Canadian regulator secretly ordered gas companies to reduce gas flow

OTTAWA - Safety concerns about potential ruptures along two major oil and gas routes prompted Canadian regulators to order the operators to reduce pressure on the pipelines travelling underground through some of the largest cities in western and central Canada.

The orders from the National Energy Board were never made public and came in the aftermath of a major Enbridge crude oil pipeline rupture and spill in Michigan last summer, as well as a series of leaks and spills in Quebec and Ontario along the route of a gasoline pipeline owned by Trans-Northern Pipelines. The latter pipeline brings jet fuel to Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, as well as gasoline to service stations in Ottawa, Kingston and the Toronto region.

Three months after the Enbridge accident in Michigan, the National Energy Board, which was monitoring the U.S. investigation, quietly ordered a 20 percent pressure reduction on Enbridge's Line 2 Canadian pipeline, which links Edmonton to Superior, Wis., along sections that contained pre-1970s flash-welded pipe.

"The Board had noted a correlation between these sections and 'cracking related incidents' on Enbridge's Canadian system," said a federal report from October, released by Natural Resources Canada through access to information legislation.

"The Board has given Enbridge two months to provide an up-to-date integrity status report on cracking on its system; four months to re-analyze its cracking inspections, do integrity inspections and file an independent report."

The document, obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin, also said the Alberta-based company would be required to file short-term and long-term integrity improvement plans and would not be allowed to increase the pressure in its system without permission from the board.

National Energy Board spokeswoman Carole Leger-Kubeczek confirmed that the order to reduce pressure was still in effect since the regulator had found that the company's "hazard identification practices" were not consistently reliable. She said that Enbridge would not be allowed to return to full operations until it demonstrated "the adequacy and effectiveness of its programs in preventing cracking incidents from occurring."

She said the information about the board's orders would have been made public to anyone who made a specific inquiry, but that it was not posted because” the board did not have adequate resources to publish these types of decisions on its website.”

Xcel Energy, Public Service Co. of Colorado on trial in fatal pipeline accident

GEORGETOWN, Colo. - Xcel Energy and the Public Service Company of Colorado are on trial for allegedly violating workplace safety rules.

In October 2007, five employees of RPI Coating were trapped when a fire broke out inside the Cabin Creek Hydro Plant pipeline, well below the surface of the ground near Georgetown. All five men were killed. The youngest was 19 and the oldest was 52.

When the fire happened, it was a worst-case scenario that became real.

"We have a fire in our penstock - our tunnel," a person told a 911 dispatcher at the time. "There are people trapped in that penstock."

The men had no way out. The chemical fire was 1,000 feet underground.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says the men were working on relining the pipe when the fire began. The workers on one side of the fire had a path to safety. Those on the other side did not. They died in the pipe less than an hour later. The coroner says they were killed by the fire's smoke.

The trial of Xcel began on June 1 after attorneys for both sides worked to pick a jury on May 31.

Regulators allow Keystone oil pipeline to restart after repairs completed

WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have allowed TransCanada to restart its Keystone oil pipeline after the company completed repairs and safety tests.

In a letter to TransCanada, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said, "Based on a review of the information submitted, the restart plan is approved."

PHMSA's approval to restart the pipeline marks a reversal of its decision on June 3 after it had issued a corrective action order or COA to TransCanada that barred the company from restarting the pipeline, citing two leaks in the pipeline in the month of May.

Oil from the 1,300-mile pipeline that extends from Canada to Cushing, Okla., and Patoka and Wood River, Ill., began flowing on June 5 under a revised order from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The agency approved the revision on June 4.

The pipeline has been closed since May 29, when workers reported a 10-barrel leak in Kansas. That followed a leak of 400 barrels of oil in North Dakota on May 7.

Russ Girling, president and chief executive officer of TransCanada said, "TransCanada takes all incidents very seriously. Almost all of the oil releases over the last 11 months on Keystone have been minor - averaging just five to 10 gallons of oil. The vast majority of that oil was confined to our property and in all cases was cleaned up quickly. None of the incidents involved the pipe in the ground - the integrity of Keystone is sound."

Kinder Morgan's Bannigan says he'll fight California PUC action, asks for rehearing

HOUSTON, Texas - SFPP LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, on May 26 vowed to seek a rehearing and pursue other legal options to have an adverse order issued by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) overturned.

Among other things, the order would eliminate from SFPP's rates an allowance for income taxes on income generated by SFPP. The order would affect only the rates for SFPP's pipeline service within California.

"This order is contrary to both CPUC precedent and to existing and established federal regulatory policies for pipelines," said Tom Bannigan, president of KMP's products pipelines, in a news release.

SFPP's assets include about 2,500 miles of pipelines in California and other western states that transport refined petroleum products. Kinder Morgan is reviewing the order to quantify the financial effect on SFPP and the rates it charges shippers. (Source: Julie Armstrong, Houston Business Journal, May 27, 2011)

Nigerian government employs 12,000 youths to protect oil pipelines

LAGOS, Nigeria - Nigeria's federal government has employed 12,000 youths from the oil-producing Niger Delta region to provide security for key oil pipelines in their immediate communities, according to a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

In the statement, the government reiterated its resolve to protect the over 5,000 kilometers of crude and petroleum products pipelines across the country. It said the pipeline protection scheme was an integral part of the government's amnesty and rehabilitation program for Niger Delta youths.

Hundreds of people have died from explosions while scooping fuel from pipelines broken by oil thieves in the oil region.

TransCanada shuts Keystone Pipeline after leak at Kansas pump station

CALGARY, Alta. - Calgary-based TransCanada shut the 591,000 barrel-a-day Keystone pipeline on May 28 after a "an issue with a fitting" caused a 10- to 40-barrel oil leak at a pump station in Kansas, according to an e-mailed statement from Terry Cunha, a company spokesman. There was no fault on the pipeline itself, he said.

The 591,000-b/d line was shut down over the weekend after a half-inch fitting broke, at the Severance, Kansas, pumping station, the Calgary-based company said on May 31.

"The team is putting together a restart plan and they’re hoping to get the system up and running as soon as possible but it will probably be a few days,”"spokesman Terry Cunha said.

Keystone, which started operations in June 2010, has had 11 such breaks along its line at pumping stations on the United States side of the system. The most recent occurred May 7, when a fitting broke at a North Dakota pumping station spilling about 500 barrels of oil at the pump station and into a neighboring field. In that case, Keystone was shut down for six days while TransCanada replaced similar fittings at 47 pumping stations.