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Tulsa-based Magellan Midstreammay reverse the direction of flow on a section of its Houston-to-El Paso pipeline for refined products and begin sending crude oil to Houston on it instead. The current Longhorn Pipeline transports about 90,000 barrels per day of refined products. But potential shippers have expressed enough interest in turning the line into a crude oil transporter that Magellan is moving forward with permitting and final engineering, said CEO Mike Mears. A section of the line from Crane, Texas, to Houston would be reversed (see map), allowing for the flow of up to 200,000 barrels per day of crude...

Environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth, have raised concerns that the pipeline could foul underground and surface water supplies, increase air pollution around refineries and harm wildlife. They also have speculated about what they consider inadequate pipeline safety and emergency spill responses….. Supporters say the project could be a boon for U.S. jobs and energy production while strengthening a friendly source of oil.

The declining flow of crude in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline could be stemmed, independent companies operating in the state said Feb. 18, and illustrated to the House Resources Committee two ways that could happen. AVCG, Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. and Great Bear Petroleum LLC, testifying in favor of the governor’s proposal to increase investment by reducing oil taxes, House Bill 110, discussed two ways increased volumes of oil could be increased. AVCG LLC, formed in 2000, is the holding company for Brooks Range Petroleum Corp. BRPC was established as the operating company for AVCG and has been drilling on the...

Following January leak, pipeline regulators cite risks, hand Alyeska to-do list - - - - - The operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline expects to make a prompt reply to federal regulators, who on Feb. 1 issued a proposed order to address problems they say could pose a public safety risk. Michelle Egan, spokeswoman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., told Petroleum News on Feb. 14 her company’s reply letter was “in the draft review stage.” She further said Alyeska is likely to take issue with parts of the eight-page notice it received from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration,...

A federal pipeline safety office investigation says the trans-Alaska pipeline poses a risk to public safety and the environment and that issues tied to corrosion, inspection and pipeline restarts after shutdowns must be addressed. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration handed Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. a list of proposed corrective measures tied to challenges that have spun off from having too little oil in the 48-inch diameter, 800-mile pipeline. The pipeline currently operates at less than one-third capacity from its peak of 2.1 million barrels per day. Less through-put means decreased crude oil temperatures and conditions that lead to...

Law makers in Alaska called on TransCanada Corp. to fish or have their state-sponsored bait cut, introducing a bill Friday to abandon backing the massive project unless the company proves it has firm shipper commitments. The bill introduced by four Republican representatives Friday, raises questions about the future of the massive $30-$40 billion line that would ship natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to Alberta. An open season, where pipeline companies seek commitment from shippers to fill up their lines, came back without formal agreements last year, leading to the bill being introduced by disgruntled state representatives. TransCanada said it...

Visits by Canadian prime ministers to the White House rarely generate the kind of American media attention that Ottawa hopes for — too often Canada's message is lost in the dust kicked up by the crisis of the day confronting the president of the United States. The trend for the most part continued on Friday, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama inked a border declaration that could establish a North American security perimeter. As Harper started talking about the importance of the Canada-U.S. relationship, CNN cut away. Egypt dominated. But one side issue on the Harper-Obama...

An Israeli Cabinet minister says Israel should speed up development of its own natural gas fields in the wake of a pipeline explosion in Egypt that led to a temporary interruption of supplies to Israel and Jordan. Egyptian state media and local government officials said they suspected sabotage in Saturday's pipeline explosion at a gas terminal in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula. Gas flow was temporarily shut down. The incident has Israel worried. Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas, most of it used in power stations. The gas deal is a cornerstone of peaceful relations, but Israel fears...

* State TV says lines to Jordan, Israel affected * Islamist groups called for pipeline attack - SITE * Security source say army closes main source of flow CAIRO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up a pipeline that runs through Egypt's North Sinai and supplies gas to Israel, state television and other sources reported on Saturday. State TV quoted an official as saying that the "situation is very dangerous and explosions were continuing from one spot to another" along the pipeline. "It is a big terrorist operation", a state TV reporter said. A security source said the Egyptian army...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a personal pitch Friday for President Barack Obama to support a controversial $7 billion pipeline that could double the amount of Alberta oilsands crude exported to the United States. Harper confirmed he pressed Obama on Calgary-based TransCanada's proposed Keystone XL pipeline during the two leaders' hour-long meeting at the White House. The planned 3,200-kilometre pipeline, which would run from Hardisty, Alberta to the Gulf Coast of Texas, is currently in limbo as the State Department weighs whether to grant a presidential permit allowing construction to begin. In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Harper was asked...

