Passamaquoddy Bay & Northeast
New letter of protest against LNG import project on US East Coast (Mar 29) — SteelGuru, Gurgaon, India
A letter of protest was sent against new construction of LNG import terminal on the US east coast. Concerning the LNG import project, which the US Downeast LNG Inc is planning in Passamaquoddy Bay, the state of Maine in USA, Anti LNG Organizations "Save Passamaquoddy Bay" strongly urged Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to cancel the project. The organizations said in its letter "FERC should not approve the project."
This news article is poorly written and contains numerous factual errors.
03.25.12 LNG Exports (Mar 25) — Platts Energy Week TV
The following link will open a webpage that will load and play a video. — SPB webmaster
The interstate gas pipeline industry is responding with mergers and acquisitions, and plans for thousands of miles of new construction. ... Most of this expansion would be headed to Northeast and Southeast markets from the shale plays in Ohio and Pennsylvania. [Click map for larger view in separate window. Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]
Downeast LNG and effectively-dead Calais LNG would have us believe this is impossible.
Broadwater LNG answers towns' request that FERC vacate order authorizing project (Mar 30) — LNG Law Law
Broadwater Energy LLC has filed an answer to a letter submitted to FERC by the towns of Riverhead and Southold, N.Y. The letter requested that the Commission vacate its orders granting certificate authority for Broadwater's LNG project and denying rehearing of the matter. Submission of the letter followed Broadwater's request to FERC earlier this month to vacate the company's certificate authority without vacating the orders that grant the authority. In its answer to the towns' letter, Broadwater argues that the Commission vacates its orders "only in exceptional circumstances based upon compelling reasons," and asserts that no such circumstances or reasons exist in the proceeding.
As in most cases, FERC does not respond to public — or intervenor — questions or requests, enforcing the perception that FERC works for the applicants, not the public.
Southeast
LNG trucking operation plans dropped in Savannah — Savannah Morning News, Savannah, GA
Southeast LNG, a partnership between AGL Resources and El Paso Corp., has dropped its plan to truck up to 5 million gallons a week of liquefied natural gas from Elba Island through Savannah.
Savannah Mayor Edna Jackson praised the news during a press conference at City Hall on Friday afternoon. Due to safety and emergency response concerns, the City Council and community groups had opposed the proposal, which called for up to 58 tanker truckloads of LNG to be hauled across DeRenne Avenue daily, passing two major hospitals and numerous schools, businesses and residential neighborhoods.
Public safety has prevailed.
SE LNG withdraws proposal to truck LNG through Savannah — WSAV-TV, Savannah, GA
While SE LNG maintains its safe and no risk to the community, many were not buying it...which is why news that the project is being scratched was celebrated.
"No risk" is a preposterous statement to make about any hydrocarbon fuel.
Company withdraws application for LNG plan (Mar 30) — WTOC-TV, Savannah, GA
For more than a year, El Paso Energy and Southern LNG had been trying to convince the city of Savannah that their plan to truck liquefied natural gas through the city was a safe plan.
City officials took the next step in a plea to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who would have made the final decision.
Savannah City Council approved a resolution in October telling the commission they do not want large quantities of LNG being transported on the streets of Savannah.
LNG withdraws trucking proposal (Mar 30) — Georgia Public Broadcasting News, GA
A Houston-based liquified natural gas importer is withdrawing its application to reactivate trucking facilities on Georgia's Elba Island.
"What was driving the application to reactivate the truck loading facilities was a lease with Southeast LNG," [company spokesman Bill Baerg] says. "Since we're told from our customer that they're no longer interested in that at this point, we decided to withdraw our application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."
LNG withdraws application to haul gas through Savannah (Mar 30) — The Coastal Source,Savannah, GA
Mayor Otis Johnson and other members of the previous City Council saw this danger, and worked with City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney and her staff, including Fire Chief Charles Middleton and consultant Ben Johnson, to work long hours on this issue.
The City of Savannah took an in-depth, critical look at this proposal to protect our residents. And many civic-minded residents stepped forward to join us.
While this process has been long and difficult for all sides involved, we are extremely pleased that in the end the right decision was made for all of Savannah. I think all sides have learned a lot through this process, and we move forward with a better understanding of each other as a result.
Gulf of Mexico
Golden Pass withdraws request regarding applicability of pre-filing procedures at FERC (Mar 30) — LNG Law Blog
Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC withdrew its request at FERC for a determination that the company's proposal to re-export previously imported LNG from its Sabine Pass, Texas, terminal is not subject to FERC's pre-filing procedures.
Not to be confused with Sabine Pass LNG on the Louisiana side of the Sabine Pass waterway, Golden Pass LNG is just three miles north on the Texas side.
Oregon
Oregon LNG withdraws FERC applications (Mar 29) — (The Daily Astorian) Oregon Public Broadcasting
A proposal to build a liquefied natural gas import facility near Warrenton took a step backward Wednesday, as the company withdrew its paperwork with federal agencies.
LNG Development Company and the Oregon Pipeline Company, often referred to simply as Oregon LNG, are now likely to modify their proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to documents filed with FERC.
Opponents of the project say they’re pleased with the withdrawal, but added they believe it’s the first step in turning what was originally conceived as an import facility into one used for exports.
“There are no economics for imports,” he said, adding that the only viable financial model for LNG is exporting it. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
The number of proposed US LNG import terminals now stands at just 2:
- Calais LNG, with no money and no terminal site, this proposal is awaiting dismissal by FERC.
- Downeast LNG, with no possibility of obtaining LNG and no need for the project; and
- Liberty LNG, offshore from New Jersey.
Everyone else in the industry realizes that there is no viable market for additional US LNG import infrastructure.
FERC withdraws consultation request for Oregon LNG project (Mar 29) — LNG Law Blog
Noting that the developers of the Oregon LNG terminal and pipeline project expect to change their plans for the project, FERC informed the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it is withdrawing its Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation request regarding the proposed project. In its letters to each agency, available under Docket No. CP09-6 in eLibrary, FERC said it would "re-initiate consultation" on the revised version of the project "at the appropriate time."
Oregon LNG is expected to reapply with FERC as an LNG export project.
Future of LNG facility near Astoria uncertain (Mar 29) — Oregon Public Broadcasting, OR
Peter Hensen with Oregon LNG says the company has not applied for a federal export permit.
The state’s other LNG project at Coos Bay changed its proposal last fall. Backers of the Jordan Cove Energy Project in Coos County have applied to export rather than import liquefied natural gas.
Future of third LNG proposal for Oregon Coast in question (Mar 29) — Oregon Public Broadcasting, OR
One LNG project in Oregon, Bradwood Landing, went bankrupt. A second, Jordan Cove, has applied to export natural gas instead of importing it. Now the future of a third project, Oregon LNG, is in question. It’s a proposed terminal in Warrenton.
Fish and wildlife agencies have stopped their review of Oregon LNG, citing its legal problems and possible change in direction. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission documents say Oregon LNG is planning to change its proposal. Project executive Peter Hanson said the project has not applied for an export license, and the public will know if it does.
Jordan Cove needs new license for LNG export terminal (Mar 29) — Northwest Public Radio, Pullman, WA
COOS BAY, Ore. -- Federal regulators visited the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas facility near Coos Bay, Oregon Wednesday. Regulators say the Jordan Cove energy project will need to submit a new application now that it is proposing to export natural gas instead of importing it. Amelia Templeton reports.
The Jordan Cove Energy project has proposed building a terminal on a sand dune outside of Coos Bay.
Import or export, Jordan Cove Energy's proposed LNG site is inappropriate, as indicated by SIGTTO terminal siting best safe practices (See LNG Terminal Siting Standards Organization for more on this issue).
Canada
Comment: Three-point plan to reform project review process (Mar 29) — Financial Post, Don Mills, ON
While the supply situation is very promising for Canadians, there are challenges. Canada has been the major exporter of natural gas to the United States. Massive new production of natural gas in the United States will increasingly make natural gas imports from Canada unnecessary, to the point that eastern Canada will soon import more natural gas from the United States because of lower cost supply. This will be good for Canada generally, but threatens to leave a very significant deposit of natural gas in northeastern British Columbia without easy access to market. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
United States
03.18.12 LNG Exports (Mar 18) — Platts Energy Week TV
The following link will open a webpage that will load and play a video. — SPB webmaster
For liquefied natural gas in the U.S., newfound and abundant shale reserves have all but killed the LNG market. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]
Indonesia considering U.S. LNG supplies (Mar 29) — LNG Law Blog
Platts LNG Daily [subscription required] reports that due to dwindling reserves, Indonesia's state-owned power utility is considering long-term imports of U.S. LNG for power generation, even as it shifts to building more coal-fired power plants.
U.S. LNG may face limited demand in Asia, Wood Mackenzie says (Mar 29) — Bloomberg
“Incremental U.S. LNG exports into Asia are likely to be restricted by competition and by buyer appetite rather than export approvals,” Noel Tomnay, head of global gas research at Wood Mackenzie, said in the note.
A backlash against U.S. LNG exports builds (Mar 29) — Alberta Oil, AB
A battle could be brewing between natural gas firms seeking export deals with overseas buyers as a means to lift prices at home and domestic chemical companies counting on bargain basement commodity prices to drive growth plans.
US government further delays LNG export decision (Mar 30) — ICIS Heren, London, England, UK
"We expect to be able to release the comprehensive study results late this summer," a DOE spokesman said. "The department will then take time to review the results and develop a path forward for making public-interest determinations for the pending export applications. No time line has been set for making those determinations."
Speak at LNG 17 in 2013 (Mar 30) — Pipelines International
Call for Papers for LNG 17 event, 2013 April 16–19, Houston, Texas.
LNG 17 is currently accepting papers on every aspect of the LNG value chain, and wider global issues and concerns.
Passamaquoddy Bay
New England and the Northeast U.S. not 'starving for natural gas' (Mar 20) — The Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB [Paid subscription]
[This article is not available online without a paid subscription. — SPB webmaster]
"Contrary to Downeast LNG claims to the public, Northeast natural gas pipeline infrastructure is clearly continuing to grow at a significant pace and volume, making America's plentiful natural gas supply avaiable to Maine, New England and the Northeast, impeaching Downeast LNG's staving for natural gas argument."
Canaport LNG, said Godfrey, cancelled its fourth LNG storage tank due to lack of demand and he notes that Downeast is now proposing just one tank rather than the two it originally announced. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Downeast LNG's reducing its own proposed storage tanks from two to just one reveals that Downeast LNG doesn't actually believe its argument that the Northeast is "starved for gas."
