T-Rex Hydro Excavation Services Articles RSS Feed

Hydro Excavation Services Case Study: CenterPoint Pole Hole Excavation & Back-Fill

T-Rex Webmaster - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:00:00 GMT

T-Rex Services was contracted to provide hydro excavation services in order to non-destructively dig a utility pole hole in an area that had been marked to contain fiber optic lines.

Location: The 18” diameter x 7.5’ deep pole hole excavation was located in Houston, TX at West 18th Street East of Ella. The location was near a strip center allowing the crew to park and work in the parking lot, keeping the street free for passing traffic.

Execution: T-Rex had a scheduling conflict with CenterPoint’s preferred date, however, we did have availability the same day the call was made. As a supplement to hydro excavation services, CenterPoint requested T-Rex provide back-fill services which is a line item in our contract with CenterPoint. T-Rex used limestone base back-fill material as opposed to bank sand to prevent eventual leaning of the pole. Crews at the Bellaire Service center regularly request backfill services as they believe that the limestone base is more cost effective than the expanding foam and can prevent problems (with foam balls being attached to the pole) should the it ever need to be removed. When T-Rex excavated the pole hole, two unknown and unmarked lines were located. The lines were presumed to be gas lines, therefore T-Rex moved the pole hole toward the street attempting to best keep it in-line with the other already erected poles.

T-Rex covered the hole with a pallet, staked and barricaded the hole so that it could “sit” until the CenterPoint crew arrived the next day to set the pole.

Results: The pole hole was excavated the same day the request was made. Thus, the job was completed within a minimum charge, saving CenterPoint time and money.

About T-Rex Services

T-Rex was founded with a vision that Hydro Excavation Services truly help companies, governmental agencies and contractors save money and more importantly – improve safety. Our expertise spans multiple industry sectors including Oil & Gas, Petrochemical, Chemical, Pipeline, Municipal, Utilities, Construction, Engineering, Transportation, Telecommunications and Environmental.

Through each project, T- Rex is committed to exceeding our client’s highest expectations – fully understanding timelines, safety requirements, budget constraints and overall objectives.

Contact T-Rex Services Today || Toll Free 800-865-3131

30-Nov-11 12:00 PM

Hydro Excavation Services Case Study Galleria along Westheimer

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Intro

T-Rex Services was contracted to provide safe, fast and non-destructive Hydro Excavation Services in order to clear the way for an electrical conduit.

Location

The industrial vacuum excavation was to be preformed underneath a sidewalk in front of the Galleria along Westheimer – one of the busiest and most profitable retail commerce areas in Houston, TX.

Scope

Hydro Excavation was used to complete approximately 700 feet of trenching 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep. The purpose of the trenching was to allow the client to insert electrical conduits for a pedestrian lighting project after T-Rex was finished.

Trouble Spots

A highly visible and busy area in the heart of the Galleria - widely recognized as the number one shopping and tourist destination in Houston
Tree roots which were densely woven into the ground where the conduit needed to be run and had to be left healthy and intact.
Safety for both crews and the general public in the area.

Time

Road closure permits were issued for 48 hours between 9pm Friday September 17, 2010 and Sunday September 19, 2010. The client was very concerned that T-Rex complete the job before 9pm on Sunday September 19, 2010.

Plan

T-Rex decided that the best course of action was to use our large fleet of Hydro Excavation Services trucks and our many highly skilled teams of Hydro Excavation operators to work together on the project. T-Rex decided to approach this project aggressively so that the project would be finished before the road closure permits expired, regardless of weather, ground condition, or equipment delays.

Execution

T-Rex met at its corporate offices to study all safety concerns, along with the excavation plans. T-Rex had five of its top of the line industrial hydro excavation trucks in place and ready to go as soon as the road closure permits took effect. Instead of putting one or two trucks on the job – which would be a normal plan on a job like this – T-Rex had five trucks running simultaneously from 9 pm through the night and into the early afternoon on Saturday. T-Rex utilized hydro excavation to safely excavate amongst delicate tree roots in such a manner that traditional excavation and hand digging was essentially impossible (and cost and time prohibitive).

Result

The full length of 700 feet of trenching was completed by 3 pm on Saturday September 18, 2010, a full 55% ahead of schedule. Tree roots were not damaged, and the conduit was able to be successfully run. T-Rex provided an environmentally friendly, safe alternative to traditional excavation, an option which helped the project stay ahead of schedule.

Photo Gallery

View the Photo Gallery of this Job: Hydro Excavation Provides a Safe and Environmentally Friendly Alternative to Traditional Excavation >>

About T-Rex Services

T-Rex Services provides fast, safe, and non-destructive professional industrial Hydro Excavation Service for Refineries/Plants, Municipalities, Federal & State Agencies, Engineering Firms and more.T-Rex is based in Houston, TX with offices in Dallas, San Antonio, West Texas, and Shreveport La. Additional information about T-Rex is available at www.tex-rex.com and by phone at 1-800-865-3131.

2-Nov-10 7:00 PM

Hyrdo Excavation Services can prevent construction site gas leaks

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 01:00:00 GMT

The Patterson Irrigator of Patterson, CA reported on a gas leak caused by a trenching device connected to a tractor. Every year, there are numerous reports of injuries, deaths, explosions and fires from unsafe or poorly planned excavations that strike underground facilities or result from collapsed trenches. Many of these incidents can be avoided and the risks minimized by utilizing techniques such as hydro excavation.

Excavation accident causes gas leak
at business park

by Jonathan Partridge | Patterson Irrigator

Sep 16, 2010

A gas leak at the future W.W. Grainger Inc. distribution warehouse site prompted 91 construction workers to evacuate the developing Keystone West Business Park on Thursday, Sept. 16, although no one was injured.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. workers were sealing the leak as of 4 p.m., and PG&E spokeswoman Jana Morris estimated that repairs to the 4-inch-wide pipeline would be complete by 8 p.m.

