 2004." (www. microsoft.com/resources/energy) The Project Group, Inc. is a preferred provider of...

SOLOCO, LLC.(New Products)
May 1, 2004... SOLOCO, LLC recently rolled out BRAVO Mat System[TM], a versatile temporary surface for access and staging over soft soils or delicate surfaces. BRAVO is a lightweight, dura2ble, and cost-effective flooring product that installs efficiently....

GTI Testing Laboratories.(Association News)
May 1, 2004... GTI Testing Laboratories, an affiliate of Gas Technology, has been approved for accreditation by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation in the mechanical testing field. The scope of creditation, certificate numbered 2139-091,...

Pipe Line Contractors Association.(Association News)
May 1, 2004... Paul C. Gregory, president of Gregory & Cook Construction, Inc'. is the newly elected 58th president of the Pipe Line Contractors Association. Gregory has been an active member of the PLCA. serving on the board, labor committee and most...

Astec Underground.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Loudon, TN-based Astec Underground has named Alan W. Odgers vice president. sales and marketing. He assumes responsibility for the sales and marketing of all Astec Underground products, including the American Augers, Astec, EarthPro and Trencor...

Alfa Laval.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Alfa Laval has named Brent Smith president of the Parts and Service Division, Warminster, PA.

BHP Billiton.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Rebecca McDonald has joined BHP Billiton as president for gas and power. She will be based in London. Prior to accepting the position, McDonald was CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. She has worked as an executive at Enron and...

Trigon-Sheehan LLC.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Mark Olmsted has joined the Lakewood, CO office of Trigon-Sheehan LLC in the position of civil/structural department lead.

Willbros Group, Inc.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Michael F. Curran, CEO and president of the Willbros Group, Inc., has been elected to serve as chairman of the board. Curran succeeds Larry J. Bump, who will remain a director for the duration of his term which expires in 2005. Willbros...

Exploration and Production Services.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... Jeffrey B. Sherrick has been named senior vice president, Exploration and Production Services, for El Paso Production and Non-regulated Operations. Sherrick is responsible for reservoir engineering; business development; technology; land...

EMS Pipeline Services.(Personnel Changes)
May 1, 2004... EMS Pipeline Services, a unit of the Energy Maintenance Services Group, named its executive team. Sumner W. (Buzz) White is COO and Harvey L. Schnitzer is CFO. Others include: Jon D. (Jack) Simunek, vice president, Commercialization and...

Upcoming events 2003.(Meetings)(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... May 17-19, GasMart 04, Marriott Denver City Center. Denver, CO. Phone: (703) 318-8848; Fax: (703) 318-0597. May 17-21, GTI Meter and Regulator Station Design Course. Chicago City Center Hotel, Chicago. Phone: (847) 768-0842: E-Mail:...

Natural gas pipelines see new owners, managers.(From the burner tip: a close-up look at the natural gas business)
May 1, 2004... Time to check your scorecard to see who owns and manages the nation's major natural gas pipelines. This vital link in bringing gas from the field to the burnertip has undergone a major metamorphosis since the beginning of the century. As some...