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
8
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-
visit our Web site
www.condux.comContinued on page 14