McShane Construction Co. contacted firefighters about the leak at 2:47 p.m. after a trenching device on one of the tractors used by the company punctured the plastic pipeline off of Keystone Pacific Parkway near Rogers Road, according to Patterson Fire Marshal Steve Hall.

A worker who was driving the tractor that ruptured the pipe immediately noticed the sound of natural gas gushing out and probably felt the impact when making contact, said Milt Elmer, general superintendent for McShane.

22-Sep-10 8:00 PM

T-Rex Hydro Excavation Serivces is Fueled for Success Pumper Magazine says...

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:00:00 GMT

Fueled for Success

By Ken Wysocky
Filed Under: Cover Story
September 2010 Issue

It’s hard to imagine a more abrupt career change than the sharp U-turn former NASCAR driver Bobby Hillin Jr. took about 10 years ago, when he shifted gears from racecar driving to high-tech digging. But by founding Texas ReExcavation LC — T-Rex for short — in Houston, Texas, Hillin discovered an off-track outlet for his competitive zeal, this time in the world of hydroexcavating and industrial cleaning.

CUTS LIKE A KNIFE

Hydroexcavation is appealing, Carmichael notes, because it doesn’t damage things such as pipes and fiber-optic lines, and it allows excavation in places where mechanical digging isn’t viable. Crews often can’t pinpoint the exact location of pipelines, especially in congested urban areas, so a process that uses water to uncover and locate lines greatly minimizes the potential for damage compared to, say, a backhoe.

Read the full T-Rex Hydro Excavation Services article at Pumper.com >>

21-Sep-10 8:00 PM

T-Rex Services assists in preservation of Gulf of Mexico Shoreline

Monica Hatcher - noemail@trexservices.com — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:00:00 GMT

Two weeks ago T-Rex Services (based in Houston texas) mobilized three liquid vacuum excavation trucks to work in conjuction with a conglomerate of different companies to assist environmental preservation of the gulf shorelines. While our participation in the vacuum excvavation effort is minor in comparison to some, we are proud to be a part of this historic mobilization lead by BP.

21-May-10 11:00 AM

METRO Forecasts Opportunity for Small Businesses in 2010

Margaret Molina - noemail@trexservices.com — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Nearly 300 contractors and sub-contractors swarmed to the George R. Brown Convention Center last week, and the resulting buzz was enough to lift many a spirit made heavy by the economy. The four-hour workshop offered a forecast of METRO light-rail construction opportunities including public utilities, roadway, landscaping, trucking, excavation, paving and street reconstruction work for 2010.

Kevin Calvin, owner of the Project Manager Group, was busy taking notes and asking questions in a breakout session facilitated by Houston Rapid Transit (HRT), the joint venture overseeing all aspects of construction on the mass transit plan known as METRO Solutions.

“It is like a life-line,” said Calvin, whose three-year-old firm has 17 employees. “It’s the only money out there. The private sector is dry, so we all need to network to break through on projects like this,” he explained, while reviewing the qualifications necessary for doing business with the rail expansion SBE Initiative.

The METRO light-rail expansion represents more than $300 million in opportunities for SBE contractors. Ongoing METRO workshops support businesses with everything from bid packaging to pre-qualification and certified payrolls.

While many of the businesses represented were of a technical nature, others were all about keeping things simple, and green. Xavier Leal, whose XLent Services include landscaping and irrigation, said he was keeping his fingers crossed as he bid on an SBE job. “We had a lot of work following Ike and that was good, but it didn’t last long enough. I need contract work to keep my company and six employees going,” Leal noted as he spoke with Karen Becerra, program advisor for the SBE Initiative.

Karl Lassberg , whose Heights-based Texas ReExcavation (TRex) company is subcontracting work through HRT, affirmed Calvin’s observations. “We love these jobs,” he said as he checked in with participants during breaks and followed up on a lead with his laptop. “We use the Web for research and promotion and did some networking through a September METRO workshop.” Lassberg’s company specializes in non-destructive vacuum excavation used to locate utilities and has already found work on the East End Corridor.

Wendell Rychlik, meanwhile, had just called Lassberg about a job. Rychlik’s firm, W.T. Byler Co., specializes in heavy civil and railroad construction. Rychlik said his firm is looking to contract with HRT on some of the larger portions of the light-rail construction underway and in the planning stages and pointed out the benefits of attending events like this.

“Networking is critical to achieving goals. You have to know whom you are working with. Karl Lassberg and I are both members of the Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC-Houston), but networking here helped us hook up in doing business together,” he added.

“The project was a huge success from our perspective,” said David Couch, managing director of METRO Solutions. “We are looking forward to working with many of these companies now and over the next few years as we roll out the rails across Houston.”

To find out more about the Rail Means Business program visit log www.railmeansbusiness.com or email info@railmeansbusiness.com

###

Editors Note:

Photographs of the event and participants are available by request to mm53@ridemetro.org

2-Feb-10 8:00 AM

Stable Prices at the pump lull motorists

Bret Clanton - noemail@trexservices.com — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMT

A deep recession, home foreclosures, job losses, swine flu — among the many things Americans had to fret about in 2009, the price of gasoline ranked pretty low.

After topping $4 a gallon in 2008, U.S. gasoline prices failed to crack even the $3 mark last year, the first time in four years that hasn't happened.

Held in check by lower oil prices and a sputtering economy, the national average price for gasoline — after starting the year at $1.62 — rose to $2.69 a gallon in October but never went higher, according to AAA statistics.

In Houston, prices were even lower. The daily average bottomed at $1.43 in January and peaked at $2.53 in June.

But U.S. drivers may not be so lucky in 2010.

Prices start the new year at one of the highest points they've ever been for January, and they typically rise in the spring and summer as warmer weather spurs more driving. In addition, signs the economy is on the rebound boosted crude oil prices at the end of 2009, lifting pump prices along with them, and that trend is likely to continue.

That's why many experts say U.S. gasoline prices will likely return to $3 territory by this summer and generally be higher this year.

“I do think an improving economy is going to give us higher prices in 2010,” said Peter Beutel, industry analyst with Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Conn., who predicts pump prices could rise by 50 cents or more from current levels by this summer.

