Commissioner Wayne Christian was unanimously elected chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.
Anadarko Petroleum has formally sanctioned its Mozambican LNG project, Mozambique LNG. Anadarko is developing Mozambique’s first onshore LNG facility, initially consisting of two LNG trains with a total nameplate capacity of 12.88 million tonnes/year. Feed gas comes from Golfinho-Atum field in Offshore Area 1 where Anadarko and its partners have discovered 75 tcf of recoverable natural gas resources.
Inpex will submit a revised plan of development for the integrated Abadi LNG project in Indonesia after signing a heads of agreement with authorities on basic principles. The HOA outlines terms agreed in discussions after completion of a pre-front end engineering and design study conducted by KBR in response to the government’s requirement that the liquefaction plant be built onshore.
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) unanimously approved construction of a second dock and associated storage that would add LNG and other energy products to the proposed Gibbstown Logistics Center in southern New Jersey. The commission’s June 12 action followed a June 6 public hearing and a 15-day comment period.
Rising natural gas production in Argentina coupled with competitive global LNG transportation costs are expected to position the country as an emerging source of gas supply to Asia during peak demand periods, recent research from Wood Mackenzie shows.
Husky Oil Operations entered guilty pleas June 12 on federal and provincial charges related to a 2016 oil spill in Saskatchewan and will pay fines totaling $3.82 million. Husky was fined $2.5 million under the federal Fisheries Act and $200,000 for a violation of the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act. It was fined $800,000 under the Saskatchewan Environmental Management and Protection Act and assessed a 40% victim impact surcharge of $320,000.
Oil futures rallied on the New York and London markets June 13 following attacks on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz although crude settlements failed to completely recover from the previous trading session losses of more than $2/bbl.
Natural gas supplies from Gazprom to Hungary from Jan. 1 through June 5 totaled 4.3 billion cu m, a 57.5% increase vs. the same period last year. In addition to the contracted amounts, Hungary bought from Gazprom another 2 billion cu m of gas, which will be delivered this year.
Shell Australia’s Prelude floating LNG project, 475 km offshore Broome, Western Australia, has shipped its first LNG cargo, loading the 173,400-cu m Valencia Knutsen for delivery to Asia. Prelude came on stream in January and shipped its first condensate cargos in March.
Phillips 66 has formed two separate 50-50 joint ventures to build pipelines that will transport crude oil from the Rockies and Bakken production areas to Cushing, Okla. and from Cushing and the Permian basin in West Texas to the Gulf Coast.
Three state-owned refiners in India have agreed to form a joint venture to lay what they say will be the world’s longest LPG pipeline, spanning 2,757 km between Kandla, Gujarat, and Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Indian Oil Corp. will hold a 50% share of the venture. Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will hold 25% interests each.
Hartree Cardinal Gas, a subsidiary of Hartree Bulk Storage, has agreed to acquire from Martin Midstream Partners its membership interests in Arcadia Gas Storage, Cadeville Gas Storage, Monroe Gas Storage, and Perryville Gas Storage for $215 million in cash.
MPLX, First Infrastructure Capital-backed WhiteWater Midstream, and a joint venture of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and West Texas Gas have reached a final investment decision to move forward with the design and construction of Whistler Pipeline which will transport natural gas from the Permian basin to the Texas Gulf Coast.
A June 6 ruling by Brazil’s Supreme Court allows Petrobras to proceed with its $8.6 billion sale of a 90% interest in the Transportadora Associada de Gas SA natural gas pipeline to a combine of Engie and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec.
CNOOC Ltd. and its subsidiary CEPR Ltd. have signed an agreement with Novatek and Ekropromstroy LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSC Novatek, to acquire a 10% equity interest in Arctic LNG 2 LLC.
New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection rejected three land use permit applications for Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co.’s (Transco) proposed interstate natural gas pipeline across the state on June 5. It also kept the door open for the Williams Cos. subsidiary to reapply for the permits.
Another Chinese national oil company is showing interest in Russian LNG projects. Sinopec signed a heads of agreement with Novatek and Gazprombank on formation of a joint venture to market LNG and natural gas to end-users in China.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has let an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to CCS JV, a joint venture of McDermott International Inc., Saipem, and Chiyoda, for the Mozambique Area 1 LNG Development.
US Transportation Sec. Elaine L. Chao submitted a legislative proposal to Congress on June 3 that would reauthorize safety programs at the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) from fiscal 2020 through 2023. It also would strengthen criminal penalties for damaging or destroying a pipeline facility, which the Association of Oil Pipe Lines welcomed.
