Is it true that accidental rotating blackouts cut off electricity to the compressors in Feb. 21? Also, was it because of climate policy that electric compressors replaced gas-powered compressors before Feb. 2021? Electric powered equipment appears to be less reliable than gas-powered, which take fuel from the pipeline. Further, I read research that the Feb 2021 cold wave was more disruptive than the December 1989 cold wave because oil field valves and instruments used to be manually operated, whereas in Feb. 2021 they were electronically controlled, and thus more sensitive to termperature extremes and freeze ups. Based on what research I could gather, electronic controls seemed to have more risk of failing than the old methods.
Yes, the rotating blackouts in Winter Storm Uri caused many natural gas pipelines to go down because they had electric compressors. I wrote about it in 2023 (https://edireland.substack.com/p/natural-gas-pipelines-have-been-compromised). As a result of the problems in Uri, the Railroad Commission created the Office of Critical Infrastructure so electricity distributors would know where electric gas compressors are and not cut their power.Thanks for the comment, Learner! Ed
I do know there was a big push to eliminate valves that were operated by gas pressure tapped off the pipeline. The green left wanted them out because they vent a small amount of raw gas when they operate
Yes, non-venting pressure relief valves are widely used in natural gas production equipment now. Most of them recirculate the gas instead of venting it.
Thank you for the history lesson on this subject I have been watching closely for almost a year now.
I may be a bit naive, but has always seemed ridiculous to me that we have to electrify the center of our natural gas and oil production, other than the equally ridiculous mandate of Net Zero. Thank you Biden for reinforcing that move. Are we bringing power from there - or sending it to there or both?
The hype on the growth may also be overrated, but what do I know.. After listening to senate hearings last year and the comments from both PUC and ERCOT on their "sudden" estimation revelations it all seemed to be a little tenuous. If they could not see this coming doesn't give me much faith.
I remember the Lone Star line was going to save us all- then it didn't, we had no wind in West Texas to bring during URI. But it brought it's own issues, as in anywhere you see large power lines you will most lightly see wind and solar facilities pop up along those lines. That line runs just a few mils from me, with several solar facilities planned.
Now we will have a second line going through our county, since the more northern line will go just north of Stephenville over to Hood County. For now, anyway that's the plan - who knows. It could end up in my back yard. In which case I will play a NIMBY and loose! However it might change the plans of the wind facility across the street, since they appeared to be planning on the 345 kV line going just down the road.
Who will pay for it. My guess - you know who - us of course. Sure won't be the wind and solar companies - our legislators can revisit that all you want. Won't happen. After listening to their bs at the senate hearing over a nothing bill - well, if you hit them with real charges they will come screaming like a bunch of teenage girls after loosing their cell phones! Still it looks like that bill may well pass, so I guess anything is possible, but it is a bad bill with not much more than a tap on the wrist and fill in a form, for the solar and wind people.
I'd like to call an endangerment finding on all us rural Texans. We will be an endangered species before too long. Baked by solar panels and or shredded by wind turbines. Then, they will be wishing for a farmer when food is missing from the table.
Joanna, I agree with you. ExxonMobil, BP, and other big companies spearheaded oilfield electrification in the Permian as a PR effort, which does nothing except move emissions from one part of the state to another. Those companies can spend their money any way they wish, but now all Texans will be dinged to pay for that new extra-high-voltage transmission line to get more electricity out there. A better solution would have been for them to tap into the nearby wind farms. I understand your frustration and hope the new transmission line doesn't go through your property. Ed
Question: why doesn’t ERCOT build a massive natgas fired power plant near the Waha hub where Natgas is almost free most of the time? I can’t figure that one out.
Only EHV? No UHV? I saw a proposal to build a 765kV transmission network in ERCOT.
May I say I am less than excited about electrification of the natural gas compressor system. It was the dependence on electric gas compressors that exasperated the issues during Uri. I would have thought Texas would have learned it's lelesson.
Yes, electric compressors were a major problem in Uri. I wrote about it in 2023 (https://edireland.substack.com/p/natural-gas-pipelines-have-been-compromised). That is another example of the oil and gas industry making the mistake of surrendering to the anti-fossil fuel crowd. Thanks for the comment! Ed
Per a comment by Matt Randolph on one of his posts, the move to electric was for cost of operation. I can't speak to it because I don't know enough. Matt mentioned it while talking about Secretary Write, apparently Security Write's company was one of the big promoters back in the day.
For upstream field operations, there are very large benefits to electrification beyond PR or CO2 emissions reductions. Costs are lower, and reliability is higher. There is a lot of research on this, and it's why you see companies other than BP and Exxon pursuing the same strategies. Diamondback, EOG, Coterra--the list goes on. The trend started long before ESG was all the rage.
