2 Pipelines companies are ready for the New Year to begin
Enbridge and Enterprise have just announced that the expansion work on the Seaway is complete, bringing its Cushing takeaway capacity up from 150,000 to 400,000 per day. This pipeline carries crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf coast. These two companies are among the biggest players in the midstream company.
“Like Enbridge, Enterprise operates pipelines -- more than 50,000 miles of them -- but it has plenty of other assets that generate cash. Its business mix includes natural gas pipelines and processing centers, natural gas liquid (NGL) pipelines and fractionating facilities, storage facilities, and terminals”
“Production in North America is still growing and pegged to continue doing so for at least the next few years, which means volumes across the systems of companies such as Enbridge and Enterprise will continue to grow as well. Expect these stocks to grow this year.”
http://http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/01/12/2-pipeline-stocks-poised-for-profits-in.aspx
Natural gas today
“Surging gas production has led the drilling industry to seek out new markets for its product, and energy companies, increasingly, are setting their sights on the transportation sector.”
“Touting natural gas as a cheaper, cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline and diesel, drillers, public utilities and government officials are trying to boost demand for natural gas buses, taxis, shuttles, delivery trucks and heavy-duty work vehicles of all sorts, while simultaneously encouraging development of the fueling infrastructure that will be needed to keep them running.”
Natural gas costs about $1.50 to $2 per gallon equivalent less than gasoline and diesel. That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in savings for vehicles that guzzle the most fuel.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?id=8897561§ion=news/national_world
“Anticipated growth in Marcellus shale natural gas production likely will mean more long-term business for US midstream companies, Fitch Ratings said in a recent report in which analysts forecast Marcellus production during the next 5 years will grow to more than 10 bcfd from the current 4 bcfd.
Expanding Marcellus production will require midstream companies to expand gathering and processing services and provide pipelines to transport gas and associated natural gas liquids.”
“Marcellus production has begun displacing supplies that traditionally served eastern US markets and more gas is expected to be produced than the region can consume.
As Marcellus production ramps up, pipeline expansions and flow reversals will enable that gas to reach Canada, New England, the Atlantic states, the Gulf of Mexico region, the Midcontinent, and the Midwest.”
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/07/fitch-marcellus-shale-giving-boost-to-us-midstream-firms.html
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Extraction of Crude oil is a process where the oil is removed from the undersurface by drilling oil wells and bringing the oil to the surface. It is then transported to the oil refinery by pipeline, ship or a truck. Oil refineries are usually located near rivers or other water bodies due to the usage of cooling water. The unprocessed fossil fuel needs to be refined and converted into a usable form for the final consumption. The fossil fuel industry is classified into various sectors or categories such as upstream, midstream and downstream. Exploration of Crude oil and drilling can be termed as upstream. Hence, this sector is known as exploration and production (E&P) sector.
The Determination of supply is done by the upstream industry, which is of utmost importance as it affects the prices in the downstream industry. The demand for oil is the main concern of the downstream and midstream sectors. Refining of Crude oil, selling and distributing the various end products such as asphalt, synthetic, rubber, plastics etc are the major activities of the downstream sector. Advancement in technology plays a major role in the exploration and extraction of Crude oil in the upstream industry. The seismic surveys and various instruments help in detecting the oil reservoirs. Once the reservoir is located, the density is determined by sending radio waves into the earth's surface. A three dimensional seismic imaging is used to send the radio waves. From the data obtained by the seismic models, scientists determine the reservoir size.
The companies in the upstream sector should devise a plan to forecast the demand and calculate the rate of extraction so that the reserves don't go dry. Based on the amount of Crude oil explored and extracted, the amount of oil that can be processed is determined. A hole is drilled to make oil bore wells and a steel pipe is fitted into the hole, after which a collection of valves is mounted on top. In some geographical locations, the oil comes naturally to the earth's surface. Various huge pipes and vessels are used in the refinery to separate the hydrocarbons from the Crude oil. The oil refinery is operated by highly automated control rooms. The most common process units found in a refinery are Desalter, Catalytic reformer, hydrocracker, coking etc.