On New Year's Day, the average retail gasoline price nationwide was $2.65 a gallon, up a penny from Thursday, up 6 cents from a week ago and about a dollar higher than on Jan. 1, 2009. In Houston, the average price was $2.46, up a penny from Thursday, up 7 cents from last week and about a dollar higher than a year earlier, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in December that rising crude prices will push U.S. gasoline prices toward $3 per gallon during this year's summer driving season.

That could be bad news for U.S. consumers still struggling to get back on their feet after the worst recession in decades. But a big jump at the pump is not a given this year.

The economic rebound could go slower than expected, keeping fuel demand slack. Oil refiners, which have recently been closing plants and cutting output, also could decide to ramp up production again, resulting in surpluses. Yet seasonal factors alone should be enough to push prices higher than they are today.

“There hasn't been one year where gasoline wasn't cheaper in the winter than it was in the summer,” said Jason Toews, co-founder of gasbuddy.com, a Web site based in Minnesota that helps consumers find low-cost gas stations in their areas.

Prices plateau

In 2009, gasoline prices started in January at their lowest level since 2003. But pump prices began to rise in the spring and summer of 2009, then remained roughly stable through the end of the year, even as oil prices topped $80 a barrel.

Lower pump prices in 2009 marked a break from a pattern of escalating prices in recent years.

Average U.S. gasoline prices broke $3 a gallon for the first time in August 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hobbled Gulf Coast oil refineries, and had exceeded the mark every year since. Regular hit a record $4.11 a gallon in July 2008 amid a historic run-up in crude oil prices to nearly $150 a barrel.

Crude oil accounts for roughly half the cost of gasoline, so changes in oil prices affect prices at the pump. In trading Thursday, crude for February delivery added 8 cents to $79.36 a barrel.

Price spikes at the pump in recent years have desensitized U.S. drivers, making it seem like current prices are a bargain, though they are still high by historic standards, Toews said.

“Nobody is scared by $2.60 a gallon anymore,” he said, noting pump prices only surpassed $2 a gallon for the first time in 2004.

A hint of less gasoline use

There is, however, some evidence that rising pump prices this fall may have caused some Americans to dial back their gasoline usage.

U.S. highway travel fell in October by 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the first decline in five months, the U.S. Transportation Department said last month. Energy Department data also shows motor fuel consumption was down slightly in October from a year ago.

Dan Ronan, spokesman for AAA Texas, said weaker gasoline demand last year could reflect not only a recessionary pullback in driving, but more permanent changes in driving patterns and a broader shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Look around, he said. “You don't see many cars on the road anymore that get 12 or 14 miles to the gallon.”

brett.clanton@chron.com

2-Jan-10 6:00 AM

U.S.Rig count hits all time for the year

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week has risen by 23, or 2.1 percent, to 1,101, according to data kept by Houston-based Baker Hughes.

A total of 728 rigs were exploring for natural gas (down six) and 361 for oil (up 29), and 12 are listed as "miscellaneous." A year ago this week, the rig count stood at 1,941.

The international rig count is down 3, to 983.

The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981, during the height of the oil boom. The industry posted a record low of 488 in 1999.

Baker Hughes has a really cool interactive map of rig data that shows you detailed locations of rigs that can be sorted based on the type of well being drilled, depth and many other metics.

Posted by Tom Fowler

16-Nov-09 6:00 AM

Shell expects the Americas to have big role

Brett Clanton - noemail@trexservices.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Royal Dutch Shell sees a bigger role for North and South America as it seeks to boost global output of oil and natural gas in coming years, said Marvin Odum, president of the company's U.S. division.

Going forward, the region should be a “disproportionately growing part of Shell” as new projects come online in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, the Canadian oil sands and natural gas fields in the U.S. and Canada, Odum said in an interview with the Chronicle this week.

“There is a real focus on this part of the world inside of Shell,” Odum said, adding that while North and South America account for about a quarter of the company's production today, investment will be “much higher than that” in the future.

Even so, he still expects hundreds of Shell layoffs in Houston, where Shell employs nearly 13,000, under a recently announced re- organization plan that will ax 5,000 Shell jobs globally by year's end.

New Shell CEO Peter Voser launched that plan after the global economic slowdown gutted demand for energy and sent oil and gas prices plunging from record-high levels in July 2008.

Shell, based in The Hague, with U.S. headquarters in Houston, said profits in the third quarter slid 62 percent to $3.25 billion. It also reduced its 2010 capital spending budget to $28 billion from $31 billion this year.

But Odum said the reorganization is not simply a reaction to the difficult economic environment. “The goal here is restructuring to a much more streamlined, effective company,” he said. “It's not about how many jobs can we cut to cut costs.”

Such moves, along with rising commodity prices, recently led Credit Suisse to strike a more positive tone about major oil companies despite dismal earnings in recent months. “The risk-reward on the sector now looks better than it has for some time,” the investment bank said in a Nov. 2 report.

Voser, however, cautioned last month that “the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a quick recovery.”

Shell still projects it will grow oil and gas production 2 percent to 3 percent annually through 2012.

Brazil, Canada, Alaska

In the Americas, Shell will see growth in the deep water from its massive new BC-10 project offshore Brazil, as well as its soon-to-open Perdido platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A 100,000 barrel-per-day expansion in the Canadian oil sands is also coming in the next couple of years, Odum said. And Shell hopes to win final approval soon to drill offshore Alaska.

Shell also has amassed a significant portfolio of natural gas opportunities in the U.S. and Canada, he said.

South Texas position

A 2007 partnership with Calgary-based Encana gave Shell access to Louisiana's Haynesville shale, while a nearly $6 billion deal last year to acquire Duvernay Oil Corp. provided entry into gas fields in Alberta and British Columbia. Shell also has a position in the U.S. Rockies and South Texas, as well as others it won't yet reveal.

“We could be drilling at twice the rate we are today,” Odum said.

But at the moment, Odum and many in the oil and gas business are keenly focused on the outcome of climate change legislation in Congress, which they worry will burden the U.S. industry with extra costs and force job cuts.

