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PCCA Journal|1

st

Quarter 2010

13

gas and liquids T&D construction market. This cu-

mulative growth rate will accelerate once the housing

inventory is absorbed, which FMI does not anticipate

happening until at least 2011.

FMI’s forecasted growth rates for the four main

1.

pipeline categories include:

Gas distribution: An unbalanced growth rate of 3 to

2.

5 percent

Gas submarkets/gathering: Peaked in 2007/2008

3.

with flat or slow growth until gas prices rebound

Gas transmission: Growth of 6 to 10 percent, mostly

4.

in large, long-duration projects

Liquids transportation: Growth in a wide range of 3

5.

to 8 percent, dependent on $60/barrel oil and regu-

latory pressure to purchase oil from North Ameri-

can resources

Submarkets/Gathering Lines

A report released in June 2009 from the Potential Gas

Committee

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estimated U.S. reserves of natural gas are

35 percent higher than two years ago, thanks in large

part to new hydraulic fracturing technology that allows

extraction from shale.

9

Extraction of shale gas, par-

ticularly from the Rocky Mountain and Appalachian

regions, has grown rapidly and now accounts for ap-

proximately 5 percent of total U.S. production, accord-

ing to the Gas Technology Institute.

The growth in domestic reserves has driven the con-

struction of gathering line networks over the last five

years, but it has not been without its problems. Evi-

dence is beginning to surface that hydraulic fracturing

puts nearby drinking water at risk of becoming con-

taminated with methane, 2-butoxyethanol phosphate,

and other chemicals used in the extraction process. In

Pavilion, Wyo., for example, the Environmental Protec-

tion Agency (EPA) is investigating the potential con-

tamination of several drinking wells.

10

Also, according to the EPA, roughly 3 trillion cubic

feet of methane leak into the air every year. The energy

department projects worldwide gas production to

rise nearly 50 percent in the next 20 years; emissions

through undetected leaks could soar unless monitoring

is significantly expanded. But this isn’t necessarily bad

news. Despite the $11,000-per-well head price, British

Petroleum began introducing methane-catching devices

on New Mexico well sites. From 2000 to 2004 emis-

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