Northeast
Analyst: $200B investment coming in Marcellus, Utica region (Mar 20) — WTRF-TV, Wheeling, WV
Swank spoke of pipeline developments to carry gas north and east from the Marcellus and Utica, saying old sources of gas to the area — the Gulf Coast and, more recently, the Rockies — are scrambling to find new markets.
In a market flooded with natural gas and ethane, he said, "probably the largest arbitrage I've ever seen is what's happening in the natural gas and ethane markets in the U.S." With gas prices not much above $2 per thousand cubic feet here and four and five times that in Europe and even higher in Australia, he said, people worldwide are trying to figure out how to take advantage of the price spread by buying low here, transporting and selling high elsewhere."
With gas so cheap that it sometimes doesn't pay to take it out of the ground, the Marcellus has become "a giant gas storage field," Swank said. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]
Osaka Gas in talks With Dominion, Sempra, Freeport for LNG — Bloomberg Businessweek
[This same article appears under "Gulf of Mexico," below.]
The company may invest in planned LNG-export plants in Maryland, Louisiana and Texas and natural gas fields near the facilities, Tetsushi Ikuta, general manager of the utility’s energy resources and international business development, said in an interview. He declined to give the cost of the investments.
Gulf of Mexico
Sabine Pass LNG files opposition to Sierra Club FERC intervention (Mar 27) — LNG Law Blog
On March 23, 2012, Sabine Pass LNG filed a motion to oppose the Sierra Club's late intervention in the Sabine Pass LNG Liquefaction Project proceeding at FERC.
Osaka Gas in talks With Dominion, Sempra, Freeport for LNG — Bloomberg Businessweek
[This same article appears under "Northeast," above.]
The company may invest in planned LNG-export plants in Maryland, Louisiana and Texas and natural gas fields near the facilities, Tetsushi Ikuta, general manager of the utility’s energy resources and international business development, said in an interview. He declined to give the cost of the investments.
Cheniere Energy official eyes South America for US LNG exports — LNG Law Blog
Speaking at a conference this week, Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki said that South America, rather than Asia, is the better market for US LNG exports, where LNG could displace diesel as the fuel for power generation.
Cheniere sees summer application for Corpus plant (Mar 27) — Reuters
Cheniere Energy Inc plans to file a formal application in July or August to build a second liquefied natural gas export plant on the U.S. Gulf Coast, the company's chief executive officer told investors on Tuesday.
Once expected to be a major importer, the United States now has up to a century's worth of natural gas supply, prompting plans to ship the cheap fuel to thirsty markets in Europe and Asia where prices are up to five times higher. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Alaska & British Columbia
As lawmakers consider in-state gas line, Canadians offer alternative (Mar 26) — KTUU-TV, Anchorage, AK
JUNEAU, Alaska — On the eve of what's expected to be an intense state House debate on a proposed in-state natural gas pipeline, a group of Canadians visited Juneau to remind state officials that they're standing by to help with an alternate route through Canada.
The pipeline would be massive -- 48 inches in diameter, and capable of pushing anywhere from 4.5 to 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas through the system each day. The higher volume could only be achieved if state-of-the-art compressors are used.
Legislators consider Lower 48 gas exports (Mar 27) — Juneau Empire, Juneau, AK
The Canadians said just as Interior Alaskans want to get access to natural gas to lower costs and promote development, so do residents of Canada’s Yukon Territory. Its capital of Whitehorse and new mining operations would all like access to the cheaper, clean-burning fuel.
Oregon
Feds visit site proposed for natural gas facility — Oregon Public Broadcasting
Regulators say the Jordan Cove energy project will need to submit a new application now that it is proposing to export natural gas instead of importing it. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Pipeline, terminal would export natural gas from Coos Bay — Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is requiring Jordan Cove Energy, a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, to submit a new application now that the facility would be used to liquefy and export natural gas instead of importing it.
However, FERC officials say that the associated Pacific Connector Pipeline has not been asked to file any new applications, and that the pipeline’s certificate of convenience and necessity is still valid.
That certificate gives the Pacific Connector the ability to use eminent domain to acquire easements on private land. The pipeline would connect Jordan Cove’s coastal export terminal to natural gas suppliers at a major hub in Malin, Oregon. The 36 inch pipeline would run directly across several hundred private properties.
FERC staffer Paul Freidman told the crowd that the agency won’t allow Jordan Cove to build the facility using the approval they were granted three years ago for an import terminal. [Brown, red & bold emphasis added.]
LNG site tour becomes 'what if' session — The World, Coos Bay, OR
More than 30 braved Tuesday's rain for the nearly two-hour tour on the North Spit, pausing at every new location to ask more questions. Opponents were easy to spot in their red anti-LNG buttons, shirts and signs.
Following the tour, Jordan Cove held an open house with representatives from eleven of the major government agencies and private companies working on the LNG project set up to answer the public's questions. About 130 people toured the open house, many from out of town.
...Most of the gas that would be exported from Coos Bay would come from reserves in Canada, [Gordon Pickering, the director of business consulting firm Navigant] said.
United States
Applications received by DOE/FE to export domestically produced LNG from the Lower-48 States — Office of Fossil Energy, US Department of Energy
1) Sabine Pass Liquefaction; 2) Freeport LNG Expansion and FLNG Liquefaction; 3) Lake Charles Exports; 4) Carib Energy (USA); 5) Dominion Cove Point LNG; 6) Jordan Cove Energy Project; 7) Cameron LNG; 8) Freeport LNG Expansion, L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction; 9) Gulf Coast LNG Export; and 10) Cambridge Energy
There are applications from 9 entities to export domestically-produced LNG.
PLN interested in US LNG imports — Business Recorder, Karachi, Pakistan
SINGAPORE: Indonesian state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is looking at the possibility of importing natural gas from North America to make up for a shortfall in domestic supply for power generation, a senior executive said on Wednesday.
Dow says U.S. gas shouldn't be exported 'indiscriminately' — The Detroit News, Detroit, MI
Gas exports and U.S. government incentives to encourage its use in vehicles may undermine chemical makers' confidence that prices will remain low, Jim Fitterling, executive vice president for energy and feedstocks at Midland, Michigan-based Dow, said Wednesday in a speech at the IHS World Petrochemical Conference in Houston.
Mexico
DJ Samsung C&T, Kogas, Mitsui start test runs at Mexico LNG terminal — MENAFN, Amman, Jordan
A consortium of companies comprising South Korea's Samsung C&T Corp and Korea Gas Corp. as well as Japan's Mitsui & Co. has completed the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Manzanillo, Mexico, and started test runs.
The Manzanillo terminal consists of two 150,000-kiloliter tanks and a facility that can gasify and deliver 3.8 million tons of gas annually. Gasified natural gas from the terminal will be supplied to nearby power plants and cities, the statement said.
Northeast
Supply glut turning Marcellus into 'giant gas storage field' — NGI's Shale Daily [Paid subscription]
What would you call a lot of natural gas, ready at a moment's notice? Some might call it a storage facility. Others might call it the Marcellus Shale... [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Contrary to truth-denying Downeast LNG, who wants you to believe the Northeast is "gas starved," the Northeast is becoming a "giant gas storage field."
Alaska
Massachusetts Congressman aims to ban export of natural gas — KTVA-TV, Anchorage, AK
Ed Markey announced legislation requiring that gas could be sold only to U.S. consumers and that liquefied natural gas facilities could be permitted only on that basis.
Let the gas flow [Editorial] (Mar 25) — Financial Times
Resource nationalism is a phenomenon that has troubled American oil companies in many parts of the world, from Venezuela to Russia. They are not used to being confronted by it at home.
Yet that is what is happening now over plans to export liquefied natural gas from the US. When the FT reported last week that ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP were working towards a preliminary agreement on a $40bn-plus project to export LNG from Alaska to Asia, Ed Markey, a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts, immediately denounced it as “a threat to American manufacturers, farmers and families”.
The Financial Times is a UK company, and the UK imports a lot of LNG, meaning US LNG exports would be in the UK's interests.
Oregon
FERC heads to CB — The World, Coos Bay, OR
COOS BAY -- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will visit the South Coast on Tuesday to tour Jordan Cove Energy Partners' proposed liquefied natural gas export facility.
This is the second time Jordan Cove has undertaken the FERC permitting process to build an LNG terminal here. In 2009, Jordan Cove received a permit to import LNG to Coos Bay. After receiving that permit, Jordan Cove announced a plan to build a facility that could also export LNG, which required a separate permit.
USA: Jordan Cove sumits non-FTA LNG export application — LNG World News
Jordan Cove Energy Project on Friday told the U.S. Department of Energy that it is seeking long-term authorization to export LNG to any nation with which the United States does not have a Free Trade Agreement.
The U.S. Department of Energy granted in December a 30-year license for Jordan Cove Energy to export LNG to countries that hold free trade agreements with the United States.
The Jordan Cove LNG terminal site in Coos Bay is eminently inappropriate, according to SIGTTO terminal siting best safe practices (see LNG Terminal Siting Standards Organization for more).
Port of Coos Bay wants to flip from importing to exporting liquefied natural gas (Mar 25) — The Oregonian, Portland, OR
Eight years after initially proposing to build an import terminal for liquefied natural gas on the North Spit of Coos Bay, backers of the controversial Jordan Cove Energy Project are starting their regulatory odyssey anew.
In the beginning -- that being about 2004 -- there were three competing schemes to import natural gas to Oregon.
Backers of the first, a group of Texan energy developers who sauntered into Oregon packing a $100 million private equity bankroll, were looking to build 30 miles up the Columbia River from Astoria. They got off to a quick start, spending freely to win federal and local approval. But they packed their bags after exhausting their cash stores -- the victims, they said, of bureaucratic inaction.
A second proposal near the mouth of the Columbia in Warrenton, this one backed by a New York-based holding company, seems terminally stuck in the regulatory mud, though its backers always insist they're not dead yet.
Then there's Jordan Cove, underwritten by a Canadian energy company, Veresen Inc. Intially seen as a longshot because of its lengthy and expensive pipeline, the project eventually emerged as the slow and steady front runner.
Yet it's still not clear the finish line is anywhere in sight.
The similarities between LNG proposals in Oregon and Passamaquoddy Bay are uncanny.
Canada
Japan, Canada agree to cooperate on developing natural gas, mineral resources — Platts
Japan and Canada agreed Sunday to cooperate on developing energy resources, including natural gas, and minerals in the North American country, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Japanese LNG buyers are weighing the option of importing shale-gas based LNG from Canada and are hoping to import it on a pricing basis linked to Henry Hub or other gas benchmarks, instead of the more traditional -- and generally so far more expensive -- oil benchmarks such as the Japan Customs Cleared crude oil price, according to industry sources.