Shell supports a cap-and-trade system that would place limits on greenhouse gas emissions and create a market for trading pollution permits.

More jobs

But Odum said any climate bill should also allow for greater production of oil and gas, nuclear and other traditional energy sources, rather than narrowly focusing on renewables, which are still many years away from being able to meet the nation's vast energy needs.

“The truth is, if we want to improve the balance of trade, we want more jobs in the U.S., you need to do more oil and gas in the U.S., and you need to do more renewable and alternative energies,” he said.

13-Nov-09 6:00 PM

Chesapeake Energy raises production forecast

Anna Driver - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

HOUSTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) raised its natural gas production forecast for 2009 and 2010 on Tuesday and said it planned to spend more on drilling.

The company said it expected production to rise 5 percent to 6 percent in 2009, compared with its prior forecast for an increase of 4 percent to 5 percent.

For 2010, Chesapeake expects production to increase by 8 percent to 10 percent, compared with its August forecast of 7 percent to 8 percent, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chesapeake expects to spend $3.15 billion to $3.35 billion on drilling in 2009, up from its August forecast of $3 billion to $3.2 billion. For 2010, exploration spending is expected to increase to as much as $4.7 billion.

The outlook was provided ahead of the company's annual meeting with investors on Wednesday.

Shares of Chesapeake, which is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, rose about 1 percent to $29.72 in after-hours trade.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Ted Kerr)

14-Oct-09 7:00 AM

The natural gas whiplash * updated

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The ongoing decline in natural gas prices chips away at some parts of the industry while providing opportunity to others.

Trident Resources, a private Canadian firm focused on coal bed methane plays in Alberta, Canada, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, citing the low prices for the move.

And Epsilon Energy, another Canadian producer, started production for a new Marcellus Shale well earlier this month and shut in another well a few days later when it couldn't get a good price on the market. In an e-mail exchange Epsilon CEO Zoran Arandjelovic said the price offered was below $2, but he hopes it's just a temporary issue.

+++++
Update:
Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp., which is in a joint venture with Chesapeake Energy in the Haynesville Shale, has suspended drilling in Texas to conserve cash for Louisiana leases, according to Bloomberg.

"As much as 15 percent of mineral leases on the richest portion of the 3.5 million-acre Haynesville deposit may be up for sale by year's end by companies that can't afford to keep them after fuel prices dropped, Chief Operating Officer Robert C. Turnham said yesterday in a interview in New York," Bloomberg reports.
++++++++++

But if you're in the natural gas storage business these could be heady days, notes the WSJ. Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners is reaping the rewards, as is a natural gas storage firm tied to Houston-based Centaurus Advisors.

The analysts at Societe Generale (just say "SocGen" and everyone will know who you mean) are not too optimistic, however. They say a sustained $3 per MM/Btu price "should trigger production cuts this fall" and as banks make their end-of-year reevaluations of E&P company reserves "credit lines will be more expensive and thus future development costs will increase."

The current prices are well below the marginal cost of production of the most profitable shale play, Haynesville -- $2.88 MMBtu, an estimate by Bentek Energy (based on a zero-dollar net present value and 10% IRR).

10-Sep-09 8:00 PM

Report sees rebound in global oil demand

Tom Fowler - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Global oil demand will resume its climb next year and should be back to 2007's highs by 2012, IHS-Cambridge Energy Research Associates reported Tuesday.

The recovery will come more quickly than after the last major oil bust in 1980 — when demand took a decade to reach its 1979 level — because developing nations like China and India are still primed for growth, said Jim Burkhard, managing director of global oil research for the firm.

Growing populations in those countries continue to become more affluent, as shown by projections that new-car sales in China will top U.S. sales this year.

“What's changed in a generation is the regional composition in demand growth,” Burkhard said.

But once demand for oil tops the old record, it will grow more slowly than it did before the recession, thanks to flat or even declining demand in the developed nations.

U.S. gasoline consumption is unlikely ever to top its 2007 peak, Burkhard said, because of laws requiring more ethanol in gasoline and tougher fuel economy standards.

In Europe, a shift to diesel-powered cars and light-duty trucks has also led to recent drops in oil demand. Aging populations in Europe and Japan also use less fuel.

On Tuesday benchmark crude rose $3.08, or 4.5 percent, to $71.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Analysts credited a falling dollar for pushing investors to seek out commodities such as oil and gold as a hedge.

Oil demand reached 86.5 million barrels per day in 2007 but has since plummeted with the global recession, with 2009's estimated demand expected to come in around 83.8 million barrels.

CERA predicts 2010 demand will grow by 900,000 barrels to 84.6 million barrels.

By 2012, demand should reach 86.9 million barrels and by 2014 estimates grow to 88.9 million barrels.

The recovery from the 1980s' oil demand crash took 10 years because prices remained high and consumers found substitutes for oil.

“In the 1980s, the largest area of demand decline came from power generation, where oil was replaced by readily available substitutes like coal, gas or nuclear,” Burkhard said.

“Today, global demand growth comes from the transportation sector in emerging markets where there are fewer options for switching fuels.”

There are signs that the combination of fossil fuels and electricity — such as powers the growing number of gasoline-electric hybrid cars on the roads — will counter oil demand, but widespread acceptance is still a number of years off, Burkhard said.

9-Sep-09 6:00 AM

Locates at the Design Stage Prove Valuable

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Underground utility construction projects most often are classified as either new construction, usually to extend or upgrade services, or replacement/rehabilitation of old or failing buried infrastructure.

However, many projects are to relocate utilities because of street, highway improvements or other types of general construction that makes it necessary to move buried utilities to a new location. Although planning for such projects begins months – even years – before ground is broken, locations of existing buried utilities may not be identified until shortly before construction is scheduled to begin.

Not knowing where facilities are buried during planning can result in costly delays and safety issues once construction is under way.

Mapping utilities before a project begins is one element in the discipline of subsurface utility engineering (SUE), promoted by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and, until recently, used primarily on large highway projects.

