#Crude Oil Pipeline

[hicginewsagency]

Uganda Receives First Batch of Pipes for East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

Line pipes arrive in Uganda at Kyotera Main Camp and Pipe Yard 4. Pool. Courtesy image. On Monday, Uganda marked a significant milestone in its crude oil development journey with the arrival of the first batch of coated line pipes for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). This delivery, which was made to the main camp and pipe yard located in Kyotera District, highlights the project…

[thoughtportal]

East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)

[tilbageidanmark]

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from DeSmog Blog:

Last November, a beaming group of staff from MetropolitanRepublic collected their gorilla-shaped trophy at the Silverback Awards, Uganda’s top advertising and public relations gala.

The South African PR agency had won its prize for promoting the “sustainable development” of Uganda’s untapped oil reserves by French oil company TotalEnergies.

MetropolitanRepublic — which is part-owned by British communications giant WPP — described the brief for the award-winning “Action for Sustainability��� campaign in its entry to the Silverback Awards: to devise an approach that “squashed all the negative PR” from protests against TotalEnergies’ plans for a 1,443-kilometre pipeline to export oil from Uganda’s Lake Albert via neighbouring Tanzania.

An accompanying video featured photographs of Ugandan anti-pipeline campaigners to illustrate this “backlash” and described them as “haters”.

“How do you launch a successful project off the back of this?” asks the narrator in the video. “Well, you develop a 360 PR campaign that retells your story the way it should be told.”

Now, DeSmog can reveal that Ugandan police or military personnel have arrested, beaten, threatened, or harassed at least eight of the 15 campaigners pictured in MetropolitanRepublic’s award submission video.

These incidents — documented via video taken at protests, interviews with the campaigners, and police records — took place both before and after the video was published on the Silverback website in March.

There is no indication that MetropolitanRepublic’s campaign or the award submission led directly to any specific incidents affecting the activists. Nevertheless, DeSmog found that the agency engaged a network of social media influencers to post hundreds of times in support of TotalEnergies’ plans to mitigate the impact of the pipeline — even as protestors were being beaten and harassed.

“These PR firms are sponsoring our oppression,” said Hillary Innocent Taylor Seguya, one of the campaigners pictured in MetropolitanRepublic’s award submission video. “The more you push misinformation to the rest of the world, the more it means that you don’t care about our rights.”

[plethoraworldatlas]

Opponents of a highly controversial oil pipeline under construction in East Africa on Monday demanded an investigation into the Ugandan army's treatment of an environmental activist who was hospitalized after allegedly being severely beaten while he was detained last week.

Stephen Kwikiriza, an activist with the Kampala-based Environmental Governance Institute (EGI), was found dumped on the side of a highway about five hours' drive from the Ugandan capital Sunday night following a weeklong detention by the country's army.

"Unfortunately, he is in poor condition after enduring severe beatings, mistreatment, and abuse throughout the week," EGI said, according toAl Jazeera. "Doctors are conducting various examinations."

Like other climate and environmental campaigners in the movement to stop the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), Kwikiriza is believed to have been targeted for his activism against the project, which is being built by the French fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the Uganda National Oil Company, and others.

The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said Kwikiriza was apparently abducted by Ugandan army officers in civilian clothes in what the group called a "particularly worrying escalation of repression."

FIDH said 11 activists have been "kidnapped, arbitrarily arrested, detained, or subjected to different forms of harassment by the Ugandan authorities between May 27 and June 5, 2024," part of what critics call a government campaign targeting StopEACOP campaigners that goes back years.

"Speaking up for frontline communities should never lead to this," the StopEACOP movement said on social media following Kwikiriza's release. "We urge human rights organizations to hold Ugandan authorities accountable and ensure human rights and environmental defenders can work safely."

"We also ask TotalEnergies and CNOOC to investigate the injustices done in their names as alleged," the coalition added. "You can still make profits without harming communities or enabling human rights violations."

