Ohio EPA alerts FERC to more Rover fluid spills
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has alerted the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that crews installing Energy Transfer Partners' Rover natural gas pipeline are spilling more drilling fluids, following a spill of 2mn USG last year that resulted in a temporary drilling halt for the project.
Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On-site personnel on 10 January told the Ohio EPA they have lost 146,000 USG of drilling fluid while drilling a pilot hole under the Tuscarawas river in Stark County, Ohio, the agency said in its filing with FERC. A pilot hole is part of an early stage of pipeline installation, which involves directionally drilling a small-diameter hole along the pipeline's path before widening it to accommodate the pipeline itself.
"We are deeply concerned the second drill under the Tuscarawas river is heading towards a similar outcome which resulted in the previous release to the environment," the Ohio EPA's letter said.
The environmental agency is requesting more information on the project and said it wants daily updates on the drilling, including observations and recommendations from a third party monitor.
The 3.25 Bcf/d (92mn m³/d) Rover line has experienced delays and regulatory setbacks during construction as a result of fluid spills, soil erosion, the unauthorized destruction of historic property and public opposition. Rover was under federal orders prohibiting the company from continuing horizontal drilling at new Ohio locations for six months following a spill of 2mn USG of drilling fluid near the Tuscarawas river in April 2017.
The pipeline in August started partial service of 1 Bcf/d from Cadiz to Defiance, Ohio. The full project has been planned to begin service by the end of March.
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NSTA fines Neo Energy for North Sea methane venting
NSTA fines Neo Energy for North Sea methane venting
London, 18 April (Argus) — UK offshore regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has fined UK upstream firm Neo Energy £100,000 for breaching its methane venting permit at North Sea fields. The company emitted 1,200t of methane in excess of its permit from the Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields in the first nine months of 2022. Neo had permission to vent 378t of methane from installations at these fields in that year, but incorrectly assigned volumes vented through unlit flares to its flaring consent, the NSTA found. Neo showed a "lack of oversight" by failing to detect the licence breach for seven months, NSTA said. The company reached its annual limit by 21 March 2022, but continued venting without authorisation until October 2022. The company said it did not update its flare and vent allocation process to reflect NSTA guidance updated in 2021, and as such was still assigning its flaring and venting according to previous guidance. Neo becomes the fourth company to be fined by the NSTA over breaches relating to flaring and venting consents. The regulator in 2022 sanctioned Equinor and EnQuest and last year fined Spanish utility Repsol for consent breaches. The four companies have been fined a total of £475,000 for the breaches. And the regulator in February had four more investigations under way for breaches of vent consents. Neo Energy's fine is equivalent to £2.98/t of CO2e emitted, assuming a global warming potential of methane that is 28 times that of CO2 on a 100-year time scale, compared with a UK emissions trading system price of £34.40/t of CO2e on 17 April. The UK offshore industry targets a 50pc reduction in production emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030, from a 2018 baseline. And it intends to end all routine venting and flaring by that year. The regulator last year warned that "further, sustained action" would be needed to reach the 2030 emissions reduction goal. Methane emissions from offshore gas fell in recent years, to 1mn t in 2022 from 1.6mn t in 2018, according to NSTA data. Roughly half of methane emissions in the sector in recent years has been produced by venting, while flaring makes up about a quarter of the emissions. The UK government is a member of the Global Methane Pledge group of countries that aims to reduce methane emissions by 30pc by 2030 from a 2020 baseline. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US LNG growth seen stoking price volatility
US LNG growth seen stoking price volatility
Ponte Vedra Beach, 17 April (Argus) — Natural gas prices in the US and globally will face greater volatility because of LNG export expansions along the US Gulf Coast, according to speakers at the Southeast LDC Gas Forum in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. LNG export capacity from the US, already the largest provider of LNG into the global market, is set to expand in the coming years, putting an important source of global supply in the path of hurricanes and exposed to pipeline disruptions from key supply areas such as the Permian basin in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. US baseload LNG export capacity was forecast to increase by the end of 2025 to about 16.7 Bcf/d (473mn m³/d), up by 46pc from the 11.4 Bcf/d of capacity at the end of 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). US LNG production by 2030 will meet about 5pc of global gas demand and 30pc of global LNG demand, Jill Davies, general manager of North America LNG Trading at Shell Energy, told attendees today at the conference. Most of those supplies will depart the US from the Gulf coast. That means a disruption in US exports could cause global prices to rise or domestic prices to crater. More pipelines and storage would allow LNG export terminals to access supply from different regions, defraying some of the price risk, according to speakers at the conference. The potential price volatility highlights the need for greater US political support for new gas infrastructure, Davies said on the sidelines of the conference. Pipeline projects aiming to connect key producing areas to growing demand centers have failed to clear regulatory hurdles in recent years, raising concerns about the potential for supply growth from prolific fields such as the Marcellus and Utica shales. Prices in the US market can also soar on supply disruptions or plunge on downtime at LNG export terminals. Prices have faced downward pressure this spring from ongoing maintenance at the 2.1 Bcf/d Freeport LNG export terminal in Texas. An extended, eight-month-long shutdown of that terminal that began in the summer of 2022 caused prices to fall by backing up supply into the US market. Producers that gain more exposure to exports and, in turn, the global market could "face a tenuous situation when a hurricane stirs up in the Gulf," Zach Inman, vice president of origination for BP said during a panel discussion Wednesday. By Jason Womack Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Permian gas pipes will shift lower prices east: Panel
Permian gas pipes will shift lower prices east: Panel
Ponte Vedra Beach, 17 April (Argus) — Additional pipelines will be needed to remedy negative natural gas prices at Waha in west Texas, but that new takeaway capacity will only shift lower prices further east, according to panelists today at Southeast LDC Gas Forum in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Spot natural gas prices at Waha have mostly traded at negative levels since 11 March as robust gas production outstrips the pipeline capacity needed to ferry those supplies to market. The pipeline constraints have been exacerbated in recent weeks by seasonal pipeline maintenance and the usual drop in demand that accompanies spring. Spot prices at Waha, a key indicator for the price of gas output from the Permian basin in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, has averaged -$1.45/mmBtu so far in April, meaning that producers were paying buyers to take gas. Waha prices are waiting on Matterhorn, a 2.5 Bcf/d (71mn m3) gas pipeline that will connect the Permian basin to southeast Texas, Jack Weixel, senior director of East Daley Analytics, told attendees at the conference. Matterhorn was scheduled to begin service later this year and will probably begin taking initial gas supplies this summer. Most of the gas produced in the Permian basin comes from oil wells, so as long as oil prices are high enough to encourage drilling, gas production will remain stout. Oil producers in the Permian "are well in the money to drill," Zach Inman, vice president of origination for BP, said. The additional gas supplies traveling to the Texas coast will push prices at key markets such as the Katy storage hub and the Houston Ship Channel to deeper discounts against the Henry Hub. Those additional supplies will also bottle up production that would usually flow to those markets from east Texas and parts of Louisiana, Weixel said. The resulting gas supplies may even push prices in east Texas low enough to inhibit drilling in the Haynesville shale, a prolific gas field in east Texas and northern Louisiana. Still, prices could receive a boost next year as new LNG export projects start service along the US Gulf coast, offering an outlet for those robust supplies, the panelists said. By Jason Womack Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
BHP to expand gas-fired West Australia power station
BHP to expand gas-fired West Australia power station
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