Category: Pipelines

Canada is taking strong steps toward combating climate change, and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline crude oil pipeline remains in the US national interest, TransCanada Corp. said in a June 29 letter to US Sec. of State John F. Kerry and two senior State Department officials. “Given the passage of time, the facts supporting the proposed project have continued to build,” Kristine Delkus, TransCanada’s executive vice-president and general counsel, said in the letter to Kerry; Amos Hochstein, special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs at DOS’s Bureau of Energy Resources; and Judith G. Garber, acting assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. “For this reason, as a prudent applicant, TransCanada believes it is necessary to provide [DOS] with updated information on recent developments,” Delkus said. These developments include: • The Canadian government’s May 15 announcement that it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 30% […]

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House leaders want answers from Plains All American and federal safety regulators in the wake of the May oil spill off the coast of California. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) — Congressional leaders said they want explanations from the company behind the May oil spill in California, as well as from federal safety regulators. A pipeline system operated by Plains All American, which has headquarters in Houston, leaked as much as 2,500 barrels of oil in Santa Barbara County in mid-May, the worst spill in California in 25 years. About 500 barrels may have reached the waters off the coast of Refugio State Beach and oil migrated more than 100 miles along the coastline. The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration released their preliminary findings of the integrity of the pipeline system. PHMSA said it found "extensive" corrosion, with walls degraded by as much […]

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AP Photo LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters investigating a reported petroleum stench at a California beach last month didn’t take long to find a spill – oil was spreading across the sand and into the surf. Tracing the source, they found crude gushing from a bluff like a fire hose "without a nozzle," records show. But critical time would elapse before the operator of a nearby pipeline confirmed that it had ruptured and spewed the oil. An employee at the scene for Plains All American Pipeline initially suggested to firefighters that the spill "was too big to be from their pipeline," according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press. The description of what firefighters found May 19 at Refugio State Beach was detailed in records Santa Barbara County firefighters filed with state officials. It indicates that firefighters who arrived just before noon quickly recognized that "some sort of […]

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John D. Rockefeller’s empire wasn’t founded on owning oil fields but instead the means to process and transport oil. Alongside cementing his ruthless reputation, the efficiencies generated by Standard Oil led to a collapse in kerosene prices in the late 19th century. One rationale for Energy Transfer’s interest in Williams: its pipelines in the northeastern U.S. Gas flows have shifted dramatically as shale’s development has opened up new supply sources, not least the giant Marcellus Shale in the Northeast. Last year, this accounted for a fifth of U.S. gas production, according to Sanford C. Bernstein, largely meeting regional demand. But this is set to increase to one-third of U.S. supply by 2018, Bernstein estimates, helped by new and modified pipeline capacity allowing more gas to flow from the Northeast. Right now, bottlenecks there mean Marcellus gas often sells locally at big discounts to the already-low Henry Hub national benchmark. […]

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A local official in Santa Barbara, Calif., rejected Tuesday an emergency request by Exxon XOM -0.32 % Mobil to use large trucks to haul its crude oil along a scenic highway until a pipeline that recently ruptured and caused a large spill is fixed. “There is not adequate evidence that a defined emergency exists,” said Dianne Black, the county’s assistant director of planning and development. She was enlisted to make the decision after the county’s planning director, Glenn Russell, recused himself since he recently owned stock in Exxon. Exxon was the main customer of a pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA -0.46 % that burst three weeks ago due to corrosion, spilling 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean and on beaches and killing wildlife. Exxon was using the pipeline to haul some 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil, and is being forced to scale […]

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LOS ANGELES–A pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 101,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara last month occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness, federal regulators said Wednesday. The preliminary findings released by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration point to a possible cause of the May 19 spill that blackened popular beaches with crude oil and created a 9-mile slick in the Pacific Ocean. The agency said investigators found that corrosion at the break site had degraded the pipe wall thickness to 1/16 of an inch. Additionally, the report noted that the area that failed was close to three repairs that had been made to the pipeline because of corrosion after 2012 inspections. The findings indicate that over 80% of the metal pipe wall had worn away over time because of corrosion, said Richard […]

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Former U.S. pipeline regulator said domestic landscape may longer be suitable for a pipeline like Keystone XL. Photo courtesy of TransCanada HOUSTON, June 3 (UPI) — U.S. crude oil production may be at a point where the planned Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada isn’t needed, a former U.S. pipeline regulator said. President Barack Obama in February made good on his pledge to veto legislation the White House said circumvents the normal vetting procedures for the pipeline planned to cross the U.S.-Canadian border. Cynthia Quaterman, the former administrator for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, told delegates at a Houston summit sponsored by energy reporting agency Argus the Keystone XL pipeline might not fit in the U.S. oil landscape. "With the amount of crude that’s being produced in this country now, I think it’s quite possible that the president might not approve the project," she said. "I […]

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Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM 0.01 % plans to ask Santa Barbara County, Calif., this week for permission to temporarily transport its crude oil in trucks after a pipeline it was using burst two weeks ago , spilling more than 100,000 gallons of oil off the coast. “The County will consider the information provided by ExxonMobil later this week and make an informed decision, based upon our zoning codes, policies and environmental review if warranted,” said Kevin Drude, who heads the county’s energy division, in an emailed statement. Mr. Drude said the pipeline, owned by Plains All American Pipeline PAA 1.42 % LP, pumped about 30,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Exxon’s Las Flores Canyon facility to a pumping station in Gaviota, where the crude then continued on to refineries inland. The pipeline also was used to move some 4,000 barrels a day of oil produced by private […]

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