Refineries are booming every year
Refineries are booming every year
“Refiners are set to beat all except three of 154 industry groups on the Standard & Poor's index for 2012, as a U.S. production glut let them buy oil at a record average of $17.46 a barrel below the global benchmark. That spread will diminish in 2013 as more than 20 new pipelines enter service and route oil to new buyers along the Gulf Coast, Deutsche Bank AG forecast.”
“While transportation projects including oil-by-rail and pipelines are booming, providing a natural diversification for refiners, some of the world's most successful investors are betting that the companies have at least another year of gains.”
With that being said, Valero Energy Corp., a San Antonio refiner that may create a crude transportation unit, was named the top energy stock pick of 2013. As well as your other larger companies such as Philips 66. They plan to earn as much from pipelines and making chemicals as refining crude.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20130101_49_E3_ULNShh264682
Bakken Crude Express
Bakken Crude Express
Bakken Crude Express Pipeline would have been an approximately 2,092 km, crude-oil pipeline with the capacity to transport 200,000 bbl/d of light-sweet crude oil from multiple points in the Williston Basin in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana to the crude-oil market hub in Cushing, Oklahoma.
ONEOK Partners, LP, says that it did not receive sufficient long-term transportation commitments during its recently concluded open season for the Bakken Crude Express Pipeline. As a result, the partnership has elected not to proceed with plans to construct the pipeline.
http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/bakken_crude_express_not_to_proceed/079095/
BP fines two engineers who may have been the cause of the explosion
BP fines two engineers who may have been the cause of the explosion
As you can recall, the damage caused in the Gulf of Mexico by the BP oil spill in 2010 was massive. The explosion killed 11 workers, lost between 50,000 and 75,000 barrels of oil a day and all the oil flowed into the gulf for more than 100 days killing many animals and endangering their habitats. BP has spent roughly about $42 billion dollars since then.
“…2 engineers made what turned out to be a catastrophic misjudgment about a critical safety test. Now the men face criminal charges in a court case starting later this month that experts say will be a tough test for both the prosecution and defense.”
“Don Vidrine, 65 years old, and Robert Kaluza, 63, are slated to appear in U.S. District Court in New Orleans on Nov. 28 on charges including "seaman's manslaughter" that could send them to prison for a decade or more.”
“The charges stem from their failure to properly interpret a key safety test on the drilling rig before the deadly blowout, which killed 11 people and caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. “
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323622904578127173280594296.html
Pipeline Components
Pipeline Components
“The speed at which pipelines are built is one of the more serious constraints in preventing impacts. Most big infrastructures take many years to plan and build. Completion of pipelines, on the other hand, often takes 24 to 36 months. This means it is even more important for the ESA of pipelines to begin as soon as the prefeasibility planning begins. Route selection, the main means of reducing impacts, is often one of the first items planned by the engineers. “
Being how I am blogging for a Valve Manufacture, I will save you some extra details about what a pipeline consists of. Depending on if you are an end-user, Mfg, or just a reader hoping to gain more info, you probably already know the different parts. Typically, you might see pipes, flanges, valves, fasteners, and of course many more parts. Some of the ball valves you might see would be the Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves. (This is our specialty)
GVC’s Trunnion Ball Valve are manufactured accordance to API 6D, NACE Compliant, they consist of 2 piece and 3 piece designs, also are Double Block & Bleed. We have a variety we keep in stock from ANSI 150-2500. If you are interested in GVC’s Trunnion Mounted Ball Valves, and want to know more information please visit our direct website which will route you to our Trunnion Valves: (For more information on our Trunnion Ball Valves, please visit our site; http://http://gvcintl.com/products_trunnion_mounted_ball_valves.html
Source:
Pneumatic Valve Actuators in Sub-Arctic Climates
“Sub-arctic climates experience temperatures from 100° F (38° C) in the summer to –60° F (–51° C) in the winter. While there is nothing spectacular about the high end of the range, the low end impacts the functionality of pneumatic actuators”
You may ask, how exactly does the temperature impact the pneumatic actuators that are in the fields right now? There are a few things you have to consider.
First, the actuator housing is steel, thus the housing becomes brittle. This does not necessarily mean it becomes weaker but a sudden impact or an imperfection can result in a sudden fracture at these temperatures because the temperature is below the brittle transition temperature of steel.
Secondly, the “precipitation-hardened shaft material has also become brittle and may fracture given an impact load. If, for example, the driven valve resists opening and then breaks free, the resulting sudden impact may cause the actuator shaft to fail.”
There are many solutions to these issues, but the best would be to call your actuator mfg to discuss how to avoid any fractures caused by these temperatures. Just like the manufacture should know what to do, the users of the actuators should know what to do as well. If you are not able to get in contact with your manufacturer, here are a few steps you can take:
“First, and most obvious, users should shelter the actuator from weather extremes where possible. Second, users must assure a dry air supply, at least 15° F (–9° C) below the lowest temperature that may be experienced since ice plays havoc with air flow and mechanical motion. Finally, users should assess the recommended actuator and whether all possible precautions have been incorporated by the supplier.”