Japan, Canada agree to launch FTA talks — The Journal of Commerce, Newark, NJ
Japan and Canada have formally agreed to launch negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) to eliminate import tariffs on most products and strengthen overall economic relations.
Through the trade pact with resource-rich Canada, Japan also wants to ensure stable supplies of resources, especially natural gas. Resource-poor Japan imports almost all of its natural gas as well as crude oil. It imports natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is by far the world’s largest LNG importer.
United States
Study: Fears that increased US LNG exports will fuel dramatic price increases are unrealistic — LNG Law Blog
A new study by NATS [subscription required] titled, "Competitiveness of US LNG Exports in Asia," finds that increased U.S. LNG exports will not result in dramatic price increases for domestic natural gas. The study also addresses the competition between U.S. and Australian LNG exports to serve the Asian LNG market and concludes that increased U.S. LNG exports will not drive Australian LNG export projects out of business.
US DOE delays release of broad LNG export study until late summer — Platts
While DOE must quickly approve exports to countries that have free trade agreements with the US, the department may limit or block non-FTA exports if it finds they are not in the public interest.
The Energy Information Administration conducted the first study, released in January, that found that significant levels of LNG exports could lead to a spike in US wellhead gas prices.
The second study, which is being conducted by an independent contractor, will use EIA's price findings to assess the broader economic effects of increased gas exports.
Alaska
No respite ahead (Week of Mar 25) — Petroleum News
[W]ith no possibility of a gas line from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska being completed in time to plug the pending gas supply shortfall, PRA’s 2010 report concluded that, in the absence of sufficient drilling to maintain production, the only viable option for sustained supplies of Southcentral utility gas would be the import of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, into the region.
In March 2010 Tom Walsh, managing partner of PRA, characterized the Southcentral gas supply situation as an economic conundrum with no certain answer. The accelerated drilling program needed to maintain gas supplies would be expensive and thus translate to a need for higher gas prices. But drilling by gas producers tends to be driven primarily by the producers’ needs to meet commitments in gas supply contracts: The pricing in those contracts needs to be high enough for drilling viability. However, given the current cost of LNG on the Pacific Rim, the import of LNG would appear to be an expensive option. And a June 2011 study by Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas concluded that sufficient new Cook Inlet gas could be developed to meet supply needs through 2018 to 2020 at lower gas prices than alternative sources of supply.
Alaska has been selling off its natural gas via LNG to Japan since 1969. Now, Alaskans find themselves with a natural gas shortage — even though Alaska has 12% of the entire US natural gas resource under the state's surface. All the while, Alaska is working on a way to deliver even more LNG exports. Whose interests are being addressed?
Legislature mulls two gas line projects (Mar 24) — Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, AK
House Speaker Mike Chenault's bill to create a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to Southcentral is moving through the Legislature even as oil producers talk about moving ahead on a $40 billion project that would make the small line all but irrelevant.
At a time when many Alaskans are struggling with huge winter heating bills, pressure is mounting on legislators to solve the decades-old problem of how to get North Slope gas to major markets [via LNG to Asia or pipeline to the lower 48 states] -- siphoning off some for use in state along the way.
Study: Inlet gas won't stop shortage (Mar 24) — Peninsula Clarion, Kenai, AK
Despite new natural gas discoveries in Alaska’s Cook Inlet utilities in the region will still experience shortages of gas supply by 2014 due to declining production in maturing fields, according to a new study of Cook Inlet gas reserves and regional demand released Monday.
The only practical alternative to deal with the shortfall is the import of liquefied natural gas, said Pete Stokes, commercial manager with Petrotechnical Resources of Alaska, an Anchorage-based consulting firm.
“The PRA report just emphasizes what we’re been concerned with for some time, that there is a lot of talk about new gas resources out there but no one is bringing it to market. We need to see results,” said John Sims, spokesman for Enstar Natural Gas Co., the Southcentral regional gas utility.
ConocoPhillips owns and operates a liquefied natural gas plant at Kenai that the company had planned to mothball. However, the plant is now being kept open on a year-by-year basis with incremental shipments being made to customers in Asia.
There's a shortage of natural gas for Alaska's consumers, but Alaska continues to export its natural gas to Asia. Brilliant.
United States
US natural gas hits another all-time low (Mar 23) — Forexpros
The super-early spring in the US is bringing with it two things: terrible allergies due to high pollen count and really low natural gas prices due to too much inventory. Natural gas hit another low today [Friday] with a 4% drop. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Downeast LNG's proposed project would not reduce the price of natural gas.
Why US natural gas prices are so low - are changes needed? [Opinion column] — Forexpros
US natural gas prices are at record lows–about where they were in 1976, and at the low points in the 1990s, in today’s dollars (Figure 1).
There are several reasons why US natural gas prices are so low:
- Our pricing system is based on short-term supply and demand, and storage facilities are limited. It is very easy for supply to overwhelm the system, and prices to drop very low in response, if there is a mismatch.
- US demand for natural gas has been fairly flat for the last 10 years, regardless of price. Of the four major uses for natural gas ((1)residential heating, hot water, and cooking; (2)commercial heating, hot water, and cooking; (3) industrial demand; and (4) electricity), only electrical use has been growing.
- Supply does not drop very quickly, even if prices fall, because producers need to continue to extract natural gas in order to repay loans and to comply with use-it-or-lose-it lease terms. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
So much for Downeast LNG's claims that the Northeast is "gas starved," especially considering the 28 interstate natural gas pipelines being expanded or added in the Northeast.
Caribbean — Puerto Rico
Pilotage Commission files comments on Aguirre project — LNG Law Blog
The Puerto Rico Pilotage Commission submitted comments at FERC regarding the impact on shipping traffic resulting from Excelerate Energy L.P.'s Aguirre Offshore Energy Project.
Alaska
D.C. bills target LNG exports (Mar 21) — Juneau Empire, Juneau, AK
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., told oil giants BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil his natural gas export bills now in Congress would block a proposed $40 billion pipeline to export Alaska natural gas to Asia.
Markey said his suite of bills prohibit liquefied natural gas exports in two ways. One bill requires natural gas extracted from federal lands to be sold to U.S. consumers (Keep American Natural Gas Here Act). The other bill prohibits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from licensing LNG terminals used for export of domestic gas (North America Natural Gas Security and Consumer Protection Act).
Massachusetts Congressman rallies against gas line exports (Mar 21) — Alaska Public Telecommunications
A Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts is rallying against the idea to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to tidewater in Alaska for export to Asia.
Exxon says ‘significant progress’ made to end Alaska gas dispute — FuelFix
Exxon, BP Plc (BP/) and other oil companies are embroiled in a six-year-old lawsuit over their leases to the Point Thomson oil and gas field on Alaska’s North Slope, estimated to hold 300 million barrels of oil and 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
“We’re still in a joint discussion phase regarding an effort that would evaluate a North Slope liquefied natural gas pipeline [sic],” Natalie Lowman, a ConocoPhillips (COP) spokeswoman, said in an phone interview.
As for the possible LNG project, Lowman said: “We’ve focused on evaluating the economic viability of an LNG project from the North Slope to south-central Alaska.” The evaluation includes considering a possible LNG facility that would liquefy gas for potential exports, she said.
Alaska natural gas pipeline back on front burner (BP, XOM, COP) [Opinion column] — 24/7 Wall St.
...The first issue to clear up is the existing lease to gas fields on the North Slope, which dates back to 1977, and upon which the companies have never acted. The governor and the companies hope to reach an agreement on extending the leases as early as next week.
Alaska has proved reserves of 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and potential (undiscovered) reserves totalling another 236 trillion cubic feet. Right now, that gas is stranded and essentially worthless, both to the state and to the producers. A new pipeline and liquefaction plant would change that, provided that the companies can line up customers.
To make a guess at what might happen: Alaska and the oil companies will reach an agreement on extending the lease, but by the time all the studies and plans are completed (which could be never), the gas on the North Slope will still be in the ground, just as stranded as it ever was.
British Columbia
Imperial Oil evaluating LNG export options — LNG Law Blog
ExxonMobil's Canadian affiliate Imperial Oil is considering options for LNG exports of gas produced from the Horn River shale in British Columbia under a lease that Imperial shares with ExxonMobil. Imperial President and CEO Bruce March stated that Imperial hoped to complete a full-field development plan for Horn River this decade, according to a report in Platts LNG Daily [subscription required]. The report also states that Imperial is in discussions with competitors for possible development of the Central Mackenzie Valley in Canada's Northwest Territories.
United States
LNG: the new big and profitable venture — Business Recorder, Karachi, Pakistan
There was a time when United States of America was importing LNG from the rest of the world.
However, when the gas production started to rise as the country entered into the famous gas glut, the discovery of gigantic shale gas reserves in United States rendered importing LNG unfeasible as natural gas prices went down massively. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Office of Energy Projects Energy Infrastructure Update for February 2012 — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Natural Gas Highlights
LNG import projects are dropping out, while domestic natural gas availability via new pipelines is growing.
Downeast LNG apparently does not learn from its own and others' mistakes.
Ukraine sets eye on U.S. gas — UNIAN, Ukraine
Of three possible supplying countries – the US, Algeria and Qatar. Strange as it may seem, the US gives the best price even despite being the most distant country. Within the next few years the US will turn from a gas importer into a major gas exporter. US exporters have already signed contracts for LNG supplies with Japanese Sumitomo, British EDF Trading, Spanish Fenosa and Chinese ENN Energy.
Gazprom seeks to join U.S. liquefied natural gas project — Bloomberg
OAO Gazprom (GAZP), Russia’s natural-gas export monopoly, is seeking opportunities to join a U.S. project to liquefy the fuel for shipment by tanker.
...The U.S. plans to be a net exporter of LNG from 2016, with initial sales of 1.1 billion cubic feet a day doubling after three years.
Remember when Gazprom scoffed at the US shale gas boom, and planned on supplying 10-percent of US natural gas requirements via Russian LNG exports?
Northeast, including New Brunswick
Trinidad LNG on way to Canada — LNG World News
Trinidad and Tobago’s Point Fortin LNG terminal shipped a cargo of liquefied natural gas yesterday, according to shipping data.
The cargo is being hauled by the Bilbao Knutsen, a 138,000 cubic-meter tanker, and it is due to arrive at the Canaport terminal in Canada on March 28.
Dominion: Benefits of exporting natural gas outweigh costs — The State Journal, Charleston, WV
PITTSBURGH - Exporting natural gas would raise prices a little, but the benefits may be worth it, according to a Dominion Transmission executive.
Dominion has a strong interest in the subject. The company plans to reconfigure its Cove Point terminal on the coast of Maryland, originally designed for importing liquefied natural gas, or LNG, in the last decade, for use as an export terminal.
