As prices and demand rise, energy firm Enbridge Inc. said it plans to invest more than $4 billion to expand its natural gas pipelines in British Columbia, citing new needs of LNG production projects expected to come online in the province and in the U.S.

“This expansion illustrates the immense strategic importance of our B.C. natural gas system in supplying regional and global energy demand with low-emission natural gas,” said Cynthia Hansen, president of the firm’s gas transmission and midstream operation.

Enbridge said it plans to spend an estimated $2.7 billion to expand the T-South pipeline, which runs from Chetwynd, B.C., to the U.S. border, to boost its capacity by 300 million cu ft per day. Work will involve adding pipeline loops and additional compression, with construction site locations to be determined “in the coming months,” the firm said, pending talks with indigenous communities and environmental reviews.

The energy firm said it would seek federal regulatory approval in 2024 and have the line operating by 2028.

The developer also said it plans to gauge customer interest in added capacity on its T-North line in the province, which ties into T-South, and could invest an estimated $1.4 billion to expand it.

Ian Archer, S&P Global associate director of commodity insights, termed 2022 “a really banner year for gas development,” noting “very strong growth in western Canadian production.”

AUSTRALIA

First CCS Project Starts FEED

Australian energy developers Triangle Energy and Pilot Energy said they are set to start front-end engineering and design of what could become Australia’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which would also be one of the world's largest. The facility in a western Australia oil field would store up to 9.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide beneath the ocean floor, enabling injection of 665,000 metric tons per year over 15 years.

The firms now seek regulatory approvals, but a final investment decision also awaits detailed FEED completion, selection of EPC contractors and offtake deals, they said. Industry publication Upstream projects startup in 2025. Total project investment was not disclosed. It is the first CCS in the country to move forward since enabling legislation was enacted in 2006.

GLOBAL METHANE

Saipem, Worley Join Zero Push

Italy-based contractor Saipem and Australia-based design-build firm Worley recently joined, as supporters, the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative, which was created this year to focus on eliminating methane emissions from oil and gas assets by 2030. It is sponsored by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a group of 12 global oil and gas majors. “Aiming for Zero initiative is important as we work with our customers to reach near zero methane from their oil and gas assets,” said Oliver Morgan, Worley senior vice president of upstream and midstream. “Eliminating virtually all methane emissions by 2030 is possible.”

INDIA

$4.92-Billion Petrochemical Plant

Mumbai, India, industrial conglomerate Essar Group said Dec. 1 that it would build a $4.92-billion oil-to-petrochemical complex in the eastern state of Odisha in an agreement with a global firm it did not identify. The facility would produce about 7.5 million metric tons per year, it said. Firm subsidiary Essar Oil UK also said on Nov. 30 it plans to construct a carbon capture and storage facility at its U.K. refinery, with a planned investment of $432 million.