CAIRO (AFP) – Unknown saboteurs attacked an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Jordan, forcing authorities to switch off gas supply from a twin pipeline to Israel, an official told AFP. The attackers used explosives against the pipeline in the town of Lihfen in northern Sinai, near the Gaza Strip, the official said. It was initially thought the pipeline to Israel was attacked.

Leading state lawmakers introduced legislation Friday to abandon a centerpiece of former Gov. Sarah Palin's administration: a state-sanctioned effort to advance a major natural gas pipeline. The measure from Alaska House Republicans underscored the impatience and skepticism that many lawmakers have expressed about the current process and a belief the state is no closer than it was several years ago to realizing the long-hoped-for line. Under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act championed by fellow Republican Palin, the state promised TransCanada Corp. up to $500 million to advance a line. TransCanada won the exclusive license in 2008. The state has reported...

The nation’s largest oil industry trade group today called on the Obama administration to give the green light to the Keystone XL pipeline that would deliver tar sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to southeast Texas refineries. Cindy Schild, the refining issues manager for the American Petroleum Institute, called the imminent decision “a matter of critical national interest.” “Not only is this a chance for the White House to strengthen U.S. energy security and help plan for the nation’s energy future, but it is also an opportunity to take a specific, public and dramatic action in support of creating new U.S....

Last week's shutdown of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, a major artery for U.S. oil, may signal trouble ahead for Alaska's aging oil infrastructure, including more frequent incidents that could damage the environment and cause oil prices to soar. Workers braved sub-zero temperatures to install a bypass around a small leak at TAPS, allowing the line that ships 12 per cent of domestic crude supplies to restart on Monday, and halting the advance of oil prices toward $100 a barrel. But the smooth fix belies an ominous lesson from last week's near disaster. Officials and experts said shutdowns at TAPS...

Christmas came and went, and then the new year, and Alaska is still waiting for its present from TransCanada -- signed agreements with gas shippers that would show its North Slope pipeline project is moving forward. "We did set out a target, and sometimes you achieve it and sometimes it takes you a little bit longer," said Tony Palmer, TransCanada Corp.'s vice president of Alaska development. "This is a very large and complex project." Palmer's company, with partner Exxon Mobil, has a state license and state subsidies to build the multibillion-dollar line as the Alaska Pipeline Project. He had expressed...

Day 4 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline shutdown: The biggest operator on the North Slope was preparing to pump oil back into the ground. Environmental officials were supporting a plan that allows some more oil to leak in order to prevent bigger problems. And a whirlwind of activity was under way to make repairs and get oil pulsing through the pipeline again. As temperatures dropped at Prudhoe Bay and the shutdown of the 800-mile pipeline continued Tuesday, federal and state regulators agreed to allow Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. to temporarily restart the flow of oil even though some will ooze...

The shutdown of the trans-Alaska pipeline is likely to extend into a fourth day, making it the third-longest closure in the line's 33-year history. Officials haven't yet announced how or when they intend to restart it, which is challenging in the dead of winter. About 600,000 barrels of crude oil -- some $50 million worth -- that normally would pulse into the pipeline remain in the ground every day it is shut down. North Slope oil field operators are producing only about 5 percent of their usual amount, or about 30,000 barrels a day. Every day of the shutdown costs...

The 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline remained shut down late Saturday after crews discovered a leak at Pump Station 1 on the North Slope earlier in the morning. North Slope oil producers have been asked to cut their production to 5 percent of normal, a level expected to be reached by 9 a.m. today, according to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the line and its pump stations.

APNewsBreak: ND oil patch may double production APNewsBreak: Officials say North Dakota's oil patch poised to double production ap * Share * retweet * Email * Print James Macpherson, Associated Press, On Sunday January 2, 2011, 3:30 pm EST BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Government and industry officials believe North Dakota's oil patch contains more than twice the amount of oil previously estimated and that the state's already record crude production will double within the decade. If the forecast is correct, North Dakota could leapfrog in a few years from the fourth-biggest oil producing state to No. 2, trailing only Texas....

In newest forecast agency says shale gas will lower prices below breakeven - - - - - The U.S. Energy Information Administration has removed the Alaska natural gas pipeline from its newest 25-year projection of the domestic energy market to account for the rise of North American shale gas resources, but the agency also notes that the change more likely reflects a possible delay, rather than a death knell, for the long sought-after project. The statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy removed the Alaska gas pipeline from its forecast because it expects shale gas production across the U.S....