"Natural gas on Friday in the cash market went below $2 (per million British thermal units, a measure of energy content)," he said — a price not seen since 1999, and earlier than that if it were adjusted for inflation. "The producers need the incentive to continue to drill. We think providing markets is one of those incentives." [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Dominion's Cove Point LNG import terminal nearly went out of service in 2011 due to lack of use. It is not surprising that the company wants to keep the facility in use by exporting — the company's interest is in profit, not loss, regardless of the impact on US energy security.
Alaska
Gas pipeline sparks hope for Alaska — Financial Times
[T]he North American shale gas boom and the plunge in US natural gas prices have made it very hard to justify the project’s estimated cost of about $40bn.
“To do Alaska LNG [export], you need a big, big, big committed customer,” says Neil Beveridge, an analyst at Bernstein Research. “There’s only one country in the world that can do that, and that’s China.”
[I]t is better to export from Alaska than from the lower 48, because it does not deprive any US consumers of cheap gas. As Mr Sullivan puts it: “You aren’t making consumers in Ohio compete against consumers in Asia.”
Alaska champions $40bn pipeline plan — Financial Times
According to people close to the negotiations, the three companies and state authorities hope to reach agreement next week over a long-running lease dispute at Point Thomson, a large oil and gas field on Alaska’s North Slope.
A settlement would clear the way for the companies [BP, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips] to hasten their commercial assessment of a large gas pipeline to Alaska’s southern coast, from where LNG could be shipped to China and other Asian countries. Sean Parnell, Alaska’s governor and a champion of the project, told the Financial Times he was “cautiously optimistic” that the plan would be able to move forward.
United States
FERC nominees testify before Senate Committee; Senators voice concerns about increased gas exports — LNG Law Blog
Anthony T. Clark and FERC Commissioner John R. Norris, both nominated for FERC Commissioner appointments, testified yesterday before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. According to a report in Bloomberg BNA [subscription required], both are expected to be confirmed. During the hearing, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) chided FERC for being too lax in its environmental review of LNG terminal projects and proposed that FERC apply a "finding in the national interest" standard before such projects could be approved. Commissioner Norris responded that he could support such a standard for new LNG terminals but applying the standard to proposals to modify existing terminals for exports would be "a stretch."
On a related issue, LNG Daily [subscription required] reported today that Senators Wyden (D-Ore.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) expressed concerns yesterday about potential rising gas prices that could result from increasing gas exports. Senator Wyden called for a "time-out" on U.S. Department of Energy approval of gas export permits until the domestic energy security, national security and price and environmental impacts of increased gas exports can be assessed. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Pipeline safety: Implementation of the National Registry of Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Operators — PHMSA (Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) via Regulations.gov
On November 26, 2010, PHMSA published a final rule in the Federal Register (75 FR 72878) titled: ``Pipeline Safety: Updates to Pipeline and Liquefied Natural Gas Reporting Requirements.'' That final rule added two new sections, 49 CFR 191.22 and 195.64, to the pipeline safety regulations that concerned the establishment of a national registry of pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operators. New operators use the national registry to obtain an Operator Identification (OPID) Number and existing operators use it to notify PHMSA of certain actions, including company name changes, certain construction activities, and project planning.
North America
Shell steps up gas production, despite North American hurdles (Mar 18) — The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON
It is leading the charge on the twin challenges of natural gas – the difficulty in transporting it and the glut in North America – by pursuing liquefied natural gas exports to premium markets, and by investing in technology that processes raw gas into far more valuable liquid or chemical products or pioneers it use as a transportation fuel.
Shell, which expects North American natural gas prices to recover slowly, will this year produce more gas than crude on an oil-equivalent basis for the first time. And it expects gas to continue to grow as a proportion of its production in the coming years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
New England
Hub’s $4.2M fire boat docked for inspection (Mar 18) — Boston Herald, Boston, MA
The city’s shiny, new $4.2 million state-of-the art fire boat — dedicated with great fanfare just six months ago and funded in part by federal stimulus money — has already suffered pump problems and is being yanked out of the water for a hull inspection, the Herald has learned.
The Damrell’s drydocking comes just as boating season kicks in and as guarding against terrorist attacks on LNG tankers remains a top priority of Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
In addition to voicing general waterfront safety concerns, Menino has long complained that tankers delivering liquid natural gas in Boston Harbor are vulnerable to terrorists. Just last May, in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, Menino and top public safety officials issued a warning about the devastating potential of an LNG attack. [Red emphasis added.]
Gulf of Mexico
Macquarie backs away from Freeport LNG marketing role — ICIS Heren, London, England, UK
An agreement between the energy arm of Australian investment bank Macquarie and Freeport LNG to jointly market liquefaction capacity from the Texas terminal has fallen apart, sources close to the issue told ICIS Heren on Friday.
The reasoning behind the break up could not be confirmed, but there had been widespread speculation that the recent string of downgrades to both Macquarie Group and its banking arm - Macquarie Bank credit ratings - by major ratings institutions had put a rift between the two companies.
Liquefied natural gas facility proposed for Corpus Christi (Mar 16) — KZTV, Corpus Christi, TX
CORPUS CHRISTI - A liquefied natural gas company wants to build a facility near the La Quinta Terminal to export products of the Eagle Ford Shale.
Liquefied natural gas terminal planned along Corpus Christi Ship Channel could represent $10 billion investment — Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX
U.S. Energy Information Administration projections show natural gas prices will remain stable and affordable for at least the next two and a half decades, said Dan Whitten, spokesman for America's Natural Gas Alliance.
"For the longer term, all indications support the U.S. Energy Information Administration's outlook that America will capitalize on its vast domestic supplies of natural gas, that this clean energy resource will play a larger role in meeting our nation's growing energy demand and that the market will be able to meet this rising demand for generations to come," Whitten said in an email. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
British Columbia
Another milestone for Kitimat LNG (Mar 16) — CJFW-FM, Terrace, BC
The governments of Canada and British Columbia, K-M L-N-G and the Haisla Nation have agreed to establish the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission as the regulator for the proposed liquefied natural gas facility, which will be located on the Haisla Nation reserve.
Oregon
Wyden stands firm on no LNG exports at town hall meeting — The Daily Astorian, Astoria, OR
During a swing through Astoria Saturday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., addressed concerns at his annual Clatsop County town hall about exporting liquefied natural gas from Oregon port facilities, saying he believed the proposals could undermine the country’s energy independence and drive up costs. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
United States
Cheniere CEO Souki says U.S. could see $2 natural gas — E&ETV
Can the United States' natural gas supply support a robust LNG export market while maintaining steady gas prices for consumers here at home? During today's OnPoint, Charif Souki, CEO of Cheniere Energy Partners, explains why he believes natural gas prices could drop to $2 per million British thermal units. He discusses his company's pending permit with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an LNG export terminal in Louisiana and talks about the existing international market for exports.
"We are, in fact, producing it with drilling a lot of wells and there's more gas than we know what to do with." [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Mexico
Mexico: LNG carrier scheduled at Altamira tomorrow — LNG World News
Altamira liquefied natural gas terminal in Mexico is due to receive a cargo of LNG from Trinidad this week, according to the Port of Altamira website.
World LNG Shipping
The ballast water headache and LNG carriers — LNG World Shipping
The global shipping community has been faced with an onslaught of new environmental protection measures over the past decade and one of the most difficult sets of requirements to define, configure and implement has been the proposed ballast water management regime.
The new convention was developed to control the bio-ecological threat to the marine environment caused by invasive alien species in ships’ ballast. Recognising that ships differ in type, size and configuration, the BWM Convention initially allows for two standards of ballast water management - the Ballast Water Exchange Standard (BWE) - which is only acceptable until January 2014 or 2016, depending on the ship’s ballast capacity - and the Ballast Water Performance Standard (BWP) where ballast water must be treated prior to discharge.
For LNG and LPG carriers and oil tankers, the close alignment of berthside ballasting with cargo transfer operations is critical due to the limited working envelope of the jetty-mounted marine loading arms. Tied to a strict port turnaround schedule, the ship’s master has to be confident that the BWT system will function as specified. The shipowner needs to be assured that the BWT system will perform as specified and not put the vessel at risk of a port state detention.
The BWM Convention apparently does not attend to bio-ecological consequences of ballast water uptake that would kill or deplete plankton, eggs, and fish from waters around LNG import terminals.
Northeast & East Coast
Local resident alarmed about increased export of liquefied natural gas — The Daily Review, Towanda, PA
TOWANDA - A Sayre resident is urging the Bradford County commissioners to pass a resolution opposing plans to ramp up the export of liquefied natural gas from the United States because he says it will raise domestic natural gas and electricity prices and cause a "mad rush" to drill more in the United States.
ALJ continues suspension of Cove Point LNG proceeding to allow parties to finalize settlement — LNG Law Blog
An administrative law judge overseeing the ongoing rate case at the Cove Point LNG terminal issued an order today continuing the suspension of the case's procedural schedule until April 16, 2012 to allow the parties to finalize a settlement and file it with FERC.
Gulf of Mexico
FERC schedules annual review of Freeport LNG terminal — LNG Law Blog
FERC has scheduled its annual post-authorization review of the Freeport LNG regasification terminal for May 8-9, 2012.
Caribbean
Trinidad’s Atlantic LNG plans maintenance from this month — Bloomberg Businessweek
Atlantic LNG Co. of Trinidad & Tobago said it plans maintenance on all four of its production units from this month.
“There is scheduled routine maintenance across our facility planned for this year,” Billson Hainsley, a company spokesman in Port of Spain, Trinidad, said today in an e-mailed reply to questions. “Routine maintenance outages of varying durations and scopes of work have been planned for each of our four trains, beginning in March.”
Alaska
Minge: Parties on track to meet pipeline deadline — FuelFix
In January, Gov. Sean Parnell set a March 31 deadline for alignment of the parties under “an Alaska Gasline Inducement Act framework,” a deadline that he has said was born of his frustration with the lack of progress on a line. He said alignment must include work on a large-diameter liquefied natural gas pipeline [sic] to tidewater that would allow for overseas exports.
Regulations prohibit LNG piping outside of LNG facilities; thus, there would not be a "liquefied natural gas pipeline." It would be a natural gas pipeline supplying a natural gas liquefaction and export facility (LNG terminal).
British Columbia
Liquefied natural gas project on Haisla Nation Reserve moves forward with the signing of the Interim Regulatory Agreement [Press release] — Marketwire
The agreement establishes the BC Oil and Gas Commission as the regulator for the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the Haisla Nation reserve near Kitimat, British Columbia. This will enable the BC Oil and Gas Commission to begin the regulatory and engineering review of the proposed Kitimat LNG facility. The agreement will also enable the project to move forward while federal regulations are established under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA).
