Politics & Regulation

Canadian National Energy Board Launches Online Oil/Gas Pipeline Incident Map (© 2015 NEB)
Canadian National Energy Board Launches Online Oil/Gas Pipeline Incident Map (© 2015 NEB)

Canadian National Energy Board Launches Online Pipeline Incident Map

The National Energy Board (NEB), Canada's pipeline regulator, has announced the development of an online interactive Pipeline Incident Map providing Canadians with the opportunity to view all pipeline incidents occurring in the country since 2008.

28-foot-long ruptured section of pipeline at laboratory facilities at the NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA (© 2010 NTSB)
28-foot-long ruptured section of pipeline at laboratory facilities at the NTSB Training Center, Ashburn, VA (© 2010 NTSB)

Record Ruling in 2010 Gas Pipeline Explosion in San Bruno, California

Nearly five years after the fatal explosion leveling neighborhoods in San Bruno, California caused by a natural gas pipeline rupture, Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation has been ordered by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to pay a record $1.6 billion in fines and other penalties.

Pemex signs deal with BlackRock and First Reserve (© 2015 Pemex)
Pemex signs deal with BlackRock and First Reserve (© 2015 Pemex)

Mexico Seals a Multibillion Dollar Gas Pipeline Deal

Mexico's state-run oil company, PEMEX, will begin the second phase of a 462 mile gas pipeline from Los Ramones, Nuevo Leon to the State of Guanajuato where a number of maquiladoras and automobile factories will use the natural gas as a clean source of power.

Tamar gas field off the shore of Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea  (© 2014 EPA)
Tamar gas field off the shore of Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (© 2014 EPA)

Israel To Export Natural Gas to Egypt in Billion Dollar Deal

In what would have been considered unthinkable just a few years ago, Israel and Egypt have struck a deal whereby Israel will sell at least $1.2 billion of natural gas from Israel’s Mediterranean Tamar field to private industrial customers in Egypt.

Major Caspian oil and natural gas export routes (© 2013 EIA)
Major Caspian oil and natural gas export routes (© 2013 EIA)

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline To Be Revived

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has dusted off 20 year old plans to build a $10 billion, 1735 km transnational Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.

Potential project stakeholders, chief among them the Asian Development Bank, have been invited to a May meeting to be held in Kabul where the initial first steps will be discussed.

Cheryl LaFleur FERC Chairwoman (© 2015, FERC )
Cheryl LaFleur FERC Chairwoman (© 2015, FERC )

Feds Call for the Construction of New Gas Pipelines in the United States

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the independent agency responsible for regulating interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas and oil, is calling for more natural gas consumption along with an improved natural gas pipeline network to help curb greenhouse gas emissions and meet global climate goals.

Noble Energy Eastern Mediterranean Operations (© 2014 Noble Energy)
Noble Energy Eastern Mediterranean Operations (© 2014 Noble Energy)

Cyprus and Egypt Considering Connecting Their Countries With an Offshore Gas Pipeline

Cyprus and Egypt have agreed to look jointly at technical solutions for transporting natural gas through a direct marine pipeline from the large Aphrodite gas field in southeastern Cyprus to Egypt.

"This will optimize the use of the gas infrastructure and achieve an added value for both Cyprus and Egypt," a statement issued by both countries said.

Germany enhances energy security with 748 km of additional gas pipelines (© 2014 Open Grid Europe GmbH )
Germany enhances energy security with 748 km of additional gas pipelines (© 2014 Open Grid Europe GmbH )

Germany enhances energy security with 748 km of additional gas pipelines

In a substantial boost to the national gas infrastructure, the German Gas Transmission System Operators (TSOs) issued the 2014 Network Development Plan highlighting 51 projects confirmed by the German national regulatory authority (BNetzA). 748 km of high pressure pipelines will be built. Compressor capacity will be increased by a total of 343 MW.

Myanmar and China Announce the Opening of a 770 km Crude Oil Pipeline (© 2015 China National Petroleum Corporation)
Myanmar and China Announce the Opening of a 770 km Crude Oil Pipeline (© 2015 China National Petroleum Corporation)

Myanmar and China Announce the Opening of a 770 km Crude Oil Pipeline

Five years in the making, Myanmar on Wednesday officially opened a $2.45 billion 770 km oil pipeline and a deep sea port off of its western coast for a trial period, a significant pipeline project that will carry oil from the Middle East to China.

Signing of MOU between Gazprom and Botas in Dec. 2014 (© 2014 Gazprom)
Signing of MOU between Gazprom and Botas in Dec. 2014 (© 2014 Gazprom)

Progress between Russia and Turkey on New Gas Pipeline

Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz announced during a meeting in Ankara that they have agreed on the trajectory of the new natural gas pipeline to run from Russia to Turkey on the floor of the Black Sea.

NTSB staff meet to discuss with Board members the Safety Study on Integrity Management of Gas Transmission Pipelines in High Consequence Areas (© 2015 NTSB)
NTSB staff meet to discuss with Board members the Safety Study on Integrity Management of Gas Transmission Pipelines in High Consequence Areas (© 2015 NTSB)

The NTSB in Washington Recommends Pipeline Inspections in High Consequence Areas of the United States

In a watershed study conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), serious fault was found with the nationwide natural gas pipeline transmission and distribution network in the United States, leading to accidents causing destruction of property and loss of life.

The Ukraine and Poland Agree to Integrate their Gas Pipeline Transmission Systems (© 2012 Naftogaz)
The Ukraine and Poland Agree to Integrate their Gas Pipeline Transmission Systems (© 2012 Naftogaz)

The Ukraine and Poland Agree to Integrate their Gas Pipeline Transmission Systems

Uktransgaz, the designated operator of gas pipelines in the Ukraine, and Gaz - System, its counterpart in Poland, have signed a cooperation agreement to consider the integration of their collective gas transmission systems.

Southern Libya (© 2006 Roberdan)
Southern Libya (© 2006 Roberdan)

Libya still struggling to free blocked oil pipeline

One of the largest oil reservoirs in the world in Libya's El Sharara, once producing some 300 000 barrels per day, is ready to resume production if a blocked pipeline is eventually cleared.

The pipeline has fallen victim to Libya's long and protracted civil war, with rival groups contesting the pipeline's ownership, preventing the shipment of oil to commercial markets.