The project is part of the wider cooperation between Eni and Rosneft sanctioned under the Strategic Cooperation Agreement entered into by the parties on 25th April 2012

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Rail delivery of U.S. oil and petroleum products increases at a slows pace

Rail Delivery Increases as U.S. Oil Production Outstrips Pipeline Capacity

U.S. Crude Oil Production Outstrips Pipeline Capacity- Rely More on Rail Delivery

According to Association of American Railroads, the amount of crude oil and refined petroleum products transported by rail totaled close to 356,000 carloads during the first half of 2013, up 48% from the same period in 2012. With U.S. crude oil production at the highest level in two decades, outstripping pipeline capacity, the United States is relying more on railroads to move its new crude oil to refineries and storage centers.

U.S. weekly car loadings of crude oil and petroleum products averaged nearly 13,700 rail tankers during the January-June 2013 period. With one rail carload holding about 700 barrels, the amount of crude oil and petroleum products shipped by rail was equal to 1.37 million barrels per day during the first half of 2013, up from 927,000 barrels per day during the first six months of last year. AAR data do not differentiate between crude oil and petroleum products, but it is generally believed that most of the volume being moved in the 2006-10 periods was petroleum products and most of the increase since then has been crude oil. Crude oil accounts for about half of those 2013 daily volumes, according to AAR.

The roughly 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil, which includes both imported and domestic crude oil, moved by rail compares with the 7.2 million barrels of crude oil the United States produces daily, based on the latest 2013 monthly output number from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The jump in crude oil production from North Dakota, where there is not enough pipeline capacity to move supplies, accounts for a large share of the increased deliveries of oil by rail. North Dakota is the second largest oil producing state after Texas, as advanced drilling technology has unlocked millions of barrels of tight oil in the Bakken Shale formation.

More Bakken crude oil moving to market by rail has helped narrow the difference between the spot prices for Bakken crude oil and international benchmark Brent crude oil in recent months to its smallest gap—less than $5 per barrel—in more than one-and-half years. The narrower spread reduces the incentive to ship oil to coastal refineries. This development, along with the lack of railcars, some estimates cite a 60,000 car backlog, may explain the slower growth shown in 2013 carload data.

Eni Launches "Flexible Access to European Gas", A New Offer for the Italian Gas Market

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The Attractiveness of Shale Gas Development Has Change World LNG Out Look

The announcement by Eni to offer Flexible Access to European Gas Market – is the way to go in helping both national and international gas market operators contribute significantly to the Italian economy. This new offer, which ensures that the price risk is borne by Eni, will provide operators with the certainty of having access to foreign markets without incurring the cost beforehand. Nothing further from the truth- this is one of the sure ways to encourage operators and it is a step in the right direction.

The impact of shale gas boom on the U.S. energy landscape, as a reference case and around the global energy sectors indeed brighten the worlds LNG outlook for good. Shell’s Upstream International Director, Andy Brown rightly put: “LNG will play a vital role in linking the sources of supply to the sources of demand across the world”. He predict that global demand for LNG would double between now and 2025. Just as we see Eni opening the Italian market to take on European gas market. Australia is doubling the size of its LNG terminal for export. In the US, the attractiveness of Shale LNG boom has made the U S to consider exporting gas to non-free trade countries.

Climate change impact on the energy sector – a case study of the United State is in the issue. The nation’s ability to produce, deliver, and store energy is affected by climate change. The report put together by the U S department of Energy is a wakeup call for all stakeholders both in the public and private sector to be prepared and resilience of the energy sector will need to increase, given the challenges identified.

On energy efficiency- Shell-Travel Center to Build 100 LNG Commercial Fueling Network for 18 Wheeler Trucks Nationwide while clean cities initiative is paying off as Boise buses now runs on Compress Natural Gas CNG.

The future of coal even as US Coal Exports Remains a Small Source of Asia Total Coal Imports is handle by Jamie Heller of Hellerworks. IEA forecast that Renewables will Outpace Gas by 2016 in Power Generation and lots more.

Eni Offers Flexible Access to European Gas Market

Eni, within the Anigas annual meeting, announced the launch of a new offering for national and international gas market operators that will contribute significantly to the development of a more liquid, efficient and transparent Italian market. The new offering is an innovation in the way the company will provide access to unused import capacity on international gas pipelines.

Eni will offer the "Flexible access to European gas" solution: in view of payment of a limited initial fixed cost, the subscriber of the product will be able to choose each month whether or not to purchase the transport capacity at the cost paid by Eni, paying for the service only when it decides to use it. This new solution, which ensures that the price risk is borne by Eni, will provide operators with the certainty of having access to foreign markets without incurring the cost beforehand. This will encourage operators to trade gas on the Italian virtual trading point. This new offering will add to the traditional capacity auctions which, due to the volatility in price and demand, recently experienced low interest from operators.

Facilitating access to the European gas market will significantly contribute to the development of liquidity in the Italian market. Liquidity is a fundamental requirement for a well-functioning market and therefore for security of supply. Liquidity also aids the formation of a universally recognized, transparent reference price, as a reliable indicator of actual market conditions. Furthermore, the development of liquidity will provide new opportunities for trading and the optimization of the operators’ gas asset portfolios.