Oregon
US Jordan submits pre filing request to FERC to obtain LNG export license — SteelGuru
TEX reported that the United States Jordon Cove Energy Project LP has submitted pre filing request to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to obtain LNG export license. The company plans to produce and export six million tons per year of LNG at the terminal on the north spit of Coos Bay, Oregon state and officially to file an application in October 2012.
Jordan Cove had initially in mind to construct LNG import terminal. However, in the wake of changes in natural gas supply demand balance in the US, it switched its original plan to LNG production and export project.
United States
EIA: U.S. gas net imports at lowest levels since 1992 — LNG World News
Net import declines are due to both lower imports and higher exports; U.S. net imports of natural gas peaked in August 2007 at 10 Bcfd, and have fallen markedly since.
When oil's well, it ends well for the US (Mar 17) — The Business Times, Singapore
The EIA sees the US emerging as a significant exporter of LNG by 2016. Biofuel production will rise by another million barrels by 2024. [Red emphasis added.]
Canada
Why Canada needs Asian markets — Financial Post, Don Mills, ON
Q Shell is looking at a LNG site in U.S. Do you think the U.S. shale gas boom is a negative for Canada?
A Potentially yes, in the sense that the U.S. has been a natural market for Canada. U.S. shale gas revolution has changed the world’s gas market, not just the U.S.-Canada [dynamic] and… we see low prices persisting for the next year or two for sure.
Passamaquoddy Bay
Local group disputes claim that New England needs natural gas from Downeast LNG project — LNG Law Blog
Save Passamaquoddy Bay, a local LNG opposition group, submitted a market analysis to FERC that concludes that natural gas markets in the U.S. Northeast do not require the additional gas that would be imported by the planned Downeast LNG regasification project. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Gulf of Mexico
Sabine Pass natural gas plant, the next 'Keystone' (Mar 14) — CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- At the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas-Louisiana border, Cheniere Energy could be just weeks away from breaking ground on the first natural gas exporting facility [known as Sabine Pass LNG] ever built in the lower 48 states.
Opponents of the project want the government to take fracking into account when considering issuing permits -- both for the Sabine Pass facility and seven others like it that have applications in with federal authorities. If all eight plants were authorized, the nation could wind up exporting one-fifth its current natural gas output.
[T]he biggest sticking point for opponents is that exporting natural gas may increase fracking in the United States.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is expected to vote on the matter later this month, and approval seems likely.
General Electric CEO expresses support for Sabine Pass LNG Liquefaction project — LNG Law Blog
In a March 13, 2012 letter to FERC Chairman Wellinghoff, General Electric Oil & Gas's CEO Dan Heintzelman expressed his support for Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG Liquefaction Project, stating that GE is an anticipated supplier of U.S.-manufactured equipment for the project.
FERC completes Onsite Environmental Review of Corpus Christi LNG liquefaction project — LNG Law Blog
FERC has released a report detailing its February 28, 2012 Onsite Environmental Review of the Corpus Christi LNG liquefaction and export project, including photographs of the project site and a map of the proposed pipeline route.
Cheniere’s costs for project tied to commodities, chief says — Bloomberg
FERC’s failure to act at a monthly meeting today might cause “significant price increases” for engineering services and construction delays, Souki said in a March 7 letter to FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who hasn’t yet replied.
Caribbean
Trinidad Energy official calls FLNG an "option" for future LNG exports (Mar 14) — LNG Law Blog
World Gas Intelligence reports that Selwyn Lashley, deputy permanent secretary for energy, said that floating LNG liquefaction could be an option worth exploring if significant natural gas quantities are discovered in deepwater offshore Trinidad & Tobago. [Subscription required]
Oregon
County rules LNG pipeline won't affect oysters (Mar 14) — The Daily Astorian, Astoria, OR
The Pacific Northwest's only native oyster won't stand in the way of a proposed natural-gas pipeline in Coos County after commissioners voted to move forward with a land-use permit for the pipeline.
[A]n independent adjudicator released a report in January that deemed that Olympia oysters were scarce in the inlet and so harm appeared minimal.
Canada
Canadian gas exports up 8.4%, imports rise 9% in December: NEB — Platts
The board also released data on liquefied natural gas imports into Canada at its lone terminal, Canaport in New Brunswick. Some 318 million cu m (11.2 Bcf) berthed in December, down 3.2%, from the 328.5 million cu m (11.6 Bcf) that was reported last December.
Three cargoes arrived --- two long-term from Trinidad and Tobago, while the third was a short-term cargo from Qatar. The NEB defines short-term volumes as those bought under a contract for less than two years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Labour crunch could slow planned Kitimat projects: Shell — CTV New
His comments come as Canadian gas exports to the United States hit a 20-year low, as a result of rising U.S. production of shale gas. The declining sales to the U.S. market – and the plummeting price of Western Canadian gas, which is now trading at levels not seen since the 1990s – underscores the importance for Canadian producers to open new export routes to Asia.
U.S. gas imports, which come primarily from Canada, have hit their lowest levels since 1992 as a result of rising domestic production and a warm winter, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
United States
Deadline for LNG 17 abstracts is approaching (Mar 14) — Pipelines International
There is less than one month left to submit an abstract for LNG 17, which will be held from 16–19 April 2013 in Houston, Texas, USA.
LNG 17 is currently accepting papers on every aspect of the LNG value chain and wider global issues and concerns.
U.S. FTA with South Korea goes into effect today — LNG Law Blog
In a statement released this morning, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and South Korea goes into effect today. Going forward, South Korea, a major buyer in the global LNG market, will be a country with which the United States has an FTA in force for the purposes of Department of Energy LNG export authorizations.
US shale derails Australian LNG rise — Petroleum Economist [Paid subscription]
US LNG exporters are using cheap shale gas to undercut Australia’s coal-bed methane, threatening billions of dollars in infrastructure investment, writes Kwok W Wan.
Boosting the economy through natural gas exports [Editorial] (Mar 14) — The Washington Post, Washington, DC
As recently as 2005, many experts thought that the United States would need more liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Now, the U.S. industry is gearing up to export gas, including LNG. The Energy Department recently approved Cheniere Energy’s plan to export 2.2 billion cubic feet a day of LNG from a facility in Louisiana that was originally intended to take in imports. The department is considering applications from seven other companies. If the Energy Department approves them all, the United States would be capable of exporting a quantity of gas equal to almost a fifth of current consumption.
Some increase in U.S. exports appears inevitable: Under current law, the federal government must approve gas sales to countries, such as Canada, Mexico and South Korea, with which the United States already has free-trade agreements. For other countries, the government must grant approval unless it finds that “such action is not consistent with the public interest.” We don’t think opponents can make that case persuasively.
North America
LNG Industry Outlook in North America, 2012 - Capacity Analysis, Forecasts and Details of All Operating and Planned Liquefaction and Regasification Terminals to 2016 [Press release] — MarketWatch
Updated information relating to all active and planned LNG terminals- Provides historical data from 2005 to 2011, forecast to 2016- Capacity information of all liquefaction and regasification terminals- Provides operator information for all active and planned terminals- Identifies key trends and issues in the LNG industry- Information on the top companies in the sector including business description, strategic analysis. Key companies covered are Dominion Resources, Inc., Southern Union Company and Sempra Energy - Strategy changes, R&D projects, corporate expansions and contractions and regulatory changes.- Key mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, private equity investments and IPOs.
New Brunswick
Enbridge considering “significant” writedown in N.B. (Mar 12) — Calgary Herald, Calgary, AB
“For several reasons, it is more expensive to distribute natural gas in New Brunswick than it is in larger markets such as Ontario, but gas is still the lowest cost source of energy available in New Brunswick,” Jarvis said.
Brent Staeben, a spokesman for New Brunswick Energy Minister Craig Leonard, said New Brunswickers are switching away from natural gas to other energy sources, including geothermal, solar and wood pellets, “so government is acting to make the system sustainable.” [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Small, spread-out markets make natural gas distribution difficult for distribution companies to justify — the return on investment is too small and risky. Rural Maine suffers from this same dilemma, making it unlikely that small communities in eastern Maine — even if near the natural gas pipeline — would ever have residential access to the natural gas.
A valuable takeaway from this article is that geothermal energy is viable in Maine and New Brunswick. Geothermal provides a constant source of energy, and can reduce heating expenses by 70%. Solar also is viable, although it is not as constant as geothermal.
Northeast — Maryland
FERC approves settlement for second cooling cargo for Cove Point LNG facility — LNG Law Blog
Yesterday, FERC issued a letter order approving the settlement agreement for the second LNG cargo to be delivered to the Cove Point LNG import terminal to maintain "cryogenic portions of the [t]erminal cooled to the temperature necessary to receive LNG imports." [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Cove Point LNG is receiving so little LNG due to lack of need that it is having difficulty keeping the facility cool enough to remain operational. This is a prime example of how Downeast LNG president Dean Girdis' statements that the Northeast is "gas starved" and that his project is needed are patently untrue.
Caribbean — Dominican Republic
US investors say 3-stage gas-fired power plant to cost US$600.0M — Dominican Today, Dominican Republic
In a statement to DT on Monday, NEC [North Energy Central, SRL] said as part of the first stage the plant would be built in 30 months and start generating 300 megawatts on combined cycle operation. “This project includes the construction of a storage tank of 160,000 cubic meters, gasification equipment and the facilities for the offloading of the liquefied natural gas (LNG).”
West Coast — California
Thomas Elias: Populism serves California's interests [Opinion column] (Mar 12) — The Californian, CA
...Because of the cost of facilities and ships, LNG would most likely have pushed gas bills upward significantly for generations.
Now it turns out [the public opposed to LNG imports to California] were absolutely right. All over America and Canada, LNG receiving and warming terminals are being converted into LNG exporting and liquefaction facilities. That's because gas produced from shale in the Rocky Mountain region and other locales has shut up all those who ever said LNG would be needed in California and many other places. Now the same people are saying shale can make America into a net energy exporter.
As early as last December, Mike Stice, senior vice president for natural gas at Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy, told a meeting of investment analysts that "Every (LNG) operator on the Gulf Coast has a liquefaction plan."
California's populist opposition to LNG is now protecting the state from the perils associated with exporting LNG. Meanwhile, the nearest place to California where plans are proceeding for a facility that could be adapted both to ship and receive LNG is just outside Coos Bay, Ore., where popular opposition grows stronger by the week. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
United States
LNG: The best way to play cheap natural gas (Mar 12) — OilPrice.com
Industry observers suggest U.S. LNG export capacity will exceed 6 billion cubic feet per day (6 bcf/d). Six bcf/d is about 9% of the current U.S. daily gas production of 64 bcf/d, the largest output in the world.
