Transportation news briefs, June 9

June 9, 2000
Millennium Pipeline Co. ... Oil Tanking Inc. ... Equilon Pipeline Co. ... Black Hills Millennium Pipeline ... Black Hills Energy Pipeline ... Indian Oil Corp. ... Alpha Process Controls International


Millennium Pipeline Co. LP, Houston, on May 30 completed its first pipeline deliveries of crude oil from Beaumont, Tex., to connecting carriers in Longview, Tex. June nominations for the new pipeline system will average 50,000 b/d, says Millennium. The 12-in. diameter, 200-mile pipeline has a design capacity of about 67,000 b/d. The system receives waterborne crude from Oil Tanking Inc. docks at Beaumont and has the potential to interconnect with other pipelines to receive crude for delivery to multiple locations in the Longview area. Millennium is a joint venture of Equilon Pipeline Co. LLC, Black Hills Millennium Pipeline Inc., and Black Hills Energy Pipeline LLC, all based in Houston.

Indian Oil Corp. has awarded a second major contract to Alpha Process Controls International Ltd., based in northeastern England. The new contract for 160 loading arm and quick release self-sealing coupling systems follows a contract awarded last year for 202 systems for 18 LPG terminals throughout India. The systems are being used to safely offload LPG road tankers throughout India. In the event of a drive-away, the coupling is mechanically activated to automatically disconnect the loading arm from the tanker, shutting down the product flow immediately.

Russia's Yukos awarded pump manufacturer Sulzer Pumps UK Ltd., Leeds, an order for two multiphase pumps to solve a production constraint at Priobskoye oil field in western Siberia. The constraint is caused by the limited capacity of a pipeline that links production from downhole pumps on the right bank of the river Ob with treatment facilities on the left bank. Driven only by the natural pressure of unprocessed effluent from the wellheads, the pipeline is limited to a throughput of 1.8 million tonnes/year, whereas the right bank will be capable of producing 4.7 million tonnes/year by 2001. Unlike conventional pumps, the recent development of the multiphase pump allows untreated effluent, containing gas and impurities as well as oil, to be pumped. That will increase capacity through the existing pipeline, Sulzer says.