6
World Pipelines
/
FEBRUARY 2016
IN BRIEF
Nigeria
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) has shut two refineries in the
southern city of Port Harcourt and Kaduna
in the north, after crude oil pipelines were
sabotaged.
Russia
Gazprom and Shell have been discussing
issues related to their strategic
co-operation and upcoming oil and gas
projects.
Poland
Polish President Andrzej Duda opposes
the Nord Stream II pipeline project,
claiming it is dictated by politics rather
than economics.
Equatorial Guinea
The Government of Equatorial Guinea –
represented by the Ministry of Mines,
Industry and Energy – has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with the Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd
(ONGC Videsh) for sweeping energy
co-operation.
USA
With the decreasing price of crude oil,
Tenaris has had to layoff approximately
100 of its workers at its welding pipe mill
in Blytheville, Arkansas.
Singapore
Harding has been awarded contracts for
nine FF1200 freefall lifeboat systems,
complete with davits on Heerema
Offshore Services BV’s Semi Submersible
Crane Vessel
Sleipnir
.
Canada
Pengrowth Energy Corporation has been
fined CAN$250 000 after a 48 day oil spill
of 537 000 l in Alberta, Canada.
USA
The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) announced that it will
be investigating four interstate natural gas
pipelines, to determine if the companies
may be substantially over-recovering their
costs, resulting in unjust and unreasonable
rates.
W
o
rld News
FOR MORE NEWS VISIT
/
Mountain Valley Pipeline to transport natural gas throughout northeast
US
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC and
Consolidated Edison, Inc. have announced
their intent to deliver natural gas to
industrial and consumer end-use markets
located in the growing demand areas of
the northeast US, through a 20 year
transportation agreement with
Consolidated Edison Company of New
York, Inc. (Con Edison) for 250 000 dkth/d
of firm capacity on the Mountain Valley
Pipeline (MVP).
Con Edison also agreed to a 20 year
firm transportation agreement for
250 000 dkth/d on the Equitrans system,
located in northern West Virginia and
southwestern Pennsylvania, providing
more direct access to supply resources
upstream of MVP. Equitrans is owned and
operated by EQT Midstream Partners.
“Con Edison is responsible for
obtaining low-cost, reliable supply to meet
its gas customers’ needs. The MVP and
Equitrans capacity agreements allow
customers to achieve significant savings,”
said Ivan Kimball, Vice President of Energy
Management, Con Edison.
With the rapid development and vast
supply of natural gas in the Appalachian
region, the strategic design of the MVP will
extend from the Equitrans transmission
system in Wetzel County, West Virginia, to
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company’s
(Transco) Zone 5 compressor station 165 in
Pittsylvania County, Virginia.
The MVP is expected to provide
2 million dkth/d of firm transmission
capacity and has secured commitments at
20 year terms for this amount, which will
support communities along the route, as
well as the growing demand markets of
the Mid-Atlantic and southeast regions of
the US.
Tough times for Energy East pipeline
The Mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre,
has slammed TransCanada’s Energy East
pipeline project. Montreal – and 81
neighbouring communities – is united
against the pipeline project, citing
environmental and economic concerns.
TransCanada’s proposed 4600 km,
CAN$15.7 billion pipeline is set to
transport 1.1 million bpd of oil from the
Alberta oilsands and Saskatchewan, to the
east coast of Canada.
Coderre explained that the potential
environmental damages outweigh the
economic benefits of the pipeline project,
stating: “TransCanada’s project includes
important risks for our environment and
too few benefits for our economy.”
Tim Duboyce, a TransCanada
spokesman, stated that the company has
already filed 700 amendments to the
pipeline project, in order to deal with the
concerns raised. Calgary-based
TransCanada is anticipating hearings in 2016
and the National Energy Board’s (NEB) final
report to be published in 2017. However, no
official deadline or date has been decided
upon.
Yet, despite countering concerns from
Coderre, Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau has voiced his support of Alberta
Premier Rachel Notley, and her plans to
connect the province to new markets by
building pipelines.
Trudeau stated that provinces need to
work together to ensure energy
development and environment protection.
“I am solidly in one camp on this one,” he
said. “I am very much in the camp of both
premiers, [Ontario’s Kathleen] Wynne and
Notley, who demonstrated that Canada
can and should work together on
economic issues for all of us.”
Additionally, Ontario’s Premier
Kathleen Wynne praised Notley for the
NDP government’s climate change plan
and gave at least tentative backing to the
CAN$15.7 billion Energy East pipeline.
The Liberal Premier said Alberta’s
effort “makes the national conversation
about climate targets and pipelines
easier.”
“We appreciate that there is a need for
a way to get Canadian oil, that is allowed
under Alberta’s new emission cap, to
overseas markets. And the people of
Ontario care a great deal about the
national economy and the potential jobs
that this proposed pipeline project could
create in our province and across the
country,” said Wynne.
