I N N O V AT I O N S • J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 1 4
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more producers are recognizing the importance of
NGL sales to their bottom lines.
While the United States is ahead in the
commercial development of natural gas assets – a
June 2012 Energy Information Agency (EIA) report
said the country’s NGL production could more than
double from 2.2 million bbl/d in 2011 to 5 million
in 2040 – it’s not the only nation seeking to achieve
energy security and self-sufficiency through shale.
An EIA report revealed 41 countries outside
of the United States with recoverable shale oil and
shale gas reserves. The list is led by China, which
has 31.6 tcm of shale gas, and has already spent
US$1.3 billion exploring its shale reserves. Russia
has the infrastructure in place to capitalize on one
of the world’s largest accumulations of shale oil,
about 2000 miles (1240 km) east of Moscow, in
Siberia. Indonesia is in the early stages of shale
development, as is Australia. The
government of Algeria is using
incentives to attract foreign
investors; similarly, in the
UK, gas field allowances
are promoting early
investment and tax
breaks have been
designed to appeal to
fracking companies.
Meanwhile, as
natural gas production
in the United States
continues to grow,
current pipeline capacity is
struggling to keep up. In order
to better utlize NGL resources,
more companies are including new
pipelines in their capital investment budgets.
Shale Development Regulation
and Piggable Pipelines
In particular, North American pipeline expansion
projects will include new gathering lines – and lots
of them. In fact, according to Olga Kondratieva,
T.D. Williamson’s Director of Pigging Technology,
it is estimated that 16,500 miles (26,554 km) of
new gathering lines will be constructed annually
in North America through 2035, for a total of
400,000 miles (643,720 km) of new gathering lines
in slightly more than two decades.
Kondratieva says that many current gathering
lines are considered difficult to pig – in other
words, the lines can’t easily be inspected or cleaned
by standard tools because of diameter differences,
acute bends, or other characteristics that prevent
the tools from negotiating the pipe.
The network of new gathering lines will be a
different story, however.
One reason is that operators are
anticipating regulatory action by
the US Pipeline and Hazardous
Material Safety Administration
(PHMSA), which is
expected to begin calling
for gathering line integrity
inspections – inspections
that can only be performed
on piggable lines.
Above the call for
inspections, there are some
very enticing (and profitable)
benefits to piggable lines.
First, pigging enables the
removal of impurities that can cause
corrosion, increase clogging and impede
production. Anything that can help increase the
DAILY CLEANING
with spheres
helps operators fully
leverage pipeline
assets, ensure pipeline
integrity and extract
valuable NGL
condensates.
United States
Natural Gas Liquids
Production and
Projections
2040
2020
2011
0 bbl/d
2,500,000
bbl/d
5,000,000
bbl/d
2.2 MILLION BBL/D
EIA PROJECTS
3–4 MILLION BBL/D
EIA PROJECTS
5 MILLION BBL/D
