Midstream

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A US appeals court overturned a district court’s preliminary injunction that prevented construction on part of Energy Transfer Partners' Bayou Bridge crude oil pipeline in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana. The Texas Supreme Court ruled late in April that the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulator, does not have exclusive jurisdiction over environmental contamination cases, which can be settled in court.

A year and a half after President Donald Trump reversed an Obama administration decision to block TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, a federal district judge in Montana has halted the project again, citing an insufficient review of the project's environmental impact. TransCanada’s $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline may face another 8 months of delay after a court ruling raised issues with a 4-year-old environmental review. Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline vowed on 10 August to block construction of the controversial project if Nebraska regulators approve the proposed route later this year.

Norwegian suppliers Framo, Maritime Partner, Norbit Aptomar, and NorLense have come together to create the Oil Spill Recovery Vessel Group to offer a complete oil-spill-response solution. Workers who were likely exposed to dispersants while cleaning up the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill experienced a range of health symptoms including cough and wheeze and skin and eye irritation, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is cracking down on smaller violations in the crude oil, petroleum, and hazardous liquid industries to combat a slow rise in the number of pipeline accidents. Natural source zone depletion (NSZD) is the new technical term for naturally occurring biodegradation processes that reduce petroleum, nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPL) from the subsurface. The appeals court ruled that, while regrettable, the fact that the spill occurred does not mean that ExxonMobil violated pipeline integrity regulations for risk assessment.

Ugandan farmer James Mubona, 73, looked pensive as he sat in a blue plastic chair under a mango tree next to three of his four wives, one breastfeeding a 5-month-old baby, contemplating the imminent loss of his 22-acre farm to an oil pipeline. The construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline sparked a broad, clamorous online debate on social media platforms. But was there a communications gap between the opponents and proponents of the pipeline on Twitter? A US appeals court overturned a district court’s preliminary injunction that prevented construction on part of Energy Transfer Partners' Bayou Bridge crude oil pipeline in the Atchafalaya Basin of Louisiana. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is cracking down on smaller violations in the crude oil, petroleum, and hazardous liquid industries to combat a slow rise in the number of pipeline accidents.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are lightweight, low-cost aircraft platforms operated from the ground that can be outfitted with imaging or nonimaging payloads. UASs offer health, safety, and environment professionals a promising opportunity to reduce risks by keeping people out of harm’s way. Iraq plans to use drones to monitor and protect its oil export and production pipelines from the first quarter of 2018, an oil ministry spokesman said on 18 December. Up to 30% of oil passing through Niger Delta pipelines is stolen. Protecting thousands of miles of pipeline is challenging.

A hack on Italian oil services firm Saipem that crippled more than 300 of the company’s computers used a variant of the notorious Shamoon virus, Saipem said, a development that links the case to a massive attack in 2012 on Saudi Aramco. At least four US pipeline companies have seen their electronic systems for communicating with customers shut down over the last few days, with three confirming it resulted from a cyberattack.

As natural gas pipeline systems have grown larger and more complex, the importance of optimization of design and operation of pipelines has increased. This paper examines the optimization issue for the Egyptian gas transmission pipeline network. Paradoxical effects can exist when expanding the capacity of natural-gas-transportation networks. This paper derives conditions where it can be expected, how the effect can be masked, and provide analysis to support identification in larger-scale networks. The present work describes the development of a 1D steady-state isothermal reservoir/surface gas-pipeline-network model.

This paper describes a series of linear analogs and a solution strategy to improve the accuracy of the Newton-Raphson method for simulating complex natural gas transmission networks. As natural gas pipeline systems have grown larger and more complex, the importance of optimization of design and operation of pipelines has increased. This paper examines the optimization issue for the Egyptian gas transmission pipeline network.

An offshore survey identified a decrease in focusing on cost cutting and an increase in preparing to expand operations. With the oil prices above $60/bbl the impetus for negotiation for lower prices by companies and service providers appears to be waning. Global trade for LNG is projected to rise by 50% by 2020. There is a clear acceleration in demand for small- and medium-scale LNG, necessitating splitting of LNG into smaller load parcels. Transfer methods applicable to deeper water, smaller LNG carriers, and harsh environments are critical.