...

If completed, the $3.5 billion, nearly 900-mile EACOP project is expected to transport up to 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day from fields in the Lake Albert region of western Uganda through the world's longest electrically heated pipeline to the Tanzanian port city of Tanga on the Indian Ocean.

A July 2023 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) detailed how EACOP has devastated the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in its path while exacerbating the climate emergency.

"The Ugandan government needs to end its harassment of opponents of oil development in the country, such as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project, which has already devastated thousands of people's livelihoods in Uganda and, if completed, will displace thousands of people and contribute to the global climate crisis," HRW senior environmental rights advocate Myrto Tilianaki said in a statement issued during Kwikiriza's detention.

[fenrislorsrai]

Canada-based TC Energy on Thursday estimated the spill on the Keystone system at about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons. It said the affected pipeline segment had been “isolated,” the oil had been contained at the site with booms, or barriers, and environmental monitoring had been set up, including around-the-clock air-quality monitoring. It did not say how the spill occurred.

After a drop in pressure on the pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, the company said it shut down its Keystone system Wednesday night. Oil spilled into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.

Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club in Kansas, noted the spill in his state was larger than all of the 22 previous spills combined on the Keystone pipeline, which began operations in 2010.

[morganablenewsmedia]

"Oil Theft: Palaces, Religious Centres Are Outlets," Says NNPC

“Oil Theft: Palaces, Religious Centres Are Outlets,” Says NNPC Mosques, Churches, Palace Amongst Others Traced To Oil Theft In recent months, it is no longer news that Oil theft has become major concerns around oil-producing areas. On Saturday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) voiced its displeasure over the large amount of illegal oil theft within the country, citing that…

[itclabs]

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[cmipooja]

Global Crude Transportation Market Is Estimated To Witness High Growth Owing To Increasing Oil and Gas Exploration Activities

The global crude transportation market is estimated to be valued at US$ 21.58 billion in 2023 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 6% over the forecast period 2023-2030, as highlighted in a new report published by Coherent Market Insights. The market is driven by the increasing oil and gas exploration activities, which require efficient transportation of crude oil from production sites to refineries. Market Overview: The crude transportation market involves the transportation of crude oil through various modes such as pipelines, tankers, and railcars. It plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth flow of crude oil from production fields to refineries, where it is processed and converted into usable products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The demand for crude oil is constantly increasing due to the growing population, urbanization, and industrialization, making efficient transportation a necessity. Market Key Trends: One key trend driving the growth of the crude transportation market is the increased use of pipelines. Pipelines are considered the most efficient and cost-effective mode of transporting crude oil over long distances. They offer several advantages, including higher capacity, lower operating costs, and reduced environmental impact compared to other modes of transportation. For example, the Keystone Pipeline system in North America has a capacity of transporting over 590,000 barrels of crude oil per day. PEST Analysis: Political: The political factors influencing the crude transportation market include government regulations and policies related to energy security, environmental protection, and infrastructure development. For instance, the approval or rejection of major pipeline projects often depends on political factors and public sentiment. Economic: Economic factors such as oil prices, market demand, and economic growth influence the demand for crude transportation services. Higher oil prices incentivize increased production, leading to higher demand for transportation services. Social: Social factors such as growing energy consumption, rising population, and changing consumer preferences impact the crude transportation market. The increasing demand for petroleum products from various industries and households drives the need for efficient transportation. Technological: Technological advancements have significantly improved the efficiency and safety of crude transportation. For example, advanced pipeline monitoring systems and leak detection technologies help prevent accidents and minimize environmental impacts. Key Takeaways: 1: The Global Crude Transportation Market Size is expected to witness high growth, exhibiting a CAGR of 6% over the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to increasing oil and gas exploration activities, which drive the demand for efficient transportation solutions. 2: In terms of regional analysis, North America is expected to be the fastest-growing and dominating region in the crude transportation market. The region has a well-developed pipeline infrastructure and is a major producer of crude oil. Furthermore, the shale oil boom in the United States has contributed to the increased demand for crude transportation services. 3: Key players operating in the global crude transportation market include ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corporation, BP plc, TotalEnergies SE, ConocoPhillips, China National Petroleum Corporation, Saudi Aramco, Rosneft Oil Company, Valero Energy Corporation, Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, PetroChina Company Limited, Kinder Morgan Inc., and Enbridge Inc. These players are focused on expanding their pipeline networks, investing in advanced technologies, and improving operational efficiency to meet the growing demand for crude transportation.

