If 2012 - 2013 Was The Year Of Rail, 2014 - 2015 Will Be The Year For Pipeline

Updates

August 16, 2014: The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on North Dakota's pipeline and CBR for the Bakken. It appears The Star-Tribune is leading the fight for laying more pipeline through Minnesota to get Bakken oil to Chicago without having to use rail.
 

Original Post

Buffett recently bought a company that will improve oil flow through pipelines.

Now, Don sends me this Yahoo!Finance story: GE buying a company that provides flow equipment for oil and gas production.

GE Oil & Gas and Cameron, a Houston-based provider of flow equipment, systems and services, today announced that GE has agreed to acquire Cameron’s Reciprocating Compression division for $550 million.

The division provides reciprocating compression equipment and aftermarket parts and services for oil and gas production, gas processing, gas distribution and independent power industries. Cameron’s Reciprocating Compression division, which generated sales of approximately $355 million in 2012, has approximately 900 employees and operates from 20 global locations. The acquisition is expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approval.

High-speed reciprocating compressors are used in several applications from gas gathering, gas lift and injection, as well as transmission and storage. The development of shale oil and gas fields, particularly in North America, has increased demand for high-speed reciprocating compressors. As shale continues to develop in other regions of the world, such as Asia and South America, the acquisition will position GE to serve the industry globally.

 It looks like everyone is positioning themselves for the huge pipeline story yet to be written.

By the way, just a few days ago I wrote:

I no longer care about wind energy: companies are simply buying wind farms for the tax credits. I no longer care about solar energy: after twenty years of investment, solar energy provides 0.1% of the electricity for the US. GE can talk all they want about wind and solar; they are making their money from conventional energy sources.

As a reminder, GE CEO was the president's "go-to" man on driving the US economic turnaround. I don't think President Obama or the country got much from the Immelt-led commission, but GE certainly learned a lot -- where US energy was headed and who owned what.