Fractional distillation is a process where, at different boiling points, the hydrocarbons contained in the Crude oil are broken down into fractions. Various heating furnaces are used for the fractional distillation of Crude oil. The distillation tower holds the heavier fractions at the bottom and those in the lighter form, in gaseous state gets settled at the top inside the distillation tower. A network of reactors and huge burning furnaces are used to crack heavy hydrocarbon molecules into lighter fractions. Cat cracking or catalytic cracking is where intense heat and a material that speeds up the chemical reaction are used in the cracking process. Purifying and blending are the major processes when it comes to refining. The fractions are made to cool and then they are blended to make products such as gasoline, heating oil, diesel oil, kerosene, plastics, jet fuel etc.
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Extraction of Oil, do visit our site - http://www.oilprices.org/
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Sunoco Expand Pipeline Deal
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MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources, LLC, Denver, Colo., a partnership between MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. and The Energy & Minerals Group, and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P., Philadephia, Penn., have reported the development of Project Mariner West, a pipeline project to deliver Marcellus Shale ethane from MarkWest Liberty’s Houston, Pennsylvania processing and fractionation complex to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada markets. Mariner West, which is being developed at the request of Marcellus producer customers and is supported by Sarnia ethane consumers, will utilize new and existing pipelines and is anticipated to have a maximum capacity to transport up to 65,000 barrels per day of ethane by the third quarter of 2012. Mariner West is an expansion of Project Mariner, a pipeline and marine project developed to transport ethane produced in the Marcellus Shale basin to US Gulf Coast and international markets by mid-2013.
To support deliveries to Canadian markets in 2012, MarkWest Liberty will make minor modifications to its natural gas processing complexes and will install ethane extraction facilities at its Houston complex to deliver ethane to Mariner West earlier than will be required for deliveries to Project Mariner. In addition, MarkWest Liberty will construct a 25-mile pipeline from the Houston complex to an interconnection with an existing Sunoco Logistics pipeline at Vanport, Pennsylvania. The ethane will then be transported from Vanport to markets in Sarnia utilizing existing Sunoco Logistics pipelines, which will be modified for ethane service. Project Mariner and Mariner West are both designed to provide Marcellus producers with access to multiple ethane markets to match the growing rich-gas production in the Marcellus.
“When combined with our growing NGL pipeline network in the Marcellus and our highly integrated Houston fractionation and marketing complex, Mariner West provides a very significant advantage to Marcellus producers,” said Frank Semple, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MarkWest. “MarkWest and The Energy & Minerals Group are very pleased to partner again with Sunoco Logistics to further expand the midstream services we provide to our producer customers.”
“Project Mariner West has the advantage of allowing us to modify our existing pipeline facilities to reach Sarnia, Canada where there is a market for Marcellus ethane. We are pleased to participate in Project Mariner West and to partner with MarkWest Liberty in serving Marcellus producer customers," said Lynn L. Elsenhans, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sunoco Logistics. “Our existing infrastructure is well positioned to provide an efficient solution for producers to move ethane to Sarnia as well as across Pennsylvania to a Delaware River marine port to access multiple markets.”
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Southcross Energy Agrees To Construct Major Natural Gas Pipeline Extension In South Texas
March 8, 2011
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Southcross Energy, Dallas, Texas, has reported that the company has entered into a long-term agreement with Swift Energy Company to provide natural gas gathering, transportation and processing services for production from Swift Energy’s acreage in McMullen County, Texas. Southcross will construct a 25-mile, 20-inch natural gas pipeline with related lateral gathering lines and convert an existing dry pipeline system to rich gas service in order to gather the Swift Energy gas for processing.
The McMullen extension will have an initial, expandable capacity of 120 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The system, which is expected to be in service in mid-2011, will originate in McMullen County, Texas and extend to Southcross’ CCNG Transmission pipeline for gas delivery to and processing at Southcross’ processing plant near Gregory, Texas.