Is it true that accidental rotating blackouts cut off electricity to the compressors in Feb. 21? Also, was it because of climate policy that electric compressors replaced gas-powered compressors before Feb. 2021? Electric powered equipment appears to be less reliable than gas-powered, which take fuel from the pipeline. Further, I read research that the Feb 2021 cold wave was more disruptive than the December 1989 cold wave because oil field valves and instruments used to be manually operated, whereas in Feb. 2021 they were electronically controlled, and thus more sensitive to termperature extremes and freeze ups. Based on what research I could gather, electronic controls seemed to have more risk of failing than the old methods.
Yes, the rotating blackouts in Winter Storm Uri caused many natural gas pipelines to go down because they had electric compressors. I wrote about it in 2023 (https://edireland.substack.com/p/natural-gas-pipelines-have-been-compromised). As a result of the problems in Uri, the Railroad Commission created the Office of Critical Infrastructure so electricity distributors would know where electric gas compressors are and not cut their power.Thanks for the comment, Learner! Ed
I do know there was a big push to eliminate valves that were operated by gas pressure tapped off the pipeline. The green left wanted them out because they vent a small amount of raw gas when they operate
Yes, non-venting pressure relief valves are widely used in natural gas production equipment now. Most of them recirculate the gas instead of venting it.
Thank you for the history lesson on this subject I have been watching closely for almost a year now.
I may be a bit naive, but has always seemed ridiculous to me that we have to electrify the center of our natural gas and oil production, other than the equally ridiculous mandate of Net Zero. Thank you Biden for reinforcing that move. Are we bringing power from there - or sending it to there or both?
The hype on the growth may also be overrated, but what do I know.. After listening to senate hearings last year and the comments from both PUC and ERCOT on their "sudden" estimation revelations it all seemed to be a little tenuous. If they could not see this coming doesn't give me much faith.
I remember the Lone Star line was going to save us all- then it didn't, we had no wind in West Texas to bring during URI. But it brought it's own issues, as in anywhere you see large power lines you will most lightly see wind and solar facilities pop up along those lines. That line runs just a few mils from me, with several solar facilities planned.
Now we will have a second line going through our county, since the more northern line will go just north of Stephenville over to Hood County. For now, anyway that's the plan - who knows. It could end up in my back yard. In which case I will play a NIMBY and loose! However it might change the plans of the wind facility across the street, since they appeared to be planning on the 345 kV line going just down the road.
Who will pay for it. My guess - you know who - us of course. Sure won't be the wind and solar companies - our legislators can revisit that all you want. Won't happen. After listening to their bs at the senate hearing over a nothing bill - well, if you hit them with real charges they will come screaming like a bunch of teenage girls after loosing their cell phones! Still it looks like that bill may well pass, so I guess anything is possible, but it is a bad bill with not much more than a tap on the wrist and fill in a form, for the solar and wind people.
I'd like to call an endangerment finding on all us rural Texans. We will be an endangered species before too long. Baked by solar panels and or shredded by wind turbines. Then, they will be wishing for a farmer when food is missing from the table.
Joanna, I agree with you. ExxonMobil, BP, and other big companies spearheaded oilfield electrification in the Permian as a PR effort, which does nothing except move emissions from one part of the state to another. Those companies can spend their money any way they wish, but now all Texans will be dinged to pay for that new extra-high-voltage transmission line to get more electricity out there. A better solution would have been for them to tap into the nearby wind farms. I understand your frustration and hope the new transmission line doesn't go through your property. Ed
Question: why doesn’t ERCOT build a massive natgas fired power plant near the Waha hub where Natgas is almost free most of the time? I can’t figure that one out.
https://globallnghub.com/waha-gas-prices-the-cheapest-gas-on-earth.html
Only EHV? No UHV? I saw a proposal to build a 765kV transmission network in ERCOT.
May I say I am less than excited about electrification of the natural gas compressor system. It was the dependence on electric gas compressors that exasperated the issues during Uri. I would have thought Texas would have learned it's lelesson.
Yes, electric compressors were a major problem in Uri. I wrote about it in 2023 (https://edireland.substack.com/p/natural-gas-pipelines-have-been-compromised). That is another example of the oil and gas industry making the mistake of surrendering to the anti-fossil fuel crowd. Thanks for the comment! Ed
Per a comment by Matt Randolph on one of his posts, the move to electric was for cost of operation. I can't speak to it because I don't know enough. Matt mentioned it while talking about Secretary Write, apparently Security Write's company was one of the big promoters back in the day.
Electrification of natural gas pipeline compressors is ridiculous. End of discussion. ;-)
Absolutely correct, Ed! See my comment above. Thanks for the comment. Ed
For upstream field operations, there are very large benefits to electrification beyond PR or CO2 emissions reductions. Costs are lower, and reliability is higher. There is a lot of research on this, and it's why you see companies other than BP and Exxon pursuing the same strategies. Diamondback, EOG, Coterra--the list goes on. The trend started long before ESG was all the rage.