The US Department of Energy will hold a natural gas infrastructure and methane emissions workshop Nov. 12-13 in Pittsburgh as part of a broader examination of gas transmission systems from the wellhead to the end-user that it announced in late July (OGJ Online, July 31, 2014).
“Industry experts familiar with issues ranging from post-gas-processing to the meter are strongly encouraged to attend the workshop,” it said in the meeting’s notice.
DOE said it will use information from the workshop to identify opportunities for making gas transmission and distribution systems more efficient, and in detecting and eliminating leaks.
Its National Energy Technology Laboratories within the Fossil Energy Office (FEO), and the Office of Advanced Manufacturing within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy are co-hosting the workshop.
The workshop reflects growing federal attention on gas transmission systems. “There is a complex, infrastructure-intensive ‘value chain’ system for extracting, processing, storing, transporting, and distributing [gas] to end-use-customers,” FEO said in an Oct. 30 blog. “In fact, the ‘midstream infrastructure’ is a vast network of interstate and intrastate pipelines and local distribution facilities stretching across the nation.”
The network includes 305,000 miles of transmission pipelines; more than 1,400 compressor stations; more than 400 underground storage facilities; numerous gas dehydration and conditioning plants; and local distribution systems comprised of more than 1.2 million miles of main and about 1 million miles of lateral service pipelines, it continued.
The system, which was largely built in the 1950s through the ‘70s, was built for markets which have changed dramatically, the blog said. Increased unconventional gas resource development has brought issues related to midstream systems more sharply into focus, it indicated.
The US gas industry is poised to spend billions of dollars to expand and upgrade transmission and distribution systems, FEO said in its blog. “A recent study by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation forecast that $130-210 billion will need to be invested from 2009-30 on midstream infrastructure to meet projected market requirements (OGJ Online, Mar. 18, 2014),” it noted.
“Obviously, this expenditure to modernize the system is important for pipeline operators and regulated local utility distribution companies—but equally crucial is making sure enhancements and upgrades are performed in a responsible manner, in a way that ensures the role of natural gas continues to be a viable and essential energy choice for the nation in the years ahead,” FEO’s blog said.
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