Report Volume XXI, Number 8, December 15th, 2009
Posted by pcook on December 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, TX) – Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP announced recently that each of its 42-inch pipeline projects, the East Texas Pipeline, Southeast Expansion and the Gulf Crossing Pipeline, have received authorization from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to operate at their full design capacity of .80 of the specified minimum yield strength (SMYS) effective immediately. Previously, each of these projects had been operating at .72 SMYS. Rolf Gafvert, Chief Executive Officer for Boardwalk, said, “We are pleased to receive this approval from PHMSA and look forward to operating our 42-inch pipeline systems as they were originally designed.”
Recently, Boardwalk announced the sale of an additional 156 million cubic feet per day of capacity on the Haynesville Project under a 15-year agreement. The additional capacity was contingent upon receiving today’s approval to operate at .80 SMYS.
The East Texas Pipeline originates near Carthage, Texas and proceeds to Harrisville, Mississippi. The Southeast Expansion project originates near Harrisville, Mississippi and extends to an interconnect with Transcontinental Pipe Line Company in Choctaw County, Alabama (Transco Station 85). The Gulf Crossing Pipeline originates near Sherman, Texas and proceeds to the Perryville, Louisiana area.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP, is a limited partnership engaged, through its subsidiaries, Gulf Crossing Pipeline Company LLC, Gulf South Pipeline Company, LP, and Texas Gas Transmission, LLC, in the interstate transportation and storage of natural gas. Boardwalk’s interstate natural gas pipeline systems have approximately 14,200 miles of pipeline and under ground storage fields having aggregate working gas capacity of approximately 163 Bcf.
INDUSTRY NEWS (Houston, Texas) – CRC-Evans Automatic Welding is providing equipment for a gas pipeline project that is currently underway in France and scheduled for completion in early 2010.
Known as the Beauce-Mantois Link, the project is designed to supplement the existing Beauce pipeline with a pipeline between Saint-Arnoult-des-Bois and Fontenay-Mauvoisin, an area west-southwest of Paris. Pipeline owner GRTgaz and contractor Ghizzoni S.p.A. are constructing the pipeline link that will comprise approximately 40 miles (65 km) of 36-inch pipe. For the job, Ghizzoni has chosen the Internal Welding Machine, and the P260 and P600 fill pass automatic welding machines manufactured by CRC-Evans.
The P260 welder provides tip-to-work tracking, 32-pass programmable welding, PDA downloads in the field, and positionbased parameter control. The P600, the latest generation in external welding equipment, features either dual or single torch, a secure smart card and an onboard computer that ensures precise control of parameters.
“Our experience has led to technology innovations that make a real difference in quality and productivity on jobs like this,” said Brian Laing, president and COO of CRC-Evans Pipeline Equipment and Automatic Welding Group. “The P260 and P600 welders will be powerful assets on the French pipeline project.”
CRC-Evans Automatic Welding designs and builds the world’s most widely used automatic welding system for land or offshore pipeline construction. In addition to renting or selling these systems to contractors on a project basis, the division provides other specialized services such as engineering, on-site technicians, and training. The company is a subsidiary of CRCEvans Pipeline International, a leading provider of specialized equipment and services for the construction of pipelines. CRC-Evans manufactures pipeline construction equipment and automatic welding systems, and provides managed subsea services, field joint coating, weighting, heat treatment, and inspection services. Based in Houston, CRC-Evans maintains offices in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.