DC Circuit to review ruling on landowner 'limbo' in gas pipeline cases
In a case that could have implications for the timing of natural gas pipeline construction, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has agreed to reconsider a ruling on whether Federal Energy Regulatory Commission practices deprive property owners of a fair process in natural gas pipeline cases. Judge Patricia Millet had slammed FERC's practice of putting off ultimate decisions on rehearing orders for months, finding the agency's approach put landowners in "administrative limbo" while construction is allowed to proceed.
Trans Mountain starts pipeline construction to almost triple system capacity
Canadian government-owned Trans Mountain Corp. has launched pipeline construction of its 590,000 barrel-per-day expansion and plans to have the first stretch of pipe in the ground before the end of the year. Politicians and company officials gathered Dec. 3 at a construction site on the wind-swept prairie just west of Edmonton, Alberta, to mark the first phase of actual excavation and pipe-laying in the long-delayed project.
Williams withdraws gas pipe expansion permit applications in New Jersey
Williams Cos. Inc. has withdrawn permit applications in New Jersey for its 400 MMcf/d Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline expansion in response to criticism from state regulators who identified shortcomings with the application. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in a Nov. 27 letter said Williams subsidiary Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC asked to withdraw each of the pending permit applications in the state.
Cheniere seeks to resume service on 1 storage tank at Sabine Pass in near term
Cheniere Energy Inc. wants to prioritize returning to service one of two storage tanks that have been offline for almost two years at its Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana as global demand is expected to pick up through the winter. The company said in a letter to U.S. regulators released Dec. 2 that the approach would allow it to utilize the first tank in the near term while it continues to work to meet requirements needed to resume service on the second tank.
Williams sues Texas regulator over Permian gas flaring permitting
Pipeline giant Williams Cos. Inc. filed suit against the Texas Railroad Commission, claiming the regulator disregarded state law that limits natural gas flaring in its decision to allow an oil and gas driller to continue flaring from its Eagle Ford Shale wells. In the lawsuit, Williams said the Texas Railroad Commission's vote to grant a renewal of Exco Resources Inc.'s flaring permit sets a problematic precedent and pointed out that the commission has not denied any of the more than 27,000 requests for flaring permits the agency has received in the past seven years.
Cancer-stricken Aliso Canyon investigator accuses SoCalGas of defaming him
An investigator with cancer who was looking into the massive 2015 Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility leak accused Sempra Energy and subsidiary Southern California Gas Co. of defamation for suggesting that he may have manipulated a report on the leak. The California Public Utilities Commission employee, Kenneth Bruno, filed a personal injury lawsuit against SoCalGas after he developed a rare blood cancer, which his lawyers link to the four-month leak.