SUE is an engineering process that goes far beyond locating and marking buried utilities, and although SUE is being applied to projects other than highway construction, many project owners do not retain SUE specialists. For whatever reasons, many project owners and engineer consultants continue to exclude precise utility location from the planning stage.

Early knowledge beneficial

Brian Dorwart, P.E., P.G., vice president of Haley & Aldrich Inc., is an engineer with experience in planning a wide variety of underground utility projects, and he recognizes the value and importance of confirming locations of buried utilities early in a project's planning.

"Knowing where utilities are allows engineers to take them into account from the outset and manage the risk during construction," Dorwart said. "Encountering buried facilities unexpectedly during drilling or excavation can create safety hazards and cost money to pay contractors to stand by while planning adjustments are made. All this results in scheduling delays that are significantly higher than the cost of reliable locating early in the design phase.

"I prefer," Dorwart continued, "to make locates during the permitting phase and while working on the base plan. We do our research, do vacuum excavation verification of utility locations and plan with realistic data.”

Dorwart said that he wants to know the locations of utilities within 25 to 50 feet of the projected bore or excavation path.

"We cover that much area because we need to develop the most cost effective route through congested areas that have significant surface access restrictions," he explained.

Verification is important because utilities often are not present in available records or they are not in the locations indicated on records.

"Urban utilities in particular often are not at locations indicated on available records," Dorwart said. "Additionally, older cities often include abandoned and removed utilities on locate plans that occupy otherwise free space, and there often is no reliable procedure for their removal because of liability issues. Engineering around these ‘phantom' utilities and redesigning during construction because of mislocated utilities can result in significant cost to new projects for unnecessary, new right of way acquisition, or planning locations that could have been avoided."

In addition, municipal utilities such as sewers often have no build restrictions above the utility to permit access for repairs.

"I know of one project where a sewer owner required that a significant segment of a newly installed utility be removed and reinstalled because it had been built over an existing sewer," Dorwart said.

Time sensitivity

Some project planners may not make utility locations early because of the time it requires.

Many state one call agencies process requests for member organizations to locate and mark their buried facilities before construction begins. Depending on where the project is, facility owners and operators may not respond to requests for locates far in advance of construction.

"If the goal is efficiency in damage prevention, one call design tickets for locating and marking during the project planning make sense," said Walt Kelly, excavation damage prevention consultant.

"If the immediate goal is taking calls prior to excavation, then design tickets are not appropriate, and a separate, parallel system should be established. In the past, New Jersey and Virginia actually fined designers and excavators who tried to use one call for assisting in design. But that is no longer the case."

In Kelly's home state of Minnesota, Gopher State One Call (GSOC) has non excavation tickets and, in fact, requires that GSOC be contacted in many circumstances involving contract and bid proposals.

However, even though many one call centers do process engineering and design requests from facility owners and operators, many utilities are not owned by one call members.

J.D. Maniscalco can view the issue of whether to locate or not locate during planning from three perspectives: he is executive director of the Utility Notification Center of Colorado, a board member of the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) representing one call centers, and past chairman of One Call Systems International (OCSI) and currently is chairman of the OCSI data collection committee.

The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) is the private, nonprofit organization that has taken the lead in developing and implementing industry Best Practices to help protect underground utilities for those who live and work by them, said Maniscalco.

Best practice

He cites the CGA Best Practice statement covering identification of existing facilities in the planning and design phase which recommends:

"During the planning phase of the project, existing facilities are shown on preliminary design plans. The planning documents include possible routes for the project together with known underground facility information. The various facilities are then given the opportunity to provide appropriate feedback.

“During the design phase of the project, underground facility information from the planning phase is shown on the plans. If information was gathered from field located facilities, from underground facility surveys or from subsurface utility engineering, this is noted on the plans. The designer and the contractor both know the quality of the information included on the plans. If an elevation was determined during the information gathering, it is shown on the plan. The facilities shown include active, abandoned, out of service, and proposed facilities. The design plans include a summary drawing showing the proposed facility route or excavation including streets and a locally accepted coordinate system. The plans are then distributed to the various facility owners/ operators to provide the opportunity to furnish additional information, clarify information, or identify conflicts."

Following this practice, said Maniscalco, provides complete underground facility information and including this data on design drawings reduces the hazards, simplifies coordination and minimizes the cost to produce the final project.

"Many state one call laws do outline procedures for making locates during the design process, but don't necessarily require them to be made in the same time frame," Maniscalco said. "But we hear that many times, these requests go unnoticed and unattended for that reason. However, there are some one call centers that do handle design locates routinely and the majority of facility owners do a fine job to accommodate the request by either providing maps or physical marks with paint or flags."

Workload

During the past decade, the drive to build and the resulting number of locate tickets has made it difficult to fill requests for locates to use in planning.

"Some facility owners and operators have struggled to keep up with processing basic location requests so they can be completed before excavation is scheduled to begin," he said. "Possibly with the slowdown in construction, some of this pressure may be relieved."

Complicating the problem, Maniscalco added, are instances when a large project goes to bid and several competitive firms overload the system firms with requests for the same information. The company receives the contract and locates are requested again for the same area when work is started.

One way some project planners have expedited one call generated locates for planning is to indicate that earth will be moved which changes the notification to an excavation notice, he added.

In conclusion, Maniscalco said there currently is no national effort directed at promoting utility location during planning.

"We see pockets of private companies, SUE companies hired by utility owners to gather information, but no industry organized group advocating the benefits of making utility location a part of the process," said Maniscalco. "In Colorado, we had a pilot project five years ago to encourage five major counties to begin a project that would build data into the system so it would be available, but it became so large and unwieldy, it was dropped."