Total SA has agreed to take over Toshiba’s portfolio of LNG, including a 20-year tolling agreement for 2.2 million tonnes/year of LNG from Freeport LNG Train 3 in Texas and the corresponding gas transportation agreements on the pipelines feeding the terminal. Train 3 is expected to start commercial operations by second-quarter 2020.
The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (WAEPA) has recommended environmental approval for the proposed natural gas pipeline interconnector between the Pluto and North West Shelf LNG plants on the Burrup Peninsula.
Magellan Midstream Partners LP and Navigator Energy Services have extended the open season to solicit transportation commitments for the proposed Voyager Pipeline to transport crude oil from Cushing, Okla., and Midland, Tex., to Houston.
Sentinel Midstream subsidiary Texas GulfLink submitted a license application with the US Maritime Administration May 30 to construct and operate a deepwater crude oil export facility near Freeport, Tex. The completed facility will be capable of fully loading very large crude carriers.
Australian Industrial Energy (AIE), Sydney, has let the wharf facility and pipeline construction contract for its proposed Port Kembla LNG receipt terminal to the SCSB joint venture composed of international companies Spiecapag and Soletanche Bachy.
Cheniere Energy Partners LP has made a positive final investment decision with respect to Train 6 at the Sabine Pass liquefaction project in Cameron Parish, La. Cheniere has issued full notice to proceed with construction to Bechtel Oil, Gas & Chemicals Inc.
Cameron LNG has shipped the first commissioning cargo of LNG from Train 1 of its facility in Hackberry, La., said Sempra Energy subsidiary Sempra Energy LNG. Commissioning cargos are a critical step in the start-up process and support stabilizing production and performance testing, the company said.
The US Environmental Protection Agency issued emergency fuel waivers for Allegheny County, Pa., to ensure that fuel supplies remain adequate following damage to a pipeline that supplies the area.
Enterprise Products Partners reported plans to extend its ethylene pipeline and logistics system further into South Texas, “a leading growth area for crackers and ethylene derivative plants.” The Baymark ethylene pipeline will originate in the Bayport area of southeast Harris County and extend 90 miles to Markham, Tex., in Matagorda County.
PetroTal Corp., Calgary and Houston, has received approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to fully develop Bretana oil field on Block 95 in Peru. The company enhanced production from the field’s first well to 2,000 b/d of oil late last year following the installation of oil well pump and water treatment and reinjection facilities.
Comet Ridge Ltd., Brisbane, and its joint venture partner Vintage Energy Ltd., Adelaide, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the infrastructure company APA Group for APA to undertake surveys to identify a gas pipeline route from the Galilee basin in Queensland to Australia’s east coast.
The US Department of Energy authorized additional exports of domestically produced natural gas from the Freeport LNG project on Quintana Island in Texas. The May 28 order said the project’s sponsors can export the equivalent of 262.8 bcfd of gas from the terminal’s proposed Train 4 to countries not having a free-trade agreement with the US where US laws or policies do not prohibit trade.
Delek US Holdings Inc. and its logistics arm Delek Logistics Partners LP are expanding midstream operations to gain access to crude oil feedstock sourced at Cushing, Okla., as part of a plan to increase and improve crude flexibility at Delek US refineries.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has ruled against provincial legislation that could have blocked expansion of the federally owned Trans Mountain Pipeline system. The legislation would have enabled the BC government to require a permit for the handling of heavy oil and thus to disallow the expansion project, which Premier John Horgan strongly opposes.
Venture Global LNG Inc. has received a $1.3 billion equity investment from Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for its 10-million tonne/year Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, La. Total committed capital to fund construction of Calcasieu Pass and the continued development of Venture Global’s 20 million-tpy Plaquemines LNG and 20 million-tpy Delta LNG facilities is now $2.2 billion.
NextDecade has let an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to Bechtel for Phase 1 of the 27 million-tonne/year Rio Grande LNG plant at the Port of Brownsville in South Texas.
Energy retailer EnergyAustralia has made an agreement with proposed Port Kembla LNG import facility operator Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) to buy 15 petajoules of gas a year over 5 years starting from January 2021.
Sempra Energy and Saudi Aramco announced their respective subsidiaries—Sempra LNG and Aramco Services Co.—have signed a heads of agreement that anticipates the negotiation and finalisation of a definitive 20-year sale-and-purchase agreement covering 5 million tonnes/year of LNG from the Port Arthur export project under development.
The Origin Energy-operated Australia Pacific LNG group has obtained permission to acquire Origin’s undeveloped Ironbark coal seam gas project in permit ATP 788P in Queensland. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would not oppose the transaction, first mooted by Origin in February with a sale price of $231 million (Aus.).