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First-Ever National Assessment of Geologic CO2 Storage Potential

First-Ever Comprehensive National Assessment of Geologic CO2 Storage Potential

Following the national plan to combat climate change by the US president Barack Obama, the first-ever detailed national geologic carbon sequestration assessment released y by the U.S. Geological Survey USGS shows that the United States has the potential to store a mean of 3,000 metric gigatons of carbon dioxide CO2 in geologic basins throughout the country.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said, “This USGS research is ground-breaking because it is the first realistic view of technically accessible carbon storage capacity in these basins. If enough of this capacity also proves to be environmentally and economically viable, then geologic carbon sequestration could help us reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.”

Based on present-day geologic and hydrologic knowledge of the subsurface and current engineering practices, this assessment looked at the potential for CO2 storage in 36 basins in the United States. The largest potential by far is in the Coastal Plains region, which accounts for 2,000 metric gigatons, or 65 percent, of the storage potential. Two other regions with significant storage capacity include the Alaska region and the Rocky Mountains and Northern Great Plains region.

Technically accessible storage resources are those that can be accessed using today’s technology and pressurization and injection techniques. The most common method of geologic carbon storage involves pressurizing CO2 gas into a liquid, and then injecting it into subsurface rock layers for long-term storage.

Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes said, “Today's assessment from the USGS is just the latest example of how the Department of the Interior is applying rigorous, peer-reviewed science to some of our nation's most complex land- and resource-management challenges. Nowhere is this more important than the issue of climate change and today's new research adds to the USGS's groundbreaking work in biological carbon sequestration to better inform our carbon reduction efforts."

This assessment goes further than all previous assessments in considering the viability of sequestration. For example, all areas with groundwater sources that are considered freshwater by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA standards were eliminated from consideration for carbon storage resource potential in this assessment. In addition, the rock layers included in the assessment were limited to those determined to have sufficient natural seals to prevent CO2 from escaping. This assessment also focused only on rock layers located at depths at which CO2 would stay under sufficient pressure to remain liquid.

The study did not evaluate economic viability or accessibility due to land-management or regulatory restrictions for geologic carbon sequestration within these basins.

The assessment is also the first geologically based and probabilistic assessment, estimating a range of 2,400 to 3,700 metric gigatons of CO2 storage potential across the United States. For comparison, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that in 2011, the United States emitted 5.5 metric gigatons of energy-related CO2, while the global emissions of energy-related CO2 totaled 31.6 metric gigatons. Metric gigatons are a billion metric tons.

"Today's climate challenges require new, scientifically supported solutions like storing the carbon dioxide created by use of fossil fuels, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere," said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle. “This new study provides the scientific underpinning needed to better manage options related to reducing emissions that contribute to climate change."

Although the scope of sequestration included in this assessment is unprecedented, injecting CO2 into geologic formations is not a new process or technology. Carbon dioxide injection has been one method of enhanced oil recovery since the 1980s. The process works by flooding the oil reservoir with liquid CO2, which reduces the viscosity of the hydrocarbons and allows them to flow to the well more easily.

The USGS project results announced today represent an assessment of storage capacity on a regional and national basis, and results are not intended for use in the evaluation of specific sites for potential CO2 storage.

All sedimentary basins in the United States were evaluated, but 36 were assessed because existing geologic conditions or the available data suggested only these 36 met the assessment’s minimum criteria.

The geologic foundation that underpins the assessment was facilitated by data provided by the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and State geological surveys. The methodology for the assessment released today was developed by the USGS and consistently applied across all 36 basins, so that results are comparable. This national assessment complements the regional estimates that the Department of Energy includes in their periodically updated Atlas.

The USGS has a long history of assessing national and global oil and gas resources. In 2007, Congress authorized the USGS to conduct the carbon sequestration assessment in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 Public Law 110-140. In addition to geologic carbon sequestration, the USGS also studies biologic carbon sequestration— sequestration that happens naturally in trees, fields, and different types of ecosystems that store carbon. The USGS has already completed assessments for the Great Plains Region and the western U.S.; reports on the eastern U.S., Alaska and Hawaii will follow.
Tethering Digital Pressure Gauge Display

As much as we don’t like to admit it, using a digital pressure gauge doesn’t always make a lot of sense in certain places. Let’s face it; you often need pressure gauges in locations that are impossible to see without stooping or peeking behind pipes.

The common alternative is to use a pressure transducer (without a display) and purchase a separate display. There is nothing wrong with this solution – other than the fact it can be done in a less expensive way. How? With a digital pressure gauge from our PG series, of course!

Hoping to save money, some of our customers came to us years ago and requested we tether our digital pressure gauge displays to their sensors with a cable – instead of mounting them directly on the sensor. This way, they could mount the digital display in a convenient location for the cost of a single gauge. It was an easy modification that has helped many since then.

A Tethered Digital Pressure Gauge In Real Life

For the sake of real world examples, let us tell you about a local municipality’s use of a tethered digital pressure gauge:

The City of Logan (our home town) wanted to put some digital pressure gauges on their lift station pumps. They chose our PG10 for enhanced readability and all the digital gauge functionality goodness. However, they just didn’t want to have to open the door to the pump house just to check the gauges.