TransCanada secures agreements for Marketlink pipeline throughput

CALGARY, Alta., and BISMARCK, N.D. - TransCanada Corp. has secured shipper commitments for 65 per cent of its proposed Bakken Marketlink oil pipeline from Montana to the benchmark Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma.

TransCanada said on Jan. 20 that it secured firm commitments of 65,000 b/d from shippers during the month-long open season that closed Nov. 19. The Calgary-based company said it signed five-year contracts with producers tapping the rich Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana to transport crude on the proposed 1,980-mile-long Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to move crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas.

TransCanada said the 100,000 b/d capacity line, which will link to its proposed Keystone XL pipeline, will open production from the Bakken region to markets in the U.S. Midwest and Texas.

"These agreements are a clear indication of producer support for the first direct link between the prolific Bakken crude oil producing region in the Williston Basin and key U.S. markets near Cushing, Okla., and the U.S. Gulf Coast, the largest refining market in North America," said chief executive Russ Girling in a statement.

ONEOK plans multi-million dollar NGL pipeline in U.S. West

SIDNEY, Mont. - ONEOK Partners has announced plans to build a multi-million dollar natural gas liquids pipeline through the region.

Representatives of the Tulsa, Okla.-based company have been on the road in eastern Montana and Wyoming visiting with county commissioners and area leaders about the upcoming $430-$500 million project.

The 500-mile Bakken Pipeline, starting near Sidney and traveling south through Wyoming into northern Colorado, will transport raw, unfractionated natural gas liquids from natural gas processing plants in the Bakken Shale play to the company's 50-percent owned existing Overland Pass Pipeline which travels to Kansas where natural gas liquids are processed.

"We’re in the real early stages of this process," Brad Borror, supervisor of external communications, said on a recent trip to Sidney to visit with Richland County commissioners.

ONEOK, doing business as Bear Paw Energy, has already notified affected landowners for surveying properties, and it's looking into purchasing private access for constructing the pipeline. In addition to the Bakken Pipeline, ONEOK is building three new gas plants in North Dakota. The move amounts to a significant financial impact for the MonDak region.

"When it’s all said and done," Borror said, "we’ll be investing approximately $1.5 billion in your region, including this pipeline."

Company officials have to conduct a number of studies focusing on local wildlife, water and soil conditions in order select a route that protects and preserves environmental and cultural resources. Additionally, building the pipeline requires construction approval from federal and state agencies.

Alaska’s Senate Finance co-chair wants to pull plug on state funding of TransCanada gas pipeline if no progress by summer

JUNEAU, Alaska - The state should cut its losses on a major natural gas pipeline if, by summer, it doesn't look like a project will be viable, a leader of a powerful state Senate committee said.

Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chairman of Alaska’s Senate Finance Committee, told The Associated Press that he doesn't want the state spending much more money on a "dead project."

Under an exclusive license issued in 2008, the state committed to pay Alberta, Canada-based TransCanada Corp. up to $500 million to advance a major line to carry gas from Alaska's North Slope to market.

Reimbursements so far have topped $36 million. More than $100 million remains set aside, and Gov. Sean Parnell has requested $160 million more for next fiscal year.

Alaska’s co-chair of Senate Finance wants to pull the plug on state funding of TransCanada gas pipeline proposal if no progress by summer

JUNEAU, Alaska - The state should cut its losses on a major natural gas pipeline if, by summer, it doesn't look like a project will be viable, a leader of a powerful state Senate committee said.

Sen. Bert Stedman, co-chairman of Alaska’s Senate Finance Committee, told The Associated Press that he doesn't want the state spending much more money on a "dead project."

Under an exclusive license issued in 2008, the state committed to pay Alberta, Canada-based TransCanada Corp. up to $500 million to advance a major line to carry gas from Alaska's North Slope to market.

Reimbursements so far have topped $36 million. More than $100 million remains set aside, and Gov. Sean Parnell has requested $160 million more for next fiscal year.

Federal investigators cite defective welds as likely cause of fatal San Bruno blast

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - A federal report issued on Jan. 21 says that the natural gas pipe that ruptured in San Bruno on Sept. 9, killing eight people and destroying 38 homes, had numerous flawed welds. According to some experts cited, the pipe did not meet even the welding standards in place when it was installed in 1956.

The metallurgical report shed new light on the blast, identifying for the first time a particular seam weld as the site of the rupture. It found that the weld was half as thick as it should have been.

The problem seam weld in San Bruno, the NTSB report notes, developed a crack "consistent with ductile overstress from the root of the weld." A surge eventually ripped apart the line at the seam at a time when pressure ran up to 386 pounds per square inch. The pressure surged because of a malfunction of the pipeline system's power source before the San Bruno explosion.

The report noted that there were several circumferential, or girth, welds, and all of them had similar flaws. One of them also failed in the accident, but the report did not specify the cause of the "overstress" on those welds.