April’s top stories: ADNOC opened $10bn gas project, IHI secured contract from Kinder Morgan

ADNOC opened $10bn Al Hosn Shah sour gas development project in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) opened the $10bn Al Hosn Shah sour gas development project, located 210km south west of Abu Dhabi.

The project is a joint venture between ADNOC and Occidental Petroleum and is expected to extract more than one billion cubic feet per day of ultra sour gas from the Shah gas field.

Half of the gas produced from this field will be used to feed the gas transmission network in UAE, in a bid to address the increasing gas demand in the country.

IHI secured contract for Kinder Morgan’s $2bn liquefaction project in Georgia, US

IHI E&C secured a contract to provide engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup services for Kinder Morgan’s $2bn natural gas liquefaction project at Elba Island, near Savannah in Georgia, US.

The Elba liquefaction project will have ten movable modular liquefaction system (MMLS) trains and use Shell’s small-scale liquefaction units, which will be integrated into the existing Elba terminal.

Upgrades will be made to the terminal to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the new liquefaction facilities.

The existing Elba facilities will also be modified to include compression for vapour handling and new pumps for loading the LNG on vessels.

New York denied water quality certification for proposed Constitution pipeline

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), US, refused to issue the 401 water quality certification for the proposed Constitution pipeline, saying that it did not comply with the state’s water quality standards.

The 124-mile long pipeline was proposed by energy infrastructure company Williams in partnership with Cabot Oil & Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, and WGL.

Constitution, the interstate natural gas pipeline, was proposed to connect the fracking fields of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, with planned natural gas export infrastructure beginning in Schoharie, New York.

Sierra Club Atlantic said that the proposed pipeline will plow through 277 stream crossings, cutting more than 700,000 trees and destroying more than 90 acres of wetlands.

TransCanada received approval to restart Keystone pipeline after oil leak in South Dakota, US

TransCanada secured conditional approval from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration to resume pumping from its Keystone pipeline, after it was shut down due to a leak in South Dakota, US.

The company recently detected a potential oil spill about four miles away from the Freeman pump station in Hutchinson County, and reported a spill of about 187 gallons of crude oil to the Coast Guard’s National Response Centre.

Following the incident, a part of the pipeline that moves oil from Alberta, Canada, to Cushing, Oklahoma, was closed.

All the necessary repairs were completed and initially, the pipeline is planned to be operated at reduced pressure in a bid to make sure that all is working as usual.

Canada’s NEB approved Enbridge’s pipeline replacement project

Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) recommended the federal Governor in Council to approve an Enbridge project with conditions for replacing an aging crude export pipeline to the US.

Enbridge applied on 5 November 2014 to replace 1,067km of aging 34 inch Line 3 pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta to Gretna, Manitoba, with 1,096km of new pipeline constructed to current standards.

Following a public hearing process, the regulator concluded that the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Programme (project) is in the Canadian public interest.

The hearing process included a scientific and technical examination of all the evidence that was put before the three-member NEB panel.

US committee passed pipeline safety reauthorisation bill

The US House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the pipeline safety reauthorisation bill HR 5050.

The latest action came on the heels of the approval by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of its own pipeline safety bill, HR 4937 recently.

During 2011, the committee worked with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to ratify the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 into law.

The new Pipeline Safety Act of 2016 is the result of bipartisan work to identify weaknesses in the existing pipeline safety laws.

It contains targeted mandates for Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to increase transparency and accountability.

Kuwait National Petroleum signed $3.98bn loan for Clean Fuels Project

State-owned refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) in the Middle East signed the first tranche of a loan worth $3.98bn for its Clean Fuels Project.

Led by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and Kuwait Finance House, the tranche for ten years will be provided by the local banks.
The pricing details of the tranche have not yet been given.

Last month, the KNPC chief executive Mohammed Al-Mutairi stated that the first tranche would amount to $2.98bn, though the reason for the current increase in its size has not been disclosed.

The second tranche is expected to be worth $6bn and slated to close late this year, and will be provided by international lenders.

Kinder Morgan suspended $3.3bn Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project in US

US-based Kinder Morgan suspended plans for the $3.3bn Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project as the company did not receive enough contracts with businesses willing to buy natural gas from the proposed pipeline.

The proposed project would have included a 30-inch, 350 mile long pipeline running from Wright, New York, to Dracut, Massachusetts.

The pipeline is being developed by Kinder Morgan’s subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) by upgrading infrastructure in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, in a bid to help meet increased demand for natural gas.

Kinder Morgan said that the board’s initial approval was based on existing contractual commitments at the time by local gas distribution companies (LDCs) to purchase natural gas from the project.

GE Oil & Gas, Iraq signed agreement to strengthen energy sector

GE Oil & Gas signed an agreement with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in a bid to bolster the performance of the country’s energy sector and promote the sustainable growth of the economy.

The company will provide advanced equipment, technology upgrades and maintenance of the ministry’s fleet to help support the country’s energy sector.

As part of the agreement, a new monitoring and diagnostics centre will be established to leverage GE’s digital solutions.

By taking large amounts of data from sensors embedded in the ministry’s equipment and using advanced software analytics, the centre will offer web-based solutions that enable predictive maintenance and reduced downtime.

Husky Energy agreed to sell oil and gas processing assets in Canada for $1.7bn

Canada-based Husky Energy signed an agreement to sell 65% of its ownership interest in oil and gas processing assets to Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Infrastructure and Power Assets for $1.7bn.

Husky will retain a 35% stake in these midstream assets in the Lloydminster region of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

As part of the transaction, Husky will sell about 1,900km of pipeline in the Lloydminster region and 4.1 million barrels of oil storage capacity at Hardisty and Lloydminster, as well as other ancillary assets.

Under a new limited partnership, Cheung Kong will hold 16.25% and Power Assets will own 48.75%.