“This pipeline will be an additional extension for Southcross into the Eagle Ford Shale play, an important step in accomplishing our growth strategy. We are delighted to establish this relationship with Swift Energy and provide the important services Swift Energy requires in South Texas,” says David W. Biegler, Southcross Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
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March 2, 2011
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Endeavour International Corp., Houston, has received approval from the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change to go ahead with the Rochelle Field Development Plan (FDP) for Block 15/27 in the Central North Sea, now known as East Rochelle.
The current FDP calls for the subsea gas and condensate development to be linked by a 30 km pipeline to production facilities on the Scott Platform.
First production is planned for the second half of 2012.
Endeavour is operator of East Rochelle and holds a 55.6 per cent working interest in the development. Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd holds the remaining 44.4 per cent interest.
This approval represents phase one of the development of the Greater Rochelle area.
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Frank Nieto | March 11, 2011
Just how significant has the Marcellus shale been in increasing the production of natural gas in the Northeast? That’s the question that the Midstream Monitor decided to answer in our first Spotlight feature.
Using data supplied by Hart Energy’s Mapping & GIS division, Midstream Monitor found that production out of the Marcellus region rose from 62.25 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) on January 1, 2008 just before the region became hot to 3.19 Bcf/d on December 31, 2010 after production had taken off in the region.
While there have been dips in these production figures during this two-year period, by and large production has gone from strength-to-strength with production peaking on December 24, 2010 at 3.24 Bcf/d.
It is important to note that these figures do not represent the Marcellus shale alone, only receipt figures from gathering systems in the region. These pipe flows do not necessarily represent actual wellhead production.
“Production out of the Marcellus shale is currently approximately 1.3 Bcf/d and should exit the year by jumping over the 2 Bcf/d hurdle,” Opoku Danquah, director of upstream research for Hart Energy, said.
While gas prices remain weak, the Marcellus shale represents a premium market for producers due to its proximity to lucrative markets in the Northeast. However, this location also presents a problem for producers – namely being able to get these volumes to market.
This has turned out to be a boon for midstream operators, who are in the midst of building up the region with much needed infrastructure. The biggest projects attached to the Marcellus from a midstream perspective are, of course, pipelines with companies such as Williams, Spectra, El Paso, Kinder Morgan and EQT building new pipelines, as well as laterals to existing pipelines.
However, there are also strong opportunities for natural gas processing plants since the states that make up the play are among the lowest in terms of processing capacity. Because of this processing shortage in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, we’ve already seen several plants in each state brought online or announced so far this year.
In January, Caiman Energy brought the 120 MMcf/d Ft. Beeler cryogenic plant online in Cameron, West Virginia and that same month MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources announced it will build its third natural gas processing plant in the play when it constructs a 120 MMcf/d cryogenic plant in Logansport, W. Va., by mid-2012. This will be MarkWest Liberty’s third plant in the play. – Frank Nieto
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You Need To Try Our Valves - Flanged Valves That Is
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Global Valve and Controls (GVC) is a growing manufacturer of a full line of valves and automation, tailored to meet the needs of industry requirements, with the primary focus being within the petrochemical and oil and gas industry. GVC provides one of the most comprehensive product lines of valve product offerings to accommodate and service the Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream market segments. GVC continues to make strides in elevating our company beyond industry standards and customer expectations by consistently providing superior quality, maintaining expansive inventory levels, and immediately responsive to customer needs.
Global Valve and Controls large inventory of valves and automation has been a key, contributing factor to the growth and success of Global Valve and Controls. The technical sales and engineering team at GVC is ready to provide engineered solutions customized and tailored to meet your needs as a client. Ranging from ANSI 150 through 2500 ,fully automated valve packages, soft seated valves (Trunnion and floating design), metal seated valves, fugitive emission solutions, control packages, various valve coating solutions, and Build-to-Order, Global Valve and Controls has the right valve to meet or exceed your requirements. Global Valve and Controls expertise in valve manufacturing is backed by a management team with over 60 years collectively serving the Energy and Oil and Gas industries.
Our expansive product range consist of ball valves (Trunnion and floating design) check valves, gate valves, globe valves, needle valves, and rotary 1/4 turn scotch yoke and rack in pinion actuators. Global Valve and Controls’ global network of manufacturing facilities are in compliance with ISO 9001 and API 6D standards.