This means there is demand for 85 to 100 more LNG carriers – just for the US export market.
And if even only one-third of the US LNG export terminal projects go through, Norway's Arctic Securities says the industry will still require 28-37 additional vessels – the equivalent of 50-60% of the current order book (which is roughly 64 new ships).
Japan seeking US LNG, to ask for US waiver during Kuwait meeting — Platts [Paid subscription]
Japanese officials will meet with a US delegation headed by Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman later Tuesday to ask that Washington allow exports of LNG to Japan, the world's biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, a Japanese delegate said.
It is ... unclear how feasible it would be for Japanese power and gas utilities to import LNG from the US because utilities would have have [sic] their tanks and turbines to run the leaner gas.
ACC clarifies position on U.S. LNG exports — LNG Law Blog
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has issued a press release responding to an article published by the Wall Street Journal last week which suggested that the ACC opposed the export of U.S. natural gas as LNG. The press release states that the group does "not support natural gas exports bans." The Wall Street Journal has amended its previous article to reflect this correction.
Northeast
Praising the end of Broadwater [Editorial] — Connecticut Post, CT
[T]he security issues were real. Deliveries to the terminal were to require a buffer zone almost as large as the size of the inlet connecting the Sound to the Atlantic Ocean, with the effect of closing off the Sound every time a new LNG shipment came through. It didn't make much sense economically, either. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Gulf of Mexico
Chesapeake’s CEO shopping for new owners (CHK, CEO, TOT, CQP) — 24/7 Wall St.
"We are presently owned by a group of investors who don’t think gas prices will ever go above $4. I want to be owned by investors who live in a part of the world that believes gas prices will never go below $10."
Caribbean
Foster Wheeler awarded contract for an LNG receiving terminal In Dominican Republic [Press release] — The Street
Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq: FWLT) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded the basic design and front-end engineering design contract by Complejo GNL del Este, a Consortium formed by Dominican and Colombian companies that participate in the energy sector of these countries, for a new LNG receiving terminal and jetty to be built in San Pedro de Marcorís in the Dominican Republic.
United States
America's energy trump card (Mar 13) — Business Spectator
The US is the world's largest producer and consumer of natural gas. It produces more than 600 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas annually, but it still needed to import almost 100 bcm in 2011. Beginning in 2005, domestic natural gas production began steadily increasing, and according to projections by the US Energy Information Administration, production will increase by an average of about 1 per cent per year through 2035. However, these projections are likely too conservative, having been calculated using production numbers from 2010 and before and thus not having fully taken into account a significant increase in relatively new methods of natural gas extraction from shale formations.
The planning and construction of an LNG export facility can take anywhere from three to seven years, though delays are likely. Concerns over the environmental impact of the LNG plant and associated infrastructure threaten to delay the start of construction for a facility in Jordan Cove, Oregon, and with five of the seven planned facilities being located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, there is the potential for hurricane damage to delay the construction process. Even without delays, full export capacity will not be reached for years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Push for LNG exports draws opposition, concern from multiple corners — PennEnergy
The U.S. has seen a massive surge in gas production over the past few years, along with a corresponding jump in projections for the country's natural gas reserves, as companies continue to tap new unconventional gas resources.
The Journal reports that environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have already spoken out against the export of natural gas out of concern that it would accelerate harmful production practices. Meanwhile, industry groups like the American Chemistry Council have warned against implementing policies that could lead to higher gas prices, as the current low costs could spur substantial job creation.
Accelerate production to stop decline — The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Indonesia
I think Indonesia can benefit from this situation because with the growing supply of gas in the US, we can divert the LNG from Tangguh that is allocated for US-based Sempra Energy. Sempra already fulfills its gas need from the US domestic market. We hope we can divert around 90 percent of Sempra’s total gas allocation [3.7 million tons a year]. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
LNG shipping boom not running out any time soon — (Reuters) Financial Post, Don Mills, ON
The market’s longer-term outlook is clouded to a great extent by the U.S. gas glut, which pushed U.S. gas prices below $3 per mmBtu, a bargain compared with the Asian spot price of $15 per mmBtu LNG-AS. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
LNG exports would help the environment — Forbes
LNG exports would also lower world LNG prices, hurting LNG exporters in other countries, something the Sierra Club should support, since making LNG has such a high carbon footprint. [Brown & bold emphasis added.]
So, the US should make and export LNG — with an admittedly higher carbon footprint than plain natural gas — because doing so would reduce the use of LNG? What circular absurdity.
Canada
Nervous about nuclear, post-tsunami Japan looks to Canada for energy (Mar 11) — The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON
Now Japan, already the biggest importer of Canadian coal, is hoping to find new suppliers of the liquid natural gas, or LNG, that fuels about 30 per cent of the country’s power. Mr. Ishikawa said he must be careful not to interfere in Canada’s own debates about pipelines and exports, but Japan is obviously watching with interest the progress of pipelines that might, as early as 2015, carry Canadian natural gas to be converted to liquid on the B.C. coast, and shipped to Asia.
Japan looks to Canadian natural gas to replace nuclear power — PennEnergy
With increasing consideration of a pipeline to the West Coast and the creation of liquid natural gas export terminals, Japan could begin to rely on Canada to supplement its current natural gas power plants, which account for around 30 percent of the country's capacity.
Maine
Searsport says 'no' to propane tank moratorium — Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, AK
[O]n Saturday, residents in the coastal town of Searsport voted 297 to 165 against a proposed moratorium that would have slowed or possibly derailed a proposal to build a 14-story-high storage tank for propane brought to Maine by tankers. In a straw poll eight years ago, townspeople voted against the idea of an LNG terminal.
For decades, [Searsport residents] opposed efforts to develop the state-owned Sears Island. The poll eight years ago put Searsport among several Maine towns where residents opposed proposals for LNG terminals.
Propane and LNG have some common hazards to public safety within a radius of the ship and terminal: asphyxiation, fire, thermal-radiation burn, and explosion. Also, ballast water uptake and entrainment at the offloading ship can deplete plankton, fish eggs, and small fish. Both fuels are hydrocarbons, so they produce air pollution when burned.
West Coast — California
Thomas Elias: An example of when populism works [Commentary] — Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, CA
For many years starting in 1979, utility companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. told Californians they desperately needed LNG to replaced dwindling supplies of domestic natural gas that's shipped here via three major pipelines from Colorado, Alberta and the Permian Basin area of Texas and Oklahoma.
Fast forward 25 years to the middle of the last decade and resource exploitation companies from around the world, led by Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd., employed the same scare tactics in efforts to build LNG receiving plants near Eureka, Long Beach, Oxnard and other points. Each of these facilities was killed primarily because of local public opposition based on both environmental and economic factors. Because of the cost of facilities and ships, LNG would most likely have pushed gas bills upward significantly for generations.
All over America and Canada, LNG receiving and warming terminals are being converted into LNG exporting and liquefaction facilities. As early as last December, Mike Stice, senior vice president for natural gas at Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy, told a meeting of investment analysts that "Every (LNG) operator on the Gulf Coast has a liquefaction plan." [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Populism around Passamaquoddy Bay has also been working; Look all around the bay and you'll see no LNG terminals.
United States
LNG boom down under fuels heavy construction (Mar 9) — Yahoo Finance Canada
The U.S. saw a buildup of LNG import facilities following the natural gas price spike in 2000. The shale gas revolution then rose and turned gas prices around, giving U.S. gas a significant price advantage on global markets.
Three export facilities have been approved in the lower 48 — in Freeport, Texas; Sabine, La.; and Hackberry, La. Other applications are pending, hinting that spending on LNG export projects may have yet to really take hold in the U.S. [Red emphasis added.]
North East
Broadwater abandons LNG terminal Sound plan — Newsday, Melville, NY [Paid subscription]
Broadwater Energy has abandoned its controversial plan to build and operate a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the middle of Long Island Sound.
Houston-based Broadwater Energy LLC made its intentions known in a letter Wednesday asking a federal commission to vacate permits it had granted to the project.
FERC previously approved construction of the 1.0 Bcf/d Broadwater Energy-Transcanada/Shell LNG offshore terminal in state waters of Long Island Sound, New York. The project would have been located 9 miles from Long Island, NY, and 11 miles from Connecticut.
This is additional evidence that the Northeast has plentiful supply of domestic natural gas, mooting Downeast LNG.
Broadwater LNG requests FERC to vacate previous authorization for regasification facility — LNG Law Blog
In a letter dated yesterday, Broadwater Pipeline LLC informed FERC that the company has decided not to construct its planned LNG import and regasification project and asked that the Commission vacate its previous authorization for the project. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Broadwater abandons LNG project in Long Island Sound (Mar 7) — The Day, New London, CT
Broadwater has not begun any aspect of the construction, and “has determined not to go forward with any aspect of the LNG project,” Broadwater Attorney Kenneth Wiseman wrote in a letter to FERC.
The project faced strong opposition from both New York and Connecticut, and although it received FERC approval, it did not receive a key permit from New York state.
Gulf of Mexico
Cheniere is getting there [Opinion column] — The Motley Fool
Falling natural gas prices in the U.S. due to a supply glut have made companies look to export gas in the form of liquid natural gas. And with LNG in Europe and Asia fetching four to six times what natural gas gets in the U.S., that explains why Cheniere chose to expand its import terminal to allow for exports. In fact, the terminal will be the first such facility in the U.S. in 40 years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Alaska
Buccaneer Energy says its new Kenai gas well will produce (Mar 7) — Alaska Journal of Commerce, AK
The company is also supplying gas to ConocoPhillips, which has contracts to supply Chugach Electric Association, and owns and operates the Kenai natural gas liquefaction (LNG) plant. That facility is now in a suspended state but the making of LNG from gas will resume in April or May in anticipation of LNG cargo shipments to customers in Asia in the last half of 2012, ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said.
Four shipments are being planned for now, she said.
United States
Will the US export natural gas? (Mar 7) — CNBC
The North American natural gas boom has made the U.S. the biggest natural gas producer in the world with the cheapest gas, but whether it becomes a big exporter is yet to be seen. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Speakers address US shale gas, LNG exports, transparency — Oil & Gas Journal
During the morning plenary, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Chief Executive Officer James Hackett suggested that it will be difficult for producers to convince landowners to develop resources on their properties and then export that gas to other countries. [Red emphasis added.]
Dow Chemical chief wants to limit U.S. LNG exports — Forbes
Cheap, plentiful gas from shale reservoirs is a real boon for Dow, which uses the energy equivalent of 850,000 barrels of oil per day, mostly as feedstock for its chemicals and plastics.
