Natural-gas storage facility to be built in Louisiana

HOUMA, La. - BCR Holdings, owned by a New-York based investment firm, is working to build a new $230 million natural-gas storage facility in Lafourche Parish.
BCR is developing a natural salt cavern just south of Larose to store the gas.
The facility, called Bully Camp Gas Storage, would provide a “first stop” for storage in what is already a hub for pipeline activity, said Tom Cook, executive vice president of development for the project.
“The producers of deepwater gas that comes in (only) have access to storage farther north,” Cook said.
Currently, the company is hosting an open season, or comment period, through Dec. 18 to gauge interest in natural-gas storage from local pipeline companies, Cook said.
BCR Holdings intends to file paperwork for the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by December, and state and local permitting would follow.
The facility would consist of a plant on 11.5 acres next to the Williams Discovery Gas & Pipeline processing plant in Larose, which filters and processes natural gas before sending it out into nearby pipelines. The potential storage site itself sits about 5.5 miles south of there on 1,700 acres of marshland property.
The two salt dome caverns will store about 15 billion cubic feet of gas, enough to power 220,000 homes for a year.
Construction is planned to start in about a year, and the facility would be operational by the end of 2013.

Williams completes Transco expansion in Northeast

TULSA, Okla. - Williams Cos. said on Nov. 19 that it has placed into service an expansion of its Transco natural gas pipeline, increasing firm transportation capacity into the Northeast United States by 102,000 dekatherms per day.
The expansion increases the total system capacity on the 10,500-mile Transco system to approximately 8.6 billion cubic feet per day, the company said in a statement.
The Sentinel expansion project was completed in two phases, the second of which was just placed into service. The first phase, which increased capacity by 40,000 dekatherms per day, was placed into service in December 2008.
Phase II construction included the addition or replacement of 14 miles of pipe and eight meter station modifications at various locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Williams seeks FERC approval for expanded Southeast Gas Service

TULSA, Okla. - Williams said on Nov. 18 that it has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand its Transco natural gas pipeline to serve markets in the southeastern United States.
The company said that new service from the Mobile Bay South II Expansion project would be available in the spring of 2011, subject to FERC approval.
The project is designed to create an additional 380,000 dekatherms of southbound, year-round firm transportation capacity on the Mobile Bay Lateral from Transco’s mainline at Station 85 near Butler, Ala., to its interconnect with Gulfstream Natural Gas System in Coden, Ala.

Former Willbros consultant admits bribery plot

HOUSTON - A former Willbros International consultant pleaded guilty on Nov. 12 to two federal charges in the payment of more than $6 million in bribes to Nigerian officials in exchange for pipeline contracts.
Paul G. Novak, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and one count of violating the act, which prohibits bribing officials for business overseas.
Novak was charged along with James Kenneth Tillery, a former executive of Willbros International, who is a fugitive. Two other Willbros employees, Jim Bob Brown and Jason Steph, have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme but have not yet been sentenced.

Bush appointee resigns as U.S. coordinator for Alaska gas pipeline project

ANCHORAGE - Republican Drue Pearce, the federal official responsible for coordinating planning for the proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline, has resigned her position at the request of the Obama administration.
Pearce, a former Alaska state Senate president who has held the position since it was created by then President George W. Bush in 2006, said she will step down effective Jan. 3.
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation is reviewing competing plans offered by both TransCanada Corp. and a joint venture formed by BP and ConocoPhillips to build a pipeline to ship natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to domestic U.S. markets.
Pearce was the first person to hold the job, which is designed to keep federal agencies working together to get the pipeline built without undue delay. Some 22 federal agencies in the United States - plus others in Canada Thomas Barrett- must sign off on an environmental impact statement before the project can move forward.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said she was pleased that Pearce's deputy, retired U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thomas Barrett, will serve as the interim coordinator until the White House appoints someone new.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Copano to build Eagle Ford gas pipeline

HOUSTON - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Copano Energy plan to form a joint venture to build a 22-mile natural-gas pipeline in the south Texas Eagle Ford Shale, the companies said on Nov. 13.
The project is expected to cost about $30 million, Kinder Morgan spokesman Joe Hollier said.
The 24-inch pipeline will have an initial capacity of 350 million cubic feet of gas a day, and will extend from LaSalle County to Duval County, Texas.
Kinder Morgan and Copano expect to complete the project in mid- 2010.
Kinder Morgan and Copano will provide gas gathering, transportation and processing services to Eagle Ford Shale producers through the 50-50 joint venture.

BP faces suit claiming Ocensa pipeline damaged Colombian farmland

LONDON - Ninety-five Colombian farmers are suing BP in the high court in London for allegedly causing serious damage to their land, crops and animals.
In the first case of its kind, the farmers are claiming that BP Exploration Co. Ltd., which joined forces with Colombia's national oil company and four foreign multinational corporations in a consortium to construct the 450-mile Ocensa pipeline, caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, causing crops to fail, livestock to perish, contaminating water supplies and making fish ponds unsustainable.
The farmers are claiming damages against BP for breach of contract and negligence.
If the court accepts the evidence, it could open the way for similar claims by other communities in developing countries who say they have been adversely affected by oil pipelines.