Colonial Pipeline Responds to Protest Towards Pipeline Adjustments

Colonial Pipeline Co. defended a proposal for operational modifications on its gas community after objections from oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. and commodities dealer Trafigura.

Colonial, which operates the biggest gasoline pipeline within the US, stated the modifications “will improve pipeline integrity and reliability and create extra capability for shippers” in a Monday submitting with the US Federal Power Regulatory Fee. 

Based on the submitting, the proposed modifications would mitigate dangers related to “stress biking,” which happens when modifications in inside stress result in stress within the pipe wall.

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By transporting fewer merchandise on the pipeline route, amongst different modifications, “Colonial will expertise fewer phase slowdowns and shutdowns (and the related restarts) that extra regularly come up when transporting a number of merchandise in the identical cycle,” the corporate stated within the submitting.

Trafigura, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and a number of other different refiners beforehand filed motions asking the regulator to dam Colonial’s proposed modifications. Among the many potential modifications are halting the transport of risky grade 5 gasoline on the maxed-out pipeline and boosting capability by a number of thousand barrels a day.

Shippers on the system, which transports about 2.5 million barrels of gas a day from the refinery belt of Texas and Louisiana to demand facilities within the East Coast, say the modifications will contribute to operational hurdles and better prices.

Massive swaths of the East Coast, the place a number of refineries have shuttered lately, rely upon Colonial’s pipeline to satisfy gas demand, giving it an outsized impact on the home gas market. If authorised, the modifications would probably take impact in September.

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