[dsiddhant]

The global Offshore Pipeline Market is expected to grow from USD 14.8 billion in 2022 to USD 18.6 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 4.7% according to...

[sexhaver]

im obviously a big fan of factory automation games like Satisfactory and Factorio for a lot of reasons but as an engineer the funniest one is how they make non-engineer players understand through firsthand experience immutable engineering and capitalist truisms like "wait it's really easy and profitable to just scale up incrementally forever as long as you assume resources are infinite and you outsource the labor of physically building everything", or "processing crude oil into fuel and plastics is complicated and requires tearing up a lot of the environment with trains and pipelines", or "trains rule and i need more of them", or "what the fuck why do i need so many fucking screws"

[probablyasocialecologist]

In November 2023, news broke that a number of Western energy companies, including British Petroleum (BP), were granted gas exploration licences in occupied Palestinian waters by the Israeli Ministry of Energy. While it will take years before these sites are converted into reliable sources of gas, activist groups in the US and Britain have protested these business deals, brokered in the shadow of an ongoing genocide. The motivation for Israel’s genocidal, Western-backed siege on Gaza cannot be reduced to the exploitation of its marine gas fields. The ongoing genocide should be understood as part of the logic of US imperialism and its proxy state which enacts its interests in the region: the Zionist settler colonial project, which seeks to ethnically cleanse all of historic Palestine, seize natural resources, and use and export its fuel supplies for the consolidation of its military and economic power.  Indeed, our protests against BP’s gas licences are not in isolation. Like other activist groups in Turkey and Colombia, we campaign against energy companies partnering with Israeli businesses to supply fuel to Israel. For this reason, we situate BP’s gas licence within its larger role in fuelling Israel. BP is the operator and largest shareholder of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which is supplying Israel with 28% of its oil during its genocide. In this investigation we explore BP’s colonial history and the supply chain of the BTC pipeline. We also delve into the social licences that facilitate BP’s operations abroad. Social licences are a commercial and metaphorical concept describing corporations' process of acquiring public approval as an added layer of legitimacy for their ongoing profit-driven, colonial business practices. Focusing on the BTC pipeline reveals how Zionist settler-colonialism is central to the continued extraction of oil in the Middle East, and global uneven accumulation, where wealth is concentrated in the Global North. The liberation of Palestine and regional anti-Zionist resistance must therefore be central to the larger struggle against capitalism and for a just transition. Organising from the imperial core against the Zionist occupation of Palestine then becomes about much more than just holding the perpetrators of genocide to account. It is part of the bigger fight against imperialism – which exterminates populations and ecologies for the continued flow of value to the Global North.

9 September 2024

[mapsontheweb]

The Longest And Most Profitable Crude Oil Pipeline Companies In North America

by u/st0ckholme

[fatehbaz]

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Native American tribes from Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario have come together to call for an end to the Line 5 pipeline.

The Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline, first constructed in 1953, stretches from Wisconsin through 645 miles of Michigan and ends in Sarnia, Ontario. Part of the pipeline travels underwater through the Straits of Mackinac.

In recent years, the pipeline's continued operation has become a source of controversy. Many tribal nations and communities claim that the pipeline goes through their traditional territories. The Straits area in particular is considered a place of significant cultural and historical importance to many native groups, including the Anishinaabe. According to tribal leaders, the pipeline poses a major and direct threat to the ecosystems along its path.