"The logical development is to incorporate SUE information into a system," he said. "It will have to begin small in a city, then to a county, and expand a step at a time. The more detailed information made available will help the industry improve overall management of right of way."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Common Ground Alliance, (703) 836 1709, www.commongroundalliance.com.
Haley & Aldrich Inc.: Brian Dorwart, P.E., (603) 625 5353, bcd@haleyaldrich.com
Walt Kelly LOOK UP INFO
Utility Notification Center of Colorado: J.D. Maniscalco, (303) 232-1991, www.uncc2.org/web/

Further information: SUE and Highway Construction

Subsurface utility engineering (SUE) is much more than locating and marking underground utilities – it is an engineering process that has evolved over the past few decades. SUE was born in the early 1980s when it was recognized that traditional methods of dealing with subsurface utilities were not working.

The SUE process combines civil engineering, surveying and geophysics. It utilizes several technologies, including vacuum excavation and surface geophysics.

When the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) began promoting SUE in the early 1990s, only a few state departments of transportation (DOTs) were known to be using it. Today, nearly every state DOT has used it to some extent on highway projects and SUE has expanded into Puerto Rico and Canada. Many state agencies now use the SUE process routinely on every project. In addition, SUE is being used by local highway agencies, utility companies and design consultants and has expanded beyond the highway industry to military, airport, transit, port and other transportation industries.

SUE services are provided by specialty companies.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has established a national standard stating responsibilities of engineers, project owners and contractors for the collection and depiction of existing subsurface utility data on design and construction documents. The FHWA and several SUE providers helped fund this activity. Compiled from information on the FHWA web site, www.fhwa.dot.gov.

30-Jul-09 4:00 PM

Oil higher despite mixed signals on economy

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Oil prices pushed higher again today, as stock markets dipped with mixed signals on the economy.

Benchmark crude for September delivery rose 33 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil has rebounded by almost $10 a barrel this month as stronger economic results from the U.S. and China boosted investor optimism along with better than expected second-quarter earnings results from many companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average has risen about 11 percent in the last 10 days, but was down slightly in today's trading.

The government said today that new U.S. home sales jumped 11 percent in June, the largest amount in nearly nine years.

Sales have risen for three straight months, but the median sales price of $206,200 was down 12 percent from $234,300 a year earlier.

The report initially sent oil — and the stock markets — higher.

But even with growing signs of optimism, demand for oil has remained weak.

“Oil can't stand on its own,” said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading. “It's looking at what the other markets are doing.”

Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover said oil also has gotten support from refineries running at levels well below years past.

“That's the only fundamental factor for prices to be higher,” he said.

Prices at the pump moved up 0.8 cents overnight to $2.50 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Prices are now 3.5 cents higher than a week ago, but 14.8 cents below levels of a month ago and $1.47 down from year-ago levels.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery rose 1.88 cents to settle at $1.9347 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.53 cents to settle at $1.7966. Natural gas for August delivery fell 9.1 cents to $3.604 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices rose 49 cents to $70.81 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

28-Jul-09 7:00 AM

OPEC to add 2 million b/d to NGL capacity

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:00:00 GMT

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 13 -- Natural gas liquids and condensate projects slated for start-up 2009-10 in some countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will add 2 million b/d to capacity at peak output. That’s according to the recently released Oil Market Report from the International Energy Agency. Despite the current weak market outlook, said the agency, the long-lead time expansion projects are moving forward.

Almost all the projects currently slated to come online over the next 18 months have been plagued by delays related to construction, engineering, and other technical complications as well as by a shortage of skilled labor.

Country plans
IEA data show that Middle East producers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, and the UAE will provide 90% of the increase, while Nigeria will account for the remaining 10%. “The critical need to boost natural gas output for reinjection at aging oil fields” is a primary focus for many of the projects, said the report.

In the Middle East, a shortage of gas supplies to meet rapidly rising domestic demand from the electric power sector, at desalination plants, and for industrial use has also kept expansion plans on track, if not on schedule.

-- Saudi Arabia’s capacity increases account for 34% of the growth over 2009-10, with peak capacity additions totaling 660,000 b/d. The nonassociated Hawiyah NGL recovery project will provide about half of the growth, with peak capacity of 300,000 b/d by about 2011. The project’s start-up was delayed to 2009 from 2008, said IEA.

The Khursaniyah gas processing plant has also been overwhelmed with delays; installed capacity of 290,000 b/d NGL production is not expected to be operating until yearend 2009. An additional 70,000 b/d of condensate capacity is linked to the massive 1.2-million-b/d Khurais oil field development, which formally launched last month.

It is unclear, however, when the new capacity will be fully online, given Saudi Aramco’s “challenge of adjusting its surplus crude operating capacity in the current weak demand environment,” according to the report.

-- After overcoming considerable construction and technical delays, Qatar is on track to ramp up gas liquids by a further 545,000 b/d by yearend 2010 with six projects at North field. Major capacity increments are likely from Qatargas Trains 4, 5, and 6 with a combined capacity of 460,000 b/d.

Start-up of the Al Khaleej Gas Phase 2 Project (AKG-2), being developed as part of the Ras Laffan LNG expansion project, will contribute 40,000 b/d to condensate production capacity. AKG-2 is being developed to supply natural gas to domestic markets, while associated condensate and NGLs is for export.

-- IEA says Iran plans to increase its condensate and NGL capacity by about 245,000 b/d over 2009-10. The country’s massive South Pars project has suffered delays and costly overruns, but completion of Phases 6-10 will provide most of the growth in capacity.

The gradual start-up of capacity at South Pars 6, 7, and 8 is key to the country’s enhanced oil recovery project at onshore Aghajari field, according to the IEA report. The gas-reinjection project is designed to boost output levels by about 100,000 b/d but technical issues, the field’s age, and challenging corrosive issues with the pipeline, may limit the recovery rate.

Other projects in Iran, such as the Anaran development, are on hold at present. StatoilHydro pulled out of the project earlier this year, in part due to the costly overruns the company suffered during development of Phases 6-8.

-- The UAE plans to add about 340,000 b/d of installed capacity by yearend 2010, with start-up of the delayed 270,000-b/d Habshan OGD3 processing slated for later this year.

-- Nigeria’s start-up of the Total-operated Akpo gas and condensate project will increase Nigeria’s installed capacity by a further 175,000 b/d. The Akpo development came online ahead of schedule in April.

