Outlook for United States Natural Gas Industry: Pricing, Supply, and Demand: ABSTRACT

In the United States today, there are thousands of miles of an extended network of natural gas pipelines across the nation. Current pipeline explosions and leaks in several regions have challenged the natural gas industry to re-evaluate efforts and to pursue proactive strategies. Safety and the environmental threat has become a primary concern in the United States and around the world, but mostly in cases where natural gases, oil, and other hazardous wastes are intricate. Thus, a significant point in the natural gas pipeline industry that signifies both the economic and social issue is the unplanned pipeline risk. In this article, a quantitative data analysis was performed for Downstate New York companies, Con Edison and National Grid. There, the data from various natural gas pipelines was observed for the trend regarding failing material, failure cause, aging characteristics, and perform a risk assessment to come up with training and risk checklist that could be crucial for risk handling strategies. The statistical analyses of the natural gas pipeline-related incident data for distribution pipelines between 2012 and 2016, which were composed from Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), are compiled. The total miles in the gas distribution pipelines in downstate New York is approximately 48,539 as of 2016. The equipment failure, other incident cause, other outside force, and excavation damages are the leading causes of the pipe-related incidents, which are responsible for over 20% of the total incidents between 2012 and 2016. As a result, a quantitative research methodology has been developed as the suitable approach to achieve risk assessment. Mainly, this approach aims towards risk management in natural gas industry projects using the maximum likelihood method on 70 rupture incidents between 2012 and 2016, which were collected from the PHMSA pipeline incident database. The hypothetical quantitative risk assessment of the gas distribution pipelines are illustrated by combining the statistics of the pipeline rupture incidents, as well as risk assessment performed in the present study.

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Spinning Liquid Gold

Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.2014-jul-1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 136 (07) ◽

pp. 32-37

Author(s):

John Kosowatz

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Natural Gas ◽

The United States ◽

Liquefied Natural Gas ◽

Gas Industry ◽

Natural Gas Industry ◽

Production Techniques ◽

International Demand ◽

Advanced Drilling ◽

Local Use

This article discusses the economic growth opportunities due to liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the United States. Advanced drilling and production techniques have given the United States more natural gas than its markets can handle. Converting that bounty into liquefied natural gas promises to transform the U.S. gas industry into a global energy power. LNG is the generally preferred form of natural gas for use in long-haul heavy-duty trucks, because liquefying it reduces volume. More fuel can be loaded into the tank. Local-use vehicles, which operate from a central yard, often use CNG. For LNG, the only serious limits that people are talking about today are related to infrastructure costs, particularly in the development of exports. Even if the international demand for LNG stays high, exports from the United States cannot happen for a few years because of the time needed for plant construction. Optimism reigns among players throughout the natural gas industry.

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Finding Fault with the Nexus Pipeline? Agency Capture and the Public Good

Case Studies in the Environment ◽

10.1525/cse.2017.sc.453098 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Andrew R. Kear

Keyword(s):

Natural Gas ◽

Environmental Impact ◽

Public Good ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Environmental Impact Statement ◽

Gas Industry ◽

The Public ◽

Fracturing Process ◽

Natural Gas Industry ◽

Regulatory Commission

Natural gas is an increasingly vital U.S. energy source that is presently being tapped and transported across state and international boundaries. Controversy engulfs natural gas, from the hydraulic fracturing process used to liberate it from massive, gas-laden Appalachian shale deposits, to the permitting and construction of new interstate pipelines bringing it to markets. This case explores the controversy flowing from the proposed 256-mile-long interstate Nexus pipeline transecting northern Ohio, southeastern Michigan and terminating at the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. As the lead agency regulating and permitting interstate pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is also tasked with mitigating environmental risks through the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act's Environmental Impact Statement process. Pipeline opponents assert that a captured federal agency ignores public and scientific input, inadequately addresses public health and safety risks, preempts local control, and wields eminent domain powers at the expense of landowners, cities, and everyone in the pipeline path. Proponents counter that pipelines are the safest means of transporting domestically abundant, cleaner burning, affordable gas to markets that will boost local and regional economies and serve the public good. Debates over what constitutes the public good are only one set in a long list of contentious issues including pipeline safety, proposed routes, property rights, public voice, and questions over the scientific and democratic validity of the Environmental Impact Statement process. The Nexus pipeline provides a sobering example that simple energy policy solutions and compromise are elusive—effectively fueling greater conflict as the natural gas industry booms.

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