“The Straits of Mackinac are [...] sacred from both a cultural and historical perspective in the formation of the Anishinaabe people,” said Austin Lowes, chairperson of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, in a statement. “Protecting the Straits is also a matter of the utmost environmental and economic importance — both to our people and the state of Michigan.”

Tribal leaders and other environmental groups have publicly opposed the pipeline for many years and have called for the pipeline to be shut down.

Supporters of the pipeline point out that it transports 540,000 barrels of light crude oil and natural gas liquids through Line 5 on a daily basis. [...]

In an effort to address safety concerns, Enbridge has proposed an underwater tunnel to house the portion of Line 5 that runs under the Straits of Mackinac. [...] Critics of the tunnel project say no oil should be transported through the Straits at all, as a spill could have a devastating impact on more than 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. [...]

Previous attempts to shut down the pipeline have been stopped through various means, mostly the 1977 Transit Pipeline Treaty between Canada and the United States.

The latest attempt saw 51 tribal organizations from Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario submit a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. This report, dated April 4, claims that the Government of Canada is violating the human rights of Indigenous peoples through its continuous support for Line 5.

The report was submitted to be considered during Canada's upcoming Universal Periodic Review, conducted by the United Nations. As a United Nations member state, Canada is required to be evaluated for its human rights record on a regular basis.

Canada's Universal Periodic Review will take place this year on Nov. 6-17.

The 51 different tribal organizations that signed the report include: The Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations throughout the province of Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, Hannahville Indian Community, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

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Headline and text by: Brendan Wiesner. “Michigan, Wisconsin and Canadian tribes come together to fight Line 5.” Yahoo! News. 8 April 2023. Article originally appeared on The Sault News with the title “Great Lakes tribes send report to United Nations to fight Line 5.” [Some paragraph breaks and contractions added by me.]

Context:

Line 3 brings oil from Alberta to Lake Superior. Then, Line 5 brings the fossil fuel from the Duluth area to the Detroit/Windsor area in Ontario.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Having grown up on a farm in Uganda, I have seen the damage of the climate crisis firsthand. My family lived in a small village near the banks of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake in the world, and my childhood was spent climbing trees, planting seeds, and eating fruit straight from the trees. We grew bananas, guavas, beans, cassava, sugarcane, and coffee. It sounds idyllic but I remember the first time I realised climate change would affect us—it was a rainy season unlike any we had seen before. For days and nights heavy rain battered the fields and strong winds bent and broke the crops until they were unsavable. Not only did the rains affect us financially, but I missed months of my schooling because flooding blocked the roads and I couldn’t get to school.

Burning fossil fuels, which releases carbon pollution into the air and causes our world to overheat, is the number one cause of the climate chaos we’re facing. 2024 may be even hotter than 2023, resulting in even more catastrophic weather.

But there is still hope. Those with power must act now, and the insurance industry holds more power than most to slow the crisis and protect our future. Without insurance, fossil fuel projects can’t operate. If insurance companies updated their policies and refused to insure new fossil fuel projects, there would be no new oil pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, or dirty coal mines. If they focused instead on insuring clean, safe energy and a just transition, our communities and our world would be safer for current and future generations.

The insurance industry’s role is to protect and manage risk, but right now it is failing spectacularly at both. Instead of protecting communities, it’s adding fuel to the fire by continuing to insure new fossil fuel projects. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a prime example. This proposed pipeline would run 1,443 kilometers between Hoima in Uganda and Tanga in Tanzania, but the project has stalled as it has not yet secured full insurance and financing due to the many human and environmental rights abuses associated with it. These include the harassment and imprisonment of peaceful protesters, the disturbing of sacred burial grounds, and the forcible removal of communities to make way for the pipeline. If EACOP gets insured and goes ahead, it will cross 200 rivers and pass through Lake Victoria’s water basin. Over 40 million people depend on the lake for survival, as well as countless animal species; if the pipe leaks and spills oil into the water, what will happen to them?