Nigeria’s gas liquids capacity also will increase this year by production from Agbami and EA fields, brought online in second-half 2008. These fields will peak at 50,000 b/d and 40,000 b/d, respectively.

14-Jul-09 12:00 PM

Bobby Hillin Jr. joins Toby Keith and raises $550,000 for Oklahoma charity Ally’s House

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Toby Keith and friends raise $550,000 for charity

NORMAN - Despite the recession, country music superstar Toby Keith has helped get Oklahoma cancer charity Ally’s House more than half a million dollars closer to its goals.

The sixth annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic June 12-13 in Norman raised $550,000, his publicist announced Wednesday. This year’s take brings the event’s overall total nearly $3 million.

Ally’s House is a Norman-based nonprofit that helps Oklahoma children with cancer and their families. It is named for Allison Webb, the 2-year-old daughter of Scott Webb, one of Keith’s original bandmates, and his wife Linda Webb. Ally died in 2003 of kidney cancer; the Webbs and Keith founded the charity the following year.

“So many charity events have struggled in this economy,” said Linda Webb, Ally’s House executive director. “We are very pleased, and it’s really going to help us with all the exciting things that we have planned. … Toby’s support is a gift we never take for granted, and we appreciate it more than we can express.”

Along with providing financial aid for families coping with pediatric cancer, the nonprofit is looking forward to cutting the ribbon later this summer on the renovated oncology unit at Children’s Hospital. Ally’s House gave $500,000 to build a new playroom, family resource room, room for infusion treatments and palliative care area there.

The charity also has secured land on the OU Health Sciences Center campus and is looking at designs for an actual Ally’s House, which would lodge pediatric cancer patients being treated at Children’s Hospital and their families. The plan is to offer housing similar to a Ronald McDonald House but specifically for children with cancer.

This year’s Golf Classic reached its second-highest total; the 2008 event raised $709,000.

“You hope that you continue to grow, but there is a little bit of recession going on right now. But I still expect it to be fantastic as always,” Keith told The Oklahoman before this year’s event.

“I really call on people hard to come forward and help our cause for these kids in Oklahoma but … I think I’m gonna have to beat them up a little harder this year I think,” he added with a laugh.

The two-day private event included a party, auction and celebrity golf tournament. Among those in attendance were comic Rodney Carrington, University of Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, gymnast Bart Conner, and many others. race car driver Bobby Hillin, Jr.; basketball players Kevin Bookout, Kelly Newton and Nancy Lieberman; baseball stars Roger Clemens, Kevin Gross and Mickey Tettleton and football standouts Stephen Alexander, Rocky Calmus, Ray Childress, Dan Cody, Cedric Jones, Steve Owens, Trent Smith and Jason White.

In addition, Ally’s House recently received an almost $131,000 donation from Edmond Santa Fe High School, money raised during the school’s annual fundraiser Double Wolf Dare Week.

“Even though we have the support of Toby Keith, which is invaluable which other organizations would just die to have, the need is greater than any one person or one event,” Webb said. “Those kids were just tireless. … They take fundraising to a whole new level in terms of creative ideas.”

Ally’s House

For more information on Ally’s House, call 733-ALLY (2559) or go online to www.allyshouse.net.

-BAM

3-Jul-09 6:00 AM

Definition of confined spaces needs makeover: expert

Peter Kenter - noemail@trexservices.com — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Mention the term confined space on a job site and everyone will have some idea of what you’re talking about.

The problem is, they won’t necessarily agree on what it means from province to province and across jurisdictions.

“The term dates well back into the last century,” said Neil McManus, president of NorthWest Occupational Health & Safety in Vancouver.

“It became synonymous with spaces that became workspaces following the opening of normally sealed equipment and structures, or workspaces that were entered infrequently.

“Today, depending on where you are, the term is exclusively geometry-based, while some jurisdictions include atmospheric hazards and still others include safety hazards as well.”

McManus wrote the book on confined spaces—literally.

His volume, Safety and Health in Confined Spaces, is one of only two books written on the subject.

In the book, he argues that workplaces across Canada need to take a simplified approach to safety in confined spaces that should be easily understood by both workers and management.

“Canadian regulators have a responsibility to the people being regulated to protect them in an effective manner,” he said.

“They can’t be protected effectively if they need a lawyer beside them to help interpret the regulations.

“We need to empower workers to do the right things for the right reasons. In many cases, the absolute proof that something is a confined space is in hindsight, when someone has been injured or killed in that space. In Ontario, if you die, it was definitely a confined space. If you don’t die, it might have been.”

In his safety training presentations, McManus typically offers his audience a series of workplace snapshots that they might encounter and asks them the simple question,

“Is this a confined space?”

The varying opinions of audience members make it clear that there’s no correct answer that will apply across Canada.

In one example, McManus shows photos of a building supported by pony walls that form a series of parallel channels.

To rehabilitate the site, contractors attempted to move contaminated soil from underneath the building using vacuum trucks.

When that idea proved unsuccessful, the contractor moved to Plan B, driving Bobcats down the tunnels to excavate the soil.

“When I analyzed the job, I could see that the vehicle would move in quickly, but back out slowly, right through the vehicle’s own exhaust gas,” he said.

“The circumstances of the job required us to treat those channels as a confined space.”

McManus remedied the situation by fashioning a ventilation system that would move air through the channels faster than the Bobcat could back up, ensuring that the operator had enough air to work safely.

An alarm system ensured that air of adequate quality reached the driver.

Other situations that often escape notice include sites where a large space becomes a confined space because it is half-filled with water.

A pre-cast concrete electrical vault may not be considered a confined space while sitting on a flatbed truck, but becomes a potential confined space hazard when lowered into an excavation.

An open-roofed structure can become a confined space in the presence of toxic heavier-than-air gases.

Even simple construction trenches are often overlooked as confined spaces because they’re covered under regulations that focus on other issues, he said.

McManus recounted an Ontario job in which construction workers entered large sewer pipes with heat guns to seal interior plastic liners at the joints.

