Pipelines

November 16, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Mark Begich today issued the following statement regarding the resignation of Drue Pearce as the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Project Federal Coordinator:

"I commend and thank Drue for her many years of public service, both in the Alaska Legislature and as the first pipeline coordinator, and wish her the best in her next pursuits.    » read more »

October 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded a contract totaling $27.74 million to the Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority for the construction of Reaches 2 through 6 of the Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline. NECA, a construction firm wholly-owned and operated by the Navajo Nation, will use the funds to construct the remaining 21-mile stretch (out of a total project of 29 miles) of the municipal pipeline..    » read more »

October 1, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, along with Representative Ben Ray Lujan, today celebrated the latest milestones in implementing the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline Project.

The New Mexico lawmakers joined Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor at a Capitol Hill signing ceremony making official the environmental impact statement for the project. Signing the Record of Decision was necessary to allow the project to move forward. The Navajo-Gallup project is a major component of the water rights settlement that provides certainty to the Navajo Nation and other New Mexico residents who rely on San Juan Basin water.

100109-60587-0054-rh (6)    » read more »

HOUSTON -- Mobil Pipe Line Company, an affiliate of ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, has completed a project that will increase capacity by 50 percent, or about 30,000 barrels per day, of its 858-mile Pegasus Pipeline that operates from Patoka, Illinois to Nederland, Texas.

The expansion project includes the reactivation and enhancement of several pump stations along the pipeline. The additional capacity will enable the transportation of additional Canadian crude from the Midwest to Gulf Coast refineries. Operational enhancements, such as new leak detection technology, were also incorporated to support ExxonMobil Pipeline Company’s primary focus on operating its pipelines in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.    » read more »

Pipelines from Canada Threaten America's Water, Farmland and Communities

May 28, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- Farmers, Steelworkers, tribes, rural citizens and environmentalists are all warning that construction of three massive pipelines designed to carry dirty oil from the Alberta tar sands into the United States would threaten communities across the West and Midwest.

An additional pipeline would carry chemical thinners from the U.S. to Canada. Today, a coalition of groups sent letters to the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration urging that the agency not approve safety plans for the pipelines.    » read more »

Pittsburgh (Apr. 9) – The United Steelworkers (USW) announced it has challenged the pending federal permit in the controversial $5.4 billion TransCanada Keystone Pipeline that’s using under-standard thin-wall pipe for transport of crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Houston, Texas.

USW International Vice President Tom Conway transmitted a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on Apr. 6, urging the special permit requested by TransCanada be denied. He said the 2,000 mile pipeline is planned using a 36-inch thin-wall pipe at higher maximum operation pressure than is safely permitted under existing regulations. Read the entire Conway letter here.    » read more »

Gov. Palin Thanks Lawmakers for Energy Package

August, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today thanked state lawmakers for successfully addressing Alaskans’ energy needs in the recently completed special sessions, both in the short term by passing an energy relief package, and in the long term by authorizing a gasline license under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act.

“The members of the Alaska Legislature worked honorably and diligently in the past two months to deal with these critical issues facing our state. I join with all Alaskans in recognizing and thanking them for their accomplishments,” Governor Palin said.

Resource Rebate and Energy    » read more »

Biden: “We need diplomacy to forge a common strategy among energy consuming countries in Europe, a shared effort that can confront Russian dominance.”

June 12, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) held a hearing this afternoon entitled, “Oil, Oligarchs, and Opportunity: Energy from Central Asia to Europe” to examine Russia's use of its enormous oil and gas reserves, and regional pipeline system, to expand its global political influence and economic leverage.

Russian oil pump: Photo by Amanda Graham (CC)    » read more »

LNG Options Still Available -- May 22, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin and Department of Revenue Commissioner Patrick Galvin today released the AGIA Findings and Determination of the natural gas pipeline project as proposed by TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC and Foothills Pipelines Ltd. (TC Alaska) to the State of Alaska.

The commissioners’ conclusion and analysis of the natural gas pipeline project proposed by TC Alaska is that it merits issuance of the AGIA license because it maximizes the benefits to Alaskans.    » read more »

Legislature to Convene in Juneau on June 3

March 28, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today announced that AGIA findings will be presented to lawmakers the week of May 19. She also called the Legislature into a 30-day special session on June 3. The Executive Proclamation calls for legislators to review “any action taken by the commissioner of natural resources and the commissioner of revenue” under AGIA.    » read more »

February 11, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Palin’s gasline team has scheduled a series of 16 public town hall meetings around the state February 18-28 to update Alaskans on the efforts that are being taken to advance a gasline under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA). The meetings are to provide information and encourage Alaskans to make their voices heard by submitting written comments before the March 6 public comment deadline.    » read more »

January 26, 2008, Juneau, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today responded to claims made by ConocoPhillips regarding the State’s rejection of the company’s natural gas pipeline proposal, which was submitted outside the AGIA process.

“AGIA sets forth a vehicle that delivers North Slope gas to market with certification and construction benchmarks, expansion provisions, tariff terms, and other protections the state, and the nation, need. It is unfortunate that ConocoPhillips elected not to participate in this sensible competitive process as did other fine companies.”    » read more »

TransCanada Meets Statutory Requirements

January 4, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today announced that the State of Alaska has finished its completeness review of the five AGIA applications. The application from TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC/Foothills Pipelines, Ltd. (“TransCanada”) satisfied all of the mandatory requirements set out in AGIA. Thus, TransCanada’s application will move to the next phase, the evaluation phase, of the AGIA process.    » read more »

November 30, 2007, Anchorage, Alaska – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today announced five companies have submitted applications for the exclusive right to build a natural gas pipeline to transport North Slope gas to market.

The applicants are Alaska Gasline Port Authority, AEnergia LLC, TransCanada, Sinopec ZPEB and Alaska Natural Gasline Development Authority.    » read more »

20 November 2007 -- Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco, now says a pipeline fire that erupted last Sunday killed 40 people, including six Saudis. Nine workers were hospitalized. Six have been treated and released.

Aramco says the blaze started early Sunday morning while workers were performing maintenance on a natural gas pipeline 30 kilometers from the Hawiyah gas plant.

The fire coincided with the OPEC summit taking place in the capital, Riyadh.

Officials say they have ruled out any possibility of the fire being part of a terrorist attack.    » read more »