State regulators shoot down FPL's pipeline proposal

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State regulators on Oct. 6 killed a proposal by Florida Power and Light to build a 300-mile natural gas pipeline. But the project may not be dead yet.
Under the plan, FPL customers would have to foot the bill for the pipeline's $1.5 billion price tag.
Florida Power and Light wants to convert its oil-fired power plants to run on natural gas. FPL spokeswoman Jackie Anderson says it will take a state-wide pipeline to make that happen.
"When those plants come back on line, they're going to be 33 percent more efficient. So, they're going to burn clean natural gas and they're also going to be saving customers money in the long run." says Anderson.
FP L wants the pipeline to go through Orange, Brevard, Volusia and Seminole counties. Construction will take five years to complete.
Critics worry about the project's safety. They wanted the Public Service Commission to vote “no.”
The Public Service Commission did that, but has problems of its own. On Oct. 6, one commissioner resigned, and the chairman is now a lame duck. Further, it's been charged that commission staffers may have tried to influence the vote on the pipeline.
"Some of the terminology that was used when concerns were explained was ‘railroading,’ says Public Service Commission head Nathan Skop.
Gov. Charlie Crist a week earlier decided not to re-appoint two commissioners, Skop being one of them.

Superior Plus completes buy of Sunoco heating oil, propane business

Sunoco has completed the sale of its retail heating oil and propane distribution business to Superior Plus for approximately $86 million, including working capital. The deal was first announced on Sept. 2.
Superior Plus Corp. is a Canadian diversified company with interests in propane distribution, specialty chemicals, construction products distribution, and fixed-price energy services. Sunoco, Inc., is a U.S.-based refiner and marketer of petroleum and manufacturer of chemicals.
Sunoco's heating oil and propane distribution business includes Sunoco Home Comfort Services, Mohawk Home Comfort Services, Montour Home Comfort Services. It supplies liquid fuels and propane gas throughout Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware in the U.S.
The deal closed on Sept. 30.

TransCanada Keystone pipeline on schedule to reach Illinois in 2010

PATOKA, Ill. - By early 2010, hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of Canadian crude oil will flow into a giant tank farm here.
Work is nearing completion on TransCanada’s 2,148-mile, 30-inch pipeline from the oil sand fields of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Wood River, Ill., and an enormous tank farm at Patoka in rural Marion County.
The Keystone Pipeline was first announced in February 2005. It took a little more than two years to obtain permits from state and federal regulatory agencies. Construction didn't start until May 2008.
The line is nearly done, with safety testing under way. Initial crude oil shipments of 435,000 b/d are planned for the first quarter of 2010. By the end of 2010, the capacity will be increased to 590,000 b/d.
In its initial phase, oil from the Keystone project will flow into only a ConocoPhillips refinery at Wood River, Ill. During the second phase scheduled in 2010, oil flowing through a branch line to Cushing, Okla., will wind up in at least three refineries in Kansas.
Oil from the pipeline will be refined into gasoline and marketed over a wide area of the Midwest.

Kinder Morgan, Energy Transfer get FERC OK to expand Midcontinent Express

WASHINGTON - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP have won U.S. approval to expand capacity on their 507-mile Midcontinent Express natural gas pipeline.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced the decision at an open meeting on Sept. 17 in Washington.
The Midcontinent Express is a joint venture of Kinder Morgan, based in Houston, and Energy Transfer, based in Dallas. The pipeline brings gas from southeast Oklahoma, across Texas and into Alabama.
“The project will provide access to new, growing sources of natural gas supplies with minimal adverse impacts,” according to a summary of the decision provided by the commission.

BC government announces reforms in wake of pipeline bombings

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. - With six unsolved bombing attacks targeting the gas pipeline industry in northeastern B.C., the province has announced a new program to resolve community concerns about traffic, noise, dust and environmental issues linked to the rapidly growing industry.
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Blair Lekstrom announced a package of programs meant to improve relations between the industry and residents.
“While the industry brings jobs, infrastructure and economic development to the area, it also creates increased traffic, dust, noise, environmental and maintenance concerns,” Lekstrom said in a news release announcing the changes.
“These programs and regulations will help to address these issues that are so important to residents….”
But the minister was adamant that the changes - which will reduce the controversial practice of flaring, or burning off, of fuel - are not a response to the violent tactics of the bomber.
“We’ve been working on this long before whoever is responsible for those bombings began their crazy actions, so this is not a reaction to any of that. There was no intent to try and address whatever this crazy person is trying to accomplish. This has been in the works for some time,” Lekstrom said in a telephone interview from his northeastern B.C. riding.
There have been six bombings since last October in the area of Tomslake, B.C., located about 1,200 kilometers northeast of Vancouver near the Alberta boundary. All of the bombings have targeted Calgary-based EnCana. The last two occurred in July.

CIRCOR acquires UK-based Pipeline Engineering & Supply Co. Ltd.

BURLINGTON, Mass. – NYSE-listed CIRCOR International, Inc., a provider of valves and other highly engineered products and subsystems that control the flow of fluids safely and efficiently in the aerospace, energy and industrial markets, on Sept. 28 announced that it has acquired Pipeline Engineering & Supply Co. Ltd., a privately held pipeline products and solutions company based in the United Kingdom. ‘
Pipeline Engineering generated approximately $30 million in revenues during its most recent fiscal year. Excluding acquisition-related costs, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dominion moves ahead with $600 million gas pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion Resources is moving ahead with a proposed $600 million project to pipe natural gas from fields in West Virginia to southwest Pennsylvania.
Richmond-based Dominion plans to complete the project, which includes building 110 miles of pipeline and four compressor stations, by 2012.
Dominion says the pipeline would run from West Virginia to Delmont, Pa., about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh.
The idea, according to Dominion, is to ease the transport of gas to storage fields and pipelines in Pennsylvania.
Dominion said in a news release on Sept. 28 that it has begun the process of getting approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.