Guest comment

Guest GuestComment

Thure Cannon President of the Texas Pipeline Association (TPA)

From the extreme weather event in Texas this past February to the Colonial Pipeline Company cyberattack in May, this has been an eventful year for US energy producers. Immediately following Winter Storm Uri, the Texas Legislature held hearings to review what had worked and what had not. Those hearings showed that the Texas midstream industry had few problems during the storm, unless facilities either lost the gas supply coming in from the field or lost electric power. The few mechanical failures that occurred in midstream facilities were typically repaired quickly and, as soon as gas supply or power was restored, the state’s gas supply rapidly reached normal levels. Storage was a key component to protect service to human needs customers. To address the situation, the Texas Legislature has since passed Senate Bill 3, which establishes a sweeping new layer of regulation and oversight over Texas’ entire energy industry, including both gas and electric sectors. It creates new committees to develop additional rules and best practices to protect the people of Texas in the event of another unprecedented storm. The US natural gas pipeline network is a highly integrated system that moves natural gas throughout the continental US. The network has about three million miles of mainline and other pipelines that link natural gas production areas and storage facilities with consumers to fuel their lives and businesses. In 2019, this network delivered about 28.3 trillion ft3 of natural gas to about 76.9 million customers, according to the US EIA. In Texas alone, there are enough pipeline miles to reach the moon and back (more than 479 798 miles). The Colonial cyberattack demonstrated that such an incident can substantially lessen access to gasoline, diesel, heating oil and jet fuel across the Southern and Eastern states, where widespread disruption underscored the importance of pipeline transport. Pipelines are the safest, most reliable and environmentally friendly way to deliver hydrocarbons, taking trucks off the road and preventing rail cars from transporting potentially dangerous materials through cities and towns, all the while reducing emissions. TPA is one of seven industry associations and more than 40 oil and gas companies that in March 2020 formed the Texas Methane and Flaring Coalition, whose goal is to collectively identify and promote operational and environmental

recommended practices to minimise flaring and methane emissions. Industry-led initiatives are working. According to the World Bank’s April Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report, there was a 32% decrease in flaring across the US from 2019 - 2020. The report attributed lower production due to the pandemic as one factor, but also noted infrastructure improvements to capture and use natural gas rather than flare it as IN TEXAS IN TEXAS another. The US represented the vast majority of the global emissions decline THERE ARE THERE ARE – accounting for 70% of reductions globally. A more robust pipeline ENOUGH ENOUGH infrastructure is an essential tool to reducing emissions. PIPELINE PIPELINE The midstream industry is also an economic lynchpin. Through ongoing MILES TO MILES TO operations and construction in 2019 alone, the Texas oil and gas pipeline REACH THE REACH THE industry provided more than US$48.6 billion in economic impact, MOON AND MOON AND supported more than 238 000 high paying jobs, contributed an additional

BACK BACK US$29.3 billion in additional gross state product, and injected more than US$2.7 billion in state and local government revenues, according to a Texas Tech University study. We hope that all stakeholders, including the current Administration, will agree there is no better way than pipelines to move the hydrocarbons that fuel our lives and economy, as well as the materials used to manufacture the medical-grade healthcare products that are essential to combating COVID-19. Research sources . SB 3 legislation https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text. aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=SB3 . US EIA Natural Gas Explained https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/ natural-gas/natural-gas-pipelines.php . Why Pipelines Matter to You https://texaspipelines.com/wp-content/ uploads/2021/03/Why-Pipelines-Matter-one-pager-update-3.8.21.pdf . Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack https://www.spglobal.com/platts/ en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/051821-colonial-pipelinescustomer-communications-system-is-experiencing-problems?utm_ source=social&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=plattsoil&utm_ content=53317d83-74d8-43b1-97d6-7acc490539ef&utm_ campaign=hootsuitepost . TPA Economic Study https://texaspipelines.com/wp-content/ uploads/2020/10/TPA-Updates-Economic-Benefits-Study-of-TexasPipelines-10.20.20-FINAL.pdf . World Bank Flaring Reduction Report https://texasmethaneflaringcoalition. org/world-bank-report-shows-u-s-texas-lead-in-global-flaring-reduction/ . Global Gas Flaring Report https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/1f722 1545bf1b7c89b850dd85cb409b0-0400072021/original/WB-GGFR-ReportDesign-05a.pdf