He explained that exporting products made from natural gas, such as plastics, fertilizers and other chemicals would generate eight times more value for the U.S. economy than just exporting the LNG alone.
Cheap gas feedstocks will even help Dow commercialize innovations that could bring about the green energy revolution. Liveris said that Dow’s solar shingle product — a solar panel integrated into roofing shingles — has been installed on 3,000 homes in Colorado and that full scale roll out will start in the third quarter of 2012 with availability in California and Texas. The cost of the solar shingles to homeowners, he said, will be cheaper than traditional solar panels, but more expensive than asphalt-based roof shingles. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
U.S. LNG not Japan's cure-all — The Wall Street Journal [Paid subscription]
Perhaps one good thing to come out of last year's disasters in Japan was a new-found drive to take a serious look at cutting the costs in the nation's gold-plated power-generation system. But one plank of that—a plan to import liquefied natural gas from the U.S. over the long term—may not be the panacea to lower costs that its proponents argue.
New Brunswick
Trinidad LNG for Canada (Mar 6) — LNG World News
Trinidad and Tobago’s Point Fortin LNG terminal shipped a cargo of liquefied natural gas today, according to shipping data.
The cargo is being hauled by the Bilbao Knutsen, a 138,000 cubic-meter tanker, and it is due to arrive at the Canaport terminal in Canada on March 12.
Gulf of Mexico
US Excelerate Energy plots first offshore US LNG export project — ICIS Heren, London, England, UK
US-based Excelerate Energy is developing what could be the US's first offshore floating liquefaction (FLNG) production plant, a facility that would be positioned to sell US Gulf pipeline natural gas as LNG, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.
Bryngelson declined to name an exact location for the project, but the company has selected a site to construct a dockside vessel with 250,000m³ of storage. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
Unlike Downeast LNG and FERC, Excelerate Energy seems to "get," and adhere to, the LNG industry's terminal siting best safe practices. Offshore terminal siting via liquefaction ship keeps the fuel safely away from the public — and makes permitting easier. (SIGTTO = Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators. For more on their LNG terminal siting best safe practices, see LNG Terminal Siting Standards Organization .)
Brazoria County community residents upset over plans for chemical plant (Mar 6) — KHOU-TV, Houston, TX
The hide-away on the gulf is not far from Freeport, and just a stone’s throw from the Brazoria National Wildlife refuge, and residents are fighting to keep it pristine.
Freeport LNG plans to build a pretreatment facility to remove impurities from natural gas before it’s converted into liquid.
Residents say there are many other sites available to Freeport LNG, and they are asking that they move it to a more appropriate location.
FERC offers comments on Freeport LNG Liquefaction project Resource Reports (Mar 6) — LNG Law Blog
Yesterday, FERC issued its comments on Resource Reports 11 and 13 submitted to the Commission by Freeport LNG for its planned LNG liquefaction and export project.
KKR, Chesapeake join forces to invest in oil, gas (USA) (Mar 6) — LNG World News
“Driven predominantly by the recent advancements in unconventional oil and gas technology, we continue to see attractive opportunities to invest behind the domestic exploration and production of oil and gas. Royalties represent an important extension of this opportunity set and offer an attractive risk/reward for our investors in the current environment,” said Robert Antablin, a Director at KKR who leads the firm’s royalties investment strategy.
Caribbean — Puerto Rico
Excelerate Energy L.P.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the planned Aguirre Offshore Gasport project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public Scoping Meetings; Federal Register extracts (Mar 5) — Power Engineering
This notice announces the opening of the scoping process that the Commission [FERC] will use to gather input from the public and interested agencies on the project. Your input will help the Commission staff determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EIS. Please note that the scoping period will close on March 30, 2012.
British Columbia
Apache CEO says Kitimat LNG project may go ahead this year (Mar 6) — Bloomberg
[Apache Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Farris] said he expects a decision on Kitimat in 2012, though he’s not stuck on dates and doesn’t want to be tied into a decision by a certain time. Apache previously had planned to make a decision early this year.
Apache CEO: Contract with Asian buyer for Canada LNG terminal [sic] seen this year (Mar 6) — Fox Business
Negotiations to find a major Asian customer for a liquefied-natural-gas exporting terminal in Canada continue and a long-term contract is expected this year, Apache Corp. Chief Executive G. Steven Farris said Tuesday.
Separately, Apache has no plans to curtail natural-gas production in the U.S. despite low commodity prices. The company isn't drilling for natural gas but its current production is profitable as it is still being sold above the company's operating costs of 50 cents per million cubic feet of gas, Farris said.
Apache Corp.'s break-even cost of just 50-cents per million cubic feet (mmcf) is considerably less than the $4.00 sale price that some claim is required for US natural gas drillers to be profitable. At a $4.00/mmcf sale price, Apache would be making 8 times its cost. At the current price of around $2.50/mmbcf, Apache Corp. is making around 5 times its natural gas drilling cost.
United States
LNG’s looming glut has Qatar sealing 20-year Asia deals — Bloomberg
Qatar is seeking contracts to sell liquefied natural gas to Asia for as many as 20 years as the prospect of booming supplies from Australia, the U.S. and Africa raises the likelihood of a slide in prices. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
A slide in international LNG prices limits the profit opportunity for US LNG exporters — LNG export projects may see the same burst bubble that LNG import projects are suffering from.
EIA sees growth in US gas consumption — LNG World News
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are expected to fall by 0.3 Bcf/d (28 percent) in 2012.
EIA expects that an average of about 0.7 Bcf/d will arrive at terminals in the United States in both 2012 and 2013, either to fulfill long-term contract obligations or to take advantage of temporarily high local prices due to cold snaps and disruptions.
The US lower-48 has 12 LNG import terminals with a capacity of 19.035 Bcf/d, so total projected average US LNG imports for 2012 and 2013 amount to less than 4% of this country's entire LNG import capacity. It just keeps getting worse for Downeast LNG.
Natural gas oversupply prompts LNG boom -- Clean Energy Fuels Corp and Cheniere Energy poised to benefit [Press release] — MarketWire
Natural gas prices are bordering on decade low levels this week as above normal temperatures across the nation push usage down. The dramatic drop in natural gas prices, combined with the United States' abundant supplies has prompted fuel switching by utilities away from coal into cheaper gas. Moreover, the large supply of natural gas has pushed the government to consider boosting exports of liquefied natural gas. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
US LNG exports would keep gas bubble from becoming a 'sausage': Centrica CEO — Platts
"If the US government doesn't allow exports in any meaningful quantities, the US will remain an outlier in that there will be lower prices here than in any other part of the world," Sam Laidlaw said at the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
Laidlaw seems to think that lower natural gas prices for consumers is a bad thing.
Government relations: Political concerns over U.S. shift to LNG exporter (Mar 5) — JD Supra, King & Spalding
With new techniques to access shale gas in the United States resulting in dramatic increases in supply and as a consequence, lower prices for consumers, terminals originally constructed to import LNG are now attempting to convert to LNG export terminals. Multiple applications to approve LNG export facilities are pending before the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This has caused some in Congress to complain that exporting LNG to foreign markets may result in negative economic and environmental consequences in the U.S.
Part 3: Understanding the role of liquefied natural gas (Mar 6) — GantDaily, Clearfield, PA
Currently two applications are before FERC to convert existing LNG import facilities in the US to export facilities. An additional three facilities in the U.S. have been identified by project sponsors as potential export sites. In addition, there are three sites on the west coast of Canada that are listed as proposed or potential locations for LNG export terminals. Total export capacity of proposed and potential sites in North America exceeds 10 Bcf per day. The process of building export terminals and securing long-term delivery contracts could take the better part of a decade. A new liquefaction and export terminal is estimated to carry a price tag in excess of $5 billion. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
New Brunswick
Canaport LNG plans $43M upgrade (Mar 2) — CBC News
Planned upgrades will reduce flaring and improve efficiency
Canaport LNG will start construction in April to reduce the amount of boil-off gas released to its flaring tower.
Canaport LNG plans BOG compression system expansion (Canada) (Mar 2) — LNG World News
Completion of this project will reduce the amount of boil-off gas (BOG) sent to flare, resulting in the reduction of the Terminal’s emissions....
Two additional pieces of equipment will be installed during the project – a fourth boil-off gas (BOG) compressor and a new booster gas compressor. Currently, Canaport LNG collects boil-off gas from within the process and storage areas and this BOG is then re-condensed and sent to the gas pipeline via the main processing equipment or, if in excess, burned off directly through the flare. Rather than routing the BOG through the Terminal’s main processing equipment or flaring the excess, completion of this project will allow the BOG collected to be routed directly from the BOG compressors through the new booster compressor, increasing the pressure of the BOG up to pipeline operating pressure and exporting the BOG directly to the pipeline. [Red emphasis added.]
Northeast
Cove Point files second cooling cargo settlement (Mar 5) — LNG Law Blog
On March 2, 2012, Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP ("Cove Point") filed a proposed settlement which would govern the terms of the second purchase and sale of LNG supplies needed to maintain the cryogenic portions of the Cove Point LNG terminal cooled to the temperature necessary to receive LNG imports. The settlement, necessitated by the lack of LNG imports to the terminal and supported by Cove Point's firm import shippers, is temporary and covers only the second purchase and sale of gas and related cost recovery mechanism. A permanent mechanism to address the cooling issues will be proposed in a comprehensive settlement to be filed later this March 2012 in Cove Point's rate case in Docket No. RP11-2137.
On a related issue, today the Baltimore Sun published an op-ed opposing the use of the Cove Point LNG Terminal to export natural gas, citing environmental concerns related to shale gas production which would presumably be the source of the gas to be exported.
Cove Point LNG nearly went out of service in 2011 due to lack of use. It received so few LNG cargos that it nearly warmed up, disabling it from accepting LNG. Now, Cove Point LNG is proposing to export domestic-source LNG, supplied by copious natural gas supply from the nearby Marcellus Shale field in Pennsylvania.
This simply adds to the already-strong evidence that the US Northeast has plentiful natural gas supply.
Don't export LNG in Maryland [Op-ed] (Mar 5) — The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD
Proposed Cove Point facility would set back the state's efforts to make environmental progress
In recent years, the natural gas industry plunged into a reckless gold rush across communities nationwide with dirty, dangerous drilling and "fracking" practices that are exempt from many clean air and water laws. Now the gas profiteers have realized that there's even more money to be made by liquefying the gas and shipping it overseas — and so what if that sends gas prices here at home through the roof?
