6
World Pipelines
/
JANUARY 2015
IN BRIEF
Nigeria
Oando Energy Resources Inc., Nigeria,
has announced the completion of the
45 000 bpd, 51 km Umugini pipeline. The
pipeline will provide an alternative
evacuation route for crude oil produced
from the Ebendo Field through the Trans
Forcados export pipeline. The
completion of the Umugini pipeline
ensures that the Ebendo field can
produce at its full capacity.
Pade Durotoye, Chief Executive
Officer, Oando Energy Resources, said:
“The completion of the Umugini pipeline
now allows us to maximise the value of
our investments to date on the asset and
provides the latitude for further
profitable development of prospects and
resources identified in Ebendo.”
Israel
The company responsible for a massive
oil spill in Israel’s south in November
2014 has been banned from operating
the faulty pipeline for the time being.
The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company
(EAPC) had maintained the Trans-Israel
pipeline, which was damaged during
maintenance and is said to have sent
some 3 million litres of oil gushing into
the southern desert, severely damaging a
nature reserve and other areas.
The Environmental Protection
Ministry said the company has to stop
operating the line, a major oil conduit
between the Mediterranean and the Red
Sea, until it is issued a new permit.
Norway
Gassco has received consent from
Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority
(PSA) to use the Knarr gas export
pipeline. The Knarr field is located in
block 34/3 in the Tampen area of the
North Sea.
Gas will be transported in a 106 km
pipeline tied to the FLAGS pipeline
system on the UK Continental Shelf for
onward transport to St. Fergus in
Scotland. Gassco AS will be the pipeline
operator when gas transport begins.
The PSA has now given Gassco
consent to put the pipeline into
commission. The UK authorities will also
need to provide consent for the 12 km
section of the pipeline on the UK Shelf.
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rld News
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Eustream plans new pipeline
According to local reports, Eustream is
planning to construct a new gas
pipeline from Slovakia to the Bulgarian-
Turkish border.
The proposed pipeline, providing an
alternative to the recently terminated
South Stream project, would supply the
Balkans with gas from sources different
from Russia. This would ensure that
countries such as Bulgaria and Serbia
could receive gas even if Russian
supplies via Ukraine are disrupted.
The new ‘Eastring’ gas pipeline,
which will have a capacity of
approximately 20 billion m
3
/yr and
cost Eustream around
e
750 million
(US$928 million), would reportedly
connect to the company’s existing
system, which has a capacity of more
than 80 billion m
3
, to Ukraine’s Soyuz
pipeline leading to the Romanian
border.
According to press reports,
Eustream is planning to present the
project to the Slovak Industry Ministry
in coming weeks.
New pipelines in Australia
and Colombia
Spiecapag (VINCI Construction) has won
one contract in Australia and two in
Colombia for the construction of two
gas pipelines and one oil pipeline.
Australian company APA, the
leading gas operator in Australia,
awarded the joint venture formed by
Spiecapag (lead company) and Lucas a
contract for the construction of the
Eastern Goldfield Pipeline, a 300 km gas
pipeline in Western Australia, about
1000 km to the east of Perth. It will
cross a near-desert region and work will
be carried out between March and
November 2015.
The contract is worth
AUS$60 million and bolsters the
presence of Spiecapag in Australia
following on from its work in 2013 and
2014 on the QCLNG Trunklines North
project for QGC (British Gas) in
Queensland.
In Colombia, Ecopetrol awarded the
joint venture formed by Spiecapag (lead
company) and Colombian company
Ismocol a contract for the construction
of the first 37 km section of an oil
pipeline to the south-east of Bogota,
with an option to construct an
additional 40 km section.
Also in Colombia, Pacific Stratus
awarded the Golfo de Morrosquillo
(CGM) consortium headed by Spiecapag
a contract for a project to export
natural gas, including the construction
of an 80 km onshore gas pipeline and a
4 km offshore gas pipeline, as well as
civil engineering for a maritime terminal
and construction of its structures.
TAPI pipeline hits production
sharing roadblock
The fate of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-
Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline hangs in
the balance, despite recent progress and
with construction expected to begin this
year. Turkmenistan has argued that its
current laws do not permit the granting of
production-sharing rights for onshore blocks
to foreign companies. This has halted
negotiations and restricted the number of
foreign companies coming forward to build
the pipeline.
Sunil Jain, India’s Ambassador to
Turkmenistan, recently conveyed to
PetroleumMinister Dharmendra Pradhan
that Ashgabat has ruled out signing a
production-sharing contract (PSC) with any
foreign company for extraction of gas from
its fields. “The only possibility they are
willing to consider is a consortium of
national oil companies of all four
participating countries, with Turkmengaz, the
national oil company of Turkmenistan, as
the consortium leader,” a source said.
Recent moves have given TAPI a sudden
burst of momentum. First, the four countries
set up a new company to “build, own, and
operate” the 1800 km pipeline. The TAPI
Pipeline Company Limited will see
Turkmengaz, Afghan Gas Enterprise, Inter
State Gas Systems (Private) Limited, and
GAIL (India) Limited with equal shares.
Second, a batch of recent meetings have
resulted in a handful of commitments. The
four countries are said to have agreed to
begin constructing the pipeline by 2016, with
completion by the end of 2018.
No energy majors have yet signed up for
the pipeline, though the field appears to be
narrowing.
