Politics & Regulation

Pipes for natural gas pipelines (copyright bv Shutterstock/Pictureguy)
Pipes for natural gas pipelines (copyright bv Shutterstock/Pictureguy)

Alberta announces new diversified petrochemical pipeline strategy

Alberta’s October announcement of a new natural gas policy is focused on three initiatives: a plastics recycling program, the development of a hydrogen economy and exports of natural gas to Asia and Europe. The last would require new export pipelines and up to three Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export plants.

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

Atlantic Sunrise Shale Gas Pipeline Gets Hit With Big Fines

Transco, the company behind the $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise shale gas pipeline from Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania as far south as Alabama, is paying more than $700,000 in penalties for violations in nine counties. 

Guangdong province map (copyright by Shutterstock/mrwood)
Guangdong province map (copyright by Shutterstock/mrwood)

PipeChina Seals New Pact with Southern Guangdong

PipeChina, China's newly formed oil and gas pipeline behemoth whose birth was reported in these pages on 24 July of this year, has taken a concrete step in implementing its strategic vision: Southern Guangdong became the first province to transfer its natural gas pipeline network to the company, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Nord Stream 2 sanctioned by US House of Representatives (Copyright: Axel Schmidt / Nord Stream 2)
Nord Stream 2 sanctioned by US House of Representatives (Copyright: Axel Schmidt / Nord Stream 2)

Political Winds Roiling Nord Stream 2

By its very trajectory Nord Stream 2, as with its relative Nord Stream 1, was bound to be controversial.  Threaten U.S. sanctions on companies building the pipeline and you have enough to constitute a veritable crisis.

PHMSA logo (copyright by PHMSA)
PHMSA logo (copyright by PHMSA)

Over $97 Million in Grants For Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Programs

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has announced that it is awarding over $97 million in grants through its pipeline and hazardous materials safety programs.

Terrorist attack in Syria (copyright by Adobe Stock/Jonathan Stutz)
Terrorist attack in Syria (copyright by Adobe Stock/Jonathan Stutz)

Syria Believes ISIS Behind Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion

A 1200-km natural gas pipeline carrying the commodity from Egypt into Jordan, Lebanon and ultimately Syria exploded near Damascus early Monday morning causing a near nationwide blackout. The Syrian Oil Minister suspects that this could be a terrorist act.

Sunset on pipeline (Adobe Stock/tomas)
Sunset on pipeline (Adobe Stock/tomas)

When Will Gas Flow Through Bayer's Hazardous Materials' Pipeline?

Opponents of the Bayer company's 67-km pipeline between its Dormagen and Krefeld chemical plants, carrying the highly poisonous and invisible carbon monoxide (CO) gas, have at the Higher Administrative Court in Münster criticized the pipeline approval process conducted in 2009 as including an insufficient number of participants.

Washington DC Capitol (copyright by Adobe Stock/Stocked House Studio)
Washington DC Capitol (copyright by Adobe Stock/Stocked House Studio)

Washington, D.C. A New Hotbed of Nord Stream 2 Activity

The fate of the troubled $11 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project could very well be decided over the next several weeks in Washington, D.C., with lobbyists on both sides of the case ramping up their activities.

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 Levies A $57 Million Fine Against Russia's Gazprom

Poland, whose views on European energy security are at odds with Germany and most fellow members of the European Union, has fined Gazprom $57 million for lack of cooperation in its proceedings with regard to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

Pipeline crosses miles of beautiful, rugged terrain (copyright by Adobe Stock/JT Fisherman)
Pipeline crosses miles of beautiful, rugged terrain (copyright by Adobe Stock/JT Fisherman)

Expanded Keystone XL Oil Volumes A Boon to TransCanada

President Trump, frustrated with a Supreme Court ruling this month that blocked a key environmental permit, preventing substantial U.S. construction on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, has approved the existing pipeline in place to ship 29% more Canadian crude into the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast.

hydrogen energy storage, wind turbines and photovoltaics (copyright by Adobe Stock/malp)
hydrogen energy storage, wind turbines and photovoltaics (copyright by Adobe Stock/malp)

Hydrogen Being Touted as Fossil Fuel Replacement

Long common knowledge but shunned because of high production, transportation and storage costs, hydrogen (now usually adjoined with the adjective "green") is being viewed with increasing favor on both sides of the Atlantic.

Landscape in South Caucasus (copyright by Adobe Stock/dmitriygut)
Landscape in South Caucasus (copyright by Adobe Stock/dmitriygut)

Unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh Matter Threatens to Disrupt Caucasus Pipelines

The long simmering Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict, centering around the region of Nagorno-Karabakh and subject to frequent eruptions over the course of its post Soviet history, has blown once again.  At least four Azeri soldiers were killed and scores wounded, in addition to a number of wounded Armenian soldiers.

Supreme Court Washington DC USA (copyright by Adobe Stock/steheap)
Supreme Court Washington DC USA (copyright by Adobe Stock/steheap)

The End of Keystone XL? Pipeline Projects in the US Take Another Hit

In the wake of judicial decisions effectively shutting down the Atlantic and Dakota Access interstate pipeline projects, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that construction on the infamous Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline cannot begin, thus rejecting a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to jump-start the long-delayed project.