Ultimately, the only safe, smart and responsible way to address our nation's energy needs is to look beyond dirty energy and focus on clean sources like wind, solar and geothermal, as well as energy efficiency. Dollar for dollar, investing in clean energy will put more Americans to work than wasting money on perpetuating our national addiction to dirty, 19th century fossil fuels. We are supposed to learn from the past, right?
Exporting natural gas is not in our country's best interest. That's why the Sierra Club filed a protest before the U.S. Department of Energyopposing the Cove Point LNG export facility and asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyand White House Council on Environmental Quality to oppose it as well. It's simply irresponsible to speed up fracking in order to ship LNG overseas. If we can't get natural gas out of the ground safely, we should just leave it there. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
East Coast
Cambridge Energy seeks U.S. long-term LNG export authority to FTA countries (Mar 1) — LNG Law Blog
Cambridge Energy, LLC has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Energy seeking authority to export approximately 0.038 Bcf of LNG per year over a 25-year period from terminals in the Atlantic Southeast and along the Gulf Coast to any country in South America, Central America, Asia-Pacific or the Caribbean with which the United States has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Cambridge notes that it expects to file an application for long-term LNG export authority to non-FTA countries in the same regions.
Gulf of Mexico
Project opponent responds to Sabine Pass LNG's supplemental environmental filing (Mar 1) — LNG Law Blog
The Gulf Coast Environmental Labor Coalition (GCELC) has filed a response with FERC to Sabine Pass LNG's supplemental environmental information submitted to the Commission last month. GCELC's response is available in FERC's eLibrary under Docket No. CP11-72.
The future of natural gas (Mar 5) — The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA
So far nine domestic export terminals have been proposed, including three in Louisiana, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The facilities could export close to 14 billion cubic feet per day, more than 20 percent of the country’s daily natural gas production — if they are built.
It doesn’t make sense to ship LNG to Asian countries so they can use low-cost labor to make products that will then compete with American goods, Bowser said. It’s also a bad idea to create high natural gas prices by draining the supply through exports and putting the country at a competitive disadvantage. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
USA: Two LNG cargoes re-exported in January (Mar 2) — LNG World News
One LNG cargo was shipped from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal on January 8 and the other cargo from the Freeport LNG terminal on January 26.
There are currently three U.S. LNG terminals that have been granted Federal approval to re-export LNG: Freeport in Texas, Sabine Pass and Cameron in Louisiana.
Cheniere finds an investor for US LNG export project (Mar 2) — ICIS Heren, London, England, UK
US private-equity firm Blackstone Energy has infused $2bn into Cheniere Energy's proposed 18 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) Sabine Pass LNG export terminal, moving the only such US project with full regulatory approval closer to construction.
With estimated construction costs for the US Gulf facility's first two liquefaction trains around $4.5bn to $5bn, Blackstone Energy's investment provides needed financial backing for the project's first phase as Cheniere courts lenders for the rest of the project's funding.
Caribbean — Puerto Rico
FERC publishes schedule for preparation of EIS for Aguirre LNG GasPort project (Mar 5) — LNG Law Blog
FERC has requested public comments by March 30, 2012, addressing the scope of the planned Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that the Commission will produce for the Aguirre LNG GasPort project proposed for offshore Puerto Rico. The Commission will also host two public meetings in Puerto Rico regarding the project on March 20 and 21, 2012.
Alaska
Does Japan want Alaska's North Slope natural gas? (Mar 1) — Alaska Dispatch, Anchorage, AK
A group of Japanese officials have been in Anchorage to discuss sending liquefied natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to Japan.
Some accounts say that the Japanese are interested in building part, or even the entire, big pipeline that would take gas from the the Arctic oil fields to tidewater, but that couldn't be confirmed.
Alaska's North Slope and offshore are estimated to have 236 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas, not including shale and other unconventional sources of gas. To put that in perspective, Qatar, one of the leaders in natural gas production, produced 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2009. In 2010, the United States consumed about 24 trillion cubic feet total.
Recent studies support all-Alaska gas line (Mar 3) — Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, AK
[L]ast November, the Alaska Municipal League, after reviewing all proposed gas line projects and hearing from their proponents, overwhelmingly passed a resolution supporting the building of the all-Alaska gas line from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez for LNG shipment to the Asian market. The Alaska Gasline Port Authority has recently released the results of several studies.
British Columbia
Editorial: Natural gas presents B.C. with challenges, opportunities (Mar 5) — The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC
[T]he U.S. could quickly become self-sufficient in natural gas and begin to export its surplus. Canadian natural gas exports have been declining since 2008 as demand weakened during the recession at the same time as U.S. domestic production was growing. Canada’s dilemma then is a double whammy — the loss of an export customer and a new competitor in global markets. Even worse, the market U.S. firms are targeting is China, the same buyer Canada has in its sights. China plans to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from four per cent to 10 per cent through imports and domestic production....
The burgeoning natural gas ambitions in the U.S. offer Canada, and especially B.C., still another opportunity. It takes power to cool natural gas to -162 C, the temperature at which it liquefies — between 250 megawatts and 1,600 MW, depending on who’s providing the estimates. If the U.S. uses coal-fired plants to generate the electricity needed to make LNG, it will defeat the object of the exercise. B.C. could supply clean hydro power not only to the two, three or four LNG plants that might arise on the B.C. coast, but to U.S. LNG producers.
Gateway gets confidence vote (Week of Mar 4) — Petroleum News
The report also covered another 135 liquefied natural gas carriers and bulk carriers associated with LNG export plans for Kitimat, which Transport Canada deemed was “not a significant increase and does not cause concerns with vessel traffic density.”
Note that LNG transits into Passamaquoddy Bay are banned by Government of Canada, due to public safety policy. It is not a decision by Transport Canada.
United States
Opposing LNG exports for all the wrong reasons (Mar 3) — Press Action
Let’s review the impact of the LNG export scheme. The export of LNG will lead to additional shale gas extraction, induce additional coal consumption for electricity generation, and increase greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Rural areas are already getting taken over by gas companies and contractors, with their drilling sites dominating the landscape. Drilling accidents, including the release of hydraulic fracturing fluids into surface waters, are routine.
Instead of worrying where the members of these manufacturing sectors will site their plants, people who believe in a sustainable way of life should be doing whatever it takes to curtail these corporations’ harmful activities. The reasons to take action now are numerous: their operations require tremendous amounts of fossil fuels as feedstock, cause horrific damage to the environment, and produce illness and death among human and nonhuman animals, to name only a few.
...Allowing LNG exports will simply make a terrible situation, caused by the current rush to drill for shale gas, even worse by creating new markets and greater demand for U.S. natural gas. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
U.S. DOE: No final orders on pending LNG export applications to non-FTA countries until completion of study (Mar 2) — LNG Law Blog
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Smith told House Representative Edward Markey in a February 24, 2012 letter that DOE will not issue final orders on pending applications to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries until the second half of a two-part study examining LNG exports issues has been completed and DOE has analyzed the results. Smith confirmed that the first part of the study is complete and the second part is expected to be completed this Spring. The letter was released as part of a House Democratic Natural Resources Committee Report on issues relating to increased U.S. gas exports that has not been officially adopted by the Committee. [Red emphasis added.]
Impact of LNG exports on gas prices (Mar 5) — Oil & Gas Financial Journal
Robert Brooks of Los Angeles-based RBAC Inc., which develops energy market models, says that North American LNG exports will affect natural gas prices but the impact will depend on how fast exports grow and how big the market becomes.
Brooks explained: “Given that the industry is de-gearing away from dry gas due to prices in the sub-$3 range, it is unreasonable to expect it to increase production enough between 2016 and 2018 to export 6 bcf/day without a substantial increase in price.” [Red & bold emphasis added.]
U.S. LNG imports dive in Jan (Mar 2) — LNG World News
U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas in January slid 60.8% from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Energy data. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]
Holder of U.S. LNG Export Authorization hopes to be purchased (Mar 2) — LNG Law Blog
Platts LNG Daily [subscription required] reports that Energy International Corp. (EIC) hopes that its U.S. Department of Energy authorization to export up to 200 Bcf over a two-year term will induce a party interested in exporting LNG to buy EIC. Aside from the authorization granted last year to Sabine Pass LNG, a representative for EIC said that its license is the only one that permits the export of U.S. natural gas as LNG to countries with which the United States does not have a free trade agreement.
Energy International Corp. is a United Arab Emirates, Dubai-owned company.
North America
CORRECTION - 33 sites contenders for North American LNG export, Zeus survey finds (Mar 5) — MarketWatch
HOUSTON, TX, Mar 05, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- In the news release, "33 Sites Contenders for North American LNG Export, Zeus Survey Finds," issued earlier today by Zeus Development Corporation, we are advised by the company that the first sentence of the third paragraph should read "The Potential Gas Committee of the Colorado School of Mines" rather than "The American Gas Association's Potential Gas Committee" as originally issued. Complete corrected text follows.
"North America's natural gas landscape has changed so radically in the past five years that many sites once considered for import terminals now offer advantages as export plants," Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus, said. "Former liquefaction and export sites such as the once-proposed Yukon Pacific near Valdez, Alaska, might offer advantages as well." [Red & bold emphasis added.]
One wonders if any of the 33 potential LNG export terminal sites have been compared to SIGTTO terminal siting best safe practices in order to determine their appropriateness as to public safety (see LNG Terminal Siting Standards Organization for more on this issue).
Texas company recommends reversing flow on natural gas export terminals (Mar 5) — Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters
US-based Zeus Development Corporation says 33 sites in Canada, the US and Mexico have the potential to offer "competitive advantages" for developers of LNG export terminals.
The American Gas Association's Potential Gas Committee estimated in its last assessment that the United States holds almost two quadrillion cubic feet of undiscovered gas. Canada and Mexico also contain vast undiscovered natural gas reserves. British Columbia alone is estimated to have 1.1 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. The supply would feed 20 world-scale export plants for more than 100 years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]
FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan has offered an olive branch to the CEO of the Hess Corp. asking if the company would like to join with the city in finding a buyer for the 73-acre Weaver’s Cove property where an LNG terminal was once proposed.
Flanagan wrote to both CEO John B. Hess and to Senior Vice President Gordon Shearer, who had been the head of the LNG development that was officially declared dead in June 2011.
Shearer told The Standard-Times that the property is “for sale, actively,” although he didn’t discuss price. The company paid almost $17 million for the property in 2006, and today its assessed value is just above $11 million.
This article, and a previous one, indicate that there is a for sale sign on the property; however, there is no contact information (no phone, address, email, or web address) on the sign. In a previous attempt by a reporter to obtain sale information from Hess Energy, the reporter indicated he was told to contact whomever was indicated on the for sale sign.
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