Clearly, pneumatic actuators can perform their intended functions despite having to operate in extreme temperatures. However, they need to be designed and manufactured properly, and users need to take responsibility to keep them functioning correctly.
http://www.valvemagazine.com/index.php/magazine/actuators-and-controls/4357-pneumatic-valve-actuators-in-sub-arctic-climates
Explosion Shuts down Oil Pipeline in Turkey
On Friday, in Ankara, Turkey, an explosion and fire caused a pipeline which carried oil from Iraq to World Markets to be shut down. The explosion hit a section of a pipeline in between the northern Iraqi City of Kirkuk and Turkey’s Mediterranean Port of Ceyhan.
The pipeline has two lines running parallel to each other, which carried about 25 million tons of crude oil a year. Although the second line was not damaged officials stated “We still need to briefly shut the lines down for precaution.”
By Saturday afternoon, firefighters put out the blazing fire which lasted 3 ½ hours. The repairs to the pipeline will begin shortly, although they were not clear when oil flows to Ceyhan would resume due to the damage.
Official’s stated “Condition of anonymity, the cause of the blast was most likely the result of sabotage. Kurdish rebels, fighting for autonomy in Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast, have bombed the pipeline before, cutting oil flows from Iraq for days.
Officials wait for any ongoing procedures for fixing the pipeline and are looking more in depth with other lines out in the Middle East, for any other damages the Kurds might have done.
Pipelines Unhappy with Texas Eminent Domain Ruling
On Monday, Austin, Texas’ Pipeline operators and landowners called the Texas Lawmakers to clarify eminent domain laws. A recent court decision that has thrown the authority’s into questions.
Before the Texas Supreme Court made any ruling, on the Texas Landowners, in regards to having the power to challenge a company’s right to condemn their home and/or land. The company only needed to check a box on the Texas Railroad Commission Permit Application to prove the company should have the right to force landowners to sell their land.
This goes back to in the article I recently wrote about “Pipeline Companies Have More Rights than Residents”. Juila Trigg Crawford, a landowner and farmer in Lamar County, states she was sued by the Famous Pipeline Corporation “TransCanada Corp” when she refused to turn over part of her land. A common carrier is a pipeline that transports substances to or for the public and are for hire by the public. But she states “The process lacks real oversight by any empowered and engaged state agency. Why is it my responsibility as a Texas Landowner to make a foreign corporation to prove critical elements that should be step one in the state permitting process?”
But the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Clayton Henry told lawmakers his members want a process where they can argue against a pipeline company using eminent domain authority. He says “To simply check a box on a one page form, submit a pipeline route, and post a $25,000 bond to receive condemnation authority appears to be a very low bar.”
Although, David Land, an attorney for the General Land Office, states “if the state has appealed a case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals over the Texas Supreme Court, if the state does not win the appeal it could be forced to spend millions to claim such property when the beach erodes suddenly.”
With this being said, if the Court finds the Pipeline a great idea, which will put thousands of home owners in danger or even homeless, the Courts will find themselves a great Law Suit if the documents are not being filed correctly! The intake in the matter of your home being taken away from you, gives you signs of “What will the Government do next? If we suffer through another hurricane, what else will prevent thousands of lives dead all because of 1 pipeline which who knows would benefit this world?”
http://www.adn.com/2012/07/23/2552753/pipelines-unhappy-with-texas-eminent.html
Chevron Banned
“The second largest U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. will be barred from contracts in central and southern Iraq because the Californian company bought stakes in two oil-exploration blocks in the Kurdish region of Iraq.”
“Chevron is the second major western oil company to be banned by the central government in Baghdad from any future deals in the country's lucrative oil and gas sector, following Exxon Mobil Corp. last year.”
Sounds like a democracy to me! Maybe the smaller oil companies will get a chance to sign contracts with Iraq?
Those Dam Valves
As the nation increasingly seeks sources for renewable energy, dams and the thousands of valves they contain will only become more important.
When we see a majestic dam, with its huge face of concrete holding back acres of water, probably the last thing we think of are the valves it takes to make them operate effectively
“The purpose of the valves in these structures is to adjust the output of the reservoir that forms behind those dams while maintaining the proper reservoir depth, both in times of flood and in drought. Looking at the top of a moderate-size dam, we would see a number of rolling gates or sluices that provide the modulation of flow necessary to balance water supply and demand. In fact, the most common style of gate or valve used is a rolling type, which functions very similar to a sluice gate valve that is open at the top. Although this is technically a valve, these gates are not at all like the valve designs used in other industries.”
Interesting Oil Facts
Here are some of the most interesting oil facts I found on the web: Feel free to comment and leave any of your own
Oil was formed more than 300 million years ago
Oil is made into many different products like for instance clothes, fertilizers, plastic bottles, pens and lot of other products
Oil as well as other fossil fuels emits dangerous greenhouse gases which cause the global warming
Oil biggest producer is Saudi Arabia followed by Russia
Oil together with coal and natural gas supply about 88 % of the world's energy needs
Oil field that is largest in the world is Ghawar in Saudi Arabia that contains between the 75-85 billion barrels of oil which is six times more than the Prudhoe Bay in Alaska as the largest oil field in US