The corporations behind EACOP say it will “unlock East Africa’s potential,” but let’s be clear: It is neocolonialism at its best, and the only ones who will gain are the foreign companies set to profit. EACOP will irrevocably damage East Africa’s biodiversity, displace thousands of people, destroy their livelihoods and communities, and unleash 32.3 million metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere per year, setting off a climate bomb that will make our world overheat to devastating levels. The International Energy Agency has stated that there can be no new oil pipelines if we are to save the future, and yet insurance companies including AIG, Tokio Marine, Chubb, Hiscox, and Lloyd’s of London still refuse to rule out insuring EACOP.

[leviathan-supersystem]

Mike DeWine, the Ohio governor, recently lamented the toll taken on the residents of East Palestine after the toxic train derailment there, saying “no other community should have to go through this”.

But such accidents are happening with striking regularity. A Guardian analysis of data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and by non-profit groups that track chemical accidents in the US shows that accidental releases – be they through train derailments, truck crashes, pipeline ruptures or industrial plant leaks and spills – are happening consistently across the country.

By one estimate these incidents are occurring, on average, every two days.

“These kinds of hidden disasters happen far too frequently,” Mathy Stanislaus, who served as assistant administrator of the EPA’s office of land and emergency management during the Obama administration, told the Guardian. Stanislaus led programs focused on the cleanup of contaminated hazardous waste sites, chemical plant safety, oil spill prevention and emergency response.

In the first seven weeks of 2023 alone, there were more than 30 incidents recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, roughly one every day and a half. Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. The group has tallied more than 470 incidents since it started counting in April 2020.

The incidents logged by the coalition range widely in severity but each involves the accidental release of chemicals deemed to pose potential threats to human and environmental health.

In September, for instance, nine people were hospitalized and 300 evacuated in California after a spill of caustic materials at a recycling facility. In October, officials ordered residents to shelter in place after an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in Louisiana. In November, more than 100 residents of Atchinson, Kansas, were treated for respiratory problems and schools were evacuated after an accident at a beverage manufacturing facility created a chemical cloud over the town.

Among multiple incidents in December, a large pipeline ruptured in rural northern Kansas, smothering the surrounding land and waterways in 588,000 gallons of diluted bitumen crude oil. Hundreds of workers are still trying to clean up the pipeline mess, at a cost pegged at around $488m.

The precise number of hazardous chemical incidents is hard to determine because the US has multiple agencies involved in response, but the EPA told the Guardian that over the past 10 years, the agency has “performed an average of 235 emergency response actions per year, including responses to discharges of hazardous chemicals or oil”. The agency said it employs roughly 250 people devoted to the EPA’s emergency response and removal program.

[...]

The EPA itself says that by several measurements, accidents at facilities are becoming worse: evacuations, sheltering and the average annual rate of people seeking medical treatment stemming from chemical accidents are on the rise. Total annual costs are approximately $477m, including costs related to injuries and deaths.

“Accidental releases remain a significant concern,” the EPA said.

In August, the EPA proposed several changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations that apply to plants dealing with hazardous chemicals. The rule changes reflect the recognition by EPA that many chemical facilities are located in areas that are vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, including power outages, flooding, hurricanes and other weather events.

The proposed changes include enhanced emergency preparedness, increased public access to information about hazardous chemicals risks communities face and new accident prevention requirements.

The US Chamber of Commerce has pushed back on stronger regulations, arguing that most facilities operate safely, accidents are declining and that the facilities impacted by any rule changes are supplying “essential products and services that help drive our economy and provide jobs in our communities”. Other opponents to strengthening safety rules include the American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute.

The changes are “unnecessary” and will not improve safety, according to the American Chemistry Council.

Many worker and community advocates, such as the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW), which represents roughly a million laborers, say the proposed rule changes don’t go far enough.