“Whether that was a confined space became a hell of a big question,” he said.

McManus said that BC regulations have gone a long way to simplify the issues of what determines a confined space hazard.

Not so for Ontario.

“Ontario revamped its confined space regulations in 2005, but it’s disappointing to see what they ended up with,” he said.

“We can’t expend effort on classifying workspaces into pigeonholes according to arbitrary definitions. The real question the regulations need to answer is, ‘what hazardous conditions does this workspace pose and what must we do to eliminate, or at least control, them?’ Workers want a clear set of instructions to follow.”

27-Jun-09 7:00 AM

Cost of oil and natural gas exploration climb

Kristin Hays - noemail@trexservices.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:00:00 GMT

The U.S. oil and gas industry’s costs of finding resources rose 35 percent last year amid the wild rise and fall in commodity prices, an Ernst & Young study released Thursday showed.

The three-year average cost per barrel of oil equivalent, excluding acquisitions of proved reserves, was $27.22. But in 2008 that spiked to $51.96.

“This validates that finding oil and gas reserves is very, very expensive,” said Marcela Donadio, oil and gas sector leader for the Americas. She noted that cost also demonstrates why some companies have delayed final investment decisions on costly expansions or new projects, such as those in Canada’s oil sands or deep-water exploration.

The study examined U.S. exploration and production results for 40 companies from 2004 through last year. The companies, which include oil majors as well as large and small to midsize independents, collectively hold 70 percent of U.S. oil reserves and 61 percent of U.S. natural gas reserves.

Overall costs, including acquisitions, rose 35 percent last year to $132.1 billion, the study said.

But oil reserves fell 7 percent to 15 billion barrels, largely because regulatory reporting rules required companies to book reserves that can be produced economically at the closing price on the last trading day of the year.

Last year that price was $44.60 a barrel — far below the year-end 2007 price of $95.

The same rule forced reductions of 6.7 trillion cubic feet of booked natural gas reserves as well. Even with those write-downs, gas reserves rose 4 percent overall amid the boom in shale production last year.

However, starting at the end of 2009, companies can book reserves based on average annual price rather than a one-day snapshot. In 2008, that average was about $99 a barrel.

So as prices recover alongside the economy, reserves that were written off can be restored to companies’ books as they become economical to produce again, said Charles Swanson, managing partner of Ernst & Young’s Houston office.

“It certainly was a year to remember,” he said.

kristen.hays@chron.com

19-Jun-09 1:00 PM

Broken line leads to $6mil clean up

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:00:00 GMT

The Montfort Hospital’s newly built east wing is now the site of a massive $6-million environmental cleanup.

A hospital executive says between 15,000 to 20,000 litres of furnace oil have leaked into the soil beneath the new expansion of the Montreal Rd. facility, setting the stage for a decontamination project that’s estimated to take up to 15 years.

A piece of heavy equipment broke a pipe leading to a furnace around Jan. 23, causing a leak that’s led to the excavation of 1,500 tonnes of contaminated soil.

“We’re not happy with the situation but bad things happen sometimes and we try to manage it appropriately with all the proper measures,” including environmental standards and patient and staff safety, said the hospital’s executive VP Marc Joyal.

Hospital staff discovered the leak after staff in a nearby area noticed noxious fumes. About 10 employees working in the health records section were evacuated from the area and relocated.

Joyal said the hospital immediately notified the provincial Ministry of Environment and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority when they discovered the leak, along with the Champlain Local Health Integration Network that oversees health-care planning in Eastern Ontario.

The hospital hired an environmental consulting firm which met with neighbouring residents, who rely on well water.

“There hasn’t been any off-site impact on drinking water wells to date,” said Kate Jordan, spokeswoman for the provincial environment ministry.

In the weeks following the spill, Joyal said the hospital did air-quality tests three times a week and determined the leak didn’t pose any risk to patients or the operation of the hospital, which continues to do weekly air-quality tests.

Joyal said the hospital wasn’t trying to hide the leak, which went largely unreported since January.

“From our perspective, we’ve been very transparent about it. More than 1,000 people have been made aware of this, including about 10 different groups and agencies,” said Joyal. “It’s not like we were trying to hide anything from anybody.”.

The estimated $6-million cleanup tab will be covered through the insurance policy from the Montfort’s expansion project, said Joyal.

Repair crews installed a groundwater treatment system, which meant digging walls into the base of the new wing and pumping water into the soil and removing the contaminated soil.

“Our site is safe and our care is safe and there’s no worries for anyone to be treated at our site,” said Joyal.

donna.casey@sunmedia.ca

18-Jun-09 6:00 AM

Retail Gasoline Prices Continue to Climb

Karl Lassberg - noemail@trexservices.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Retail gasoline prices rose for the 49th straight day Tuesday even though crude oil fell again.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline gained a half cent to $2.674, according to auto club AAA, surpassing a stretch in early 2007 when prices moved up 48 straight days.

In late April, when this streak began, a gallon cost only $2.05.

Even during strong gasoline rallies in 2007 and 2008, prices tended to back off after gains of 20 to 40 cents per gallon, said Fred Rozell, retail director for the Oil Price Information Service.

“This is unprecedented,” he said.

A gallon of regular averaged $2.491 in Houston on Tuesday.

High unemployment and economic anxiety have led to some belt-tightening, but with gasoline prices lower than they were three years ago, Rozell does not believe there has been a tangible economic effect this summer.

“I think people have it fresh in their mind that they were paying $4.15 last year,” he said.

Benchmark crude for July delivery declined for the third straight day, falling 15 cents to settle at $70.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts have been saying for more than a month that crude prices are much too high. Even though it was the third straight day of declines, oil has now closed above $70 for a full week, the first time that has happened since October.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery rose 1.7 cents to settle at $2.0711 a gallon and heating oil fell less than a penny to settle at $1.8250. Natural gas for July delivery fell 7 cents to settle at $4.312 per million British thermal units.

In London, Brent crude prices closed flat at $70.24 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

17-Jun-09 7:00 AM