China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has signed a cooperation framework agreement with Shenergy Group and Yangkou Port Co. Ltd. to build the Rudong-Haimen-Chongming natural gas pipeline. The 89.5-km pipeline will deliver 2.4 billion cu m/year from Jiangsu province to Chongming Island in Shanghai.

A group of US Midcontinent mayors and the American Petroleum Institute separately urged the US Department of Energy to authorize LNG exports.

PetroChina let a compression contract for its Third West-East Pipeline Project (WEPP 3) to Rolls-Royce.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) has begun restoring the flow of an estimated 80,000 b/d of crude oil in the Brent pipeline system following a precautionary pipeline shutdown because of a hydrocarbon release into a platform leg on the Cormorant Alpha platform, which remains shutin.

Project permits from federal agencies other than the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are taking interstate pipelines longer to obtain since passage of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, a new study by the INGAA Foundation found.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) shut down Cormorant Alpha platform in the northern UK North Sea and the Brent System pipeline infrastructure extending through the platform as a precaution following a hydrocarbon release into one platform leg.

Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd., a Chevron Corp. subsidiary, has completed pipe-end measurement of 19,402 20-in. and 22-in. OD joints for its Congo River Crossing Pipeline project.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP is expanding its Houston Ship Channel liquids storage and docking services. The expansion will include the purchase of 42 acres, building a ship dock to handle ocean-going vessels, and building 1.2 million bbl of liquids storage tanks.

Joe Oliver, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, noted strengthened environmental protections introduced by the Canadian government regarding transport of its energy resources as part of remarks welcoming Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project.

The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s new chairman raised questions about an independent study the US Department of Energy is using to determine whether applications to export LNG are in the national interest.

Policies that encourage responsible development of more US oil and gas could significantly help the nation address its serious federal budget deficit and unemployment problems, US Chamber of Commerce Pres. Thomas J. Donohue said.

Progress Energy Canada Ltd. has selected TransCanada Corp. to design, build, own, and operate the proposed 470-mile Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project.

Southern Pacific Resources Corp. said rail shipments have begun of diluted bitumen (dilbit) produced at its STP-McKay thermal oil sands project in Alberta to a terminal in Mississippi as production at the project ramps up (OGJ Online, Oct. 11, 2012).

The Association of Oil Pipelines (AOPL) asked the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Jan. 7 to fix a developing dispute that the trade association says threatens pipelines’ ability to get financing for new construction.