Freeport LNG Development LP reported obtaining approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to site, construct, and operate its fourth natural gas liquefaction train, which will be integrated into its existing gas liquefaction and LNG export facility on Quintana Island near Freeport, Tex.
Howard Energy Partners and WPX Energy have completed construction on the majority of the 50-50 joint venture’s previously announced crude oil and natural gas gathering and processing infrastructure in the Permian’s Delaware basin.
US Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have introduced a bill on May 14 that would impose targeted sanctions against vessels involved in constructing the proposed Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and other Russian energy projects.
Oman LNG has let a contract to KBR to provide debottlenecking services for its 34 million-cu m/day liquefaction plant on the coast at Qalhat near Sur, in Oman’s South Sharqiyah Governorate. As part of the of the contract, KBR will provide front-end engineering design services for the debottlenecking project to increase production at the Sur plant.
SemCAMS Midstream has entered into an asset joint venture with Keyera to build an NGL and condensate pipeline system connecting the liquids-rich Montney and Duvernay shale production areas of northwestern Alberta to fractionation and condensate hubs in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. The joint venture replaces SemCAMS Midstream’s previously announced Montney to Market (M2M) pipeline.
Continued growth in US Henry Hub-priced LNG exports and a general rise in spot LNG cargoes led to the highest year-to-year increase ever in total global LNG imports during 2018, the International Gas Union said as it released its 2019 Wholesale Gas Price Survey on May 13 in Barcelona.
ExxonMobil and its Mozambique Rovuma Venture partners have received approval from the government of Mozambique for the joint venture’s development plan for Rovuma LNG, which will produce, liquefy, and market natural gas from three reservoirs in the Area 4 block offshore Mozambique, two of which straddle the boundary with neighboring Area 1.
In retaliation for the US increasing the tariff on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10%, which took effect May 10, China reported May 13 it will assess a 25% tariff on US LNG starting June 1—an increase from the 10% level instituted in September.
Cameron LNG has started production of LNG from Train 1 of its facility in Hackberry, La. In the initial phases, the production is a precursor to a first cargo, which is expected later this quarter, said McDermott International Inc.
Shell Midstream Partners LP, Houston, has agreed to acquire Shell’s 25.97% equity interest in Explorer Pipeline Co. and 10.125% equity interest in Colonial Pipeline Co. for $800 million. The acquisition will increase Shell Midstream Partners’ interest in Explorer to 38.59% and in Colonial to 16.125%.
Freeport LNG Development LP has selected KBR Inc. as the preferred bidder for the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning contract for Train 4 at Freeport LNG's export facility on Quintana Island near Freeport, Tex.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. reported that Mozambique LNG1 Co. Pte. Ltd.—the jointly owned sales entity of the Mozambique Area 1 coventurers—has entered into a 17-year, 1.6 million-tonne/year LNG supply agreement with Jera Co. Inc. and CPC Corp.
IFM Investors, through the IGM Global Infrastructure Fund, agreed to acquire Buckeye Partners LP, Houston, in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of $10.3 billion and an equity value of $6.5 billion.
Energean Oil & Gas has submitted an updated proposal to the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority to supply gas to the island nation from deepwater Karish field offshore Israel. The operator proposes to lay a 200-km pipeline from the Energean Power FPSO vessel, which will handle production from Karish and Tanin fields, to Vasilicos, Cyprus.
The Druzhba oil pipeline between Russia and Europe will resume normal operations in mid-May after a month-long curtailment responding to contamination, according to Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak in a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Natural gas will continue to play a key role in America’s economic growth and overall energy future in the coming decades as the country makes a transition to a low-carbon economy, a study commissioned by the INGAA Foundation concluded.
The American Petroleum Institute and London-based International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) jointly released a position paper outlining ways to increase US LNG exports to countries in the European Union. The May 2 recommendations came during the first EU-US Energy Council Business-to-Business Energy Forum in Brussels.
The proposed Plaquemines LNG export terminal and associated Gator Express pipelines might have adverse environmental impacts that could be less than significant if the sponsor’s proposed impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation plan and additional Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff recommendations are implemented, FERC’s staff said in a May 3 final environmental impact statement.
The US Department of Energy issued approvals on May 2 for Tellurian Inc.’s proposed Driftwood facility in Calcasieu Parish, La., and Sempra Energy’s planned installation at Port Arthur, Tex., to export LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the US.
Tellurian has launched separate binding open seasons to secure shippers on two proposed pipelines that will connect areas of constrained shale production and debottleneck natural gas pipeline infrastructure, further enabling the rapidly growing industrial market in southwestern Louisiana.
US House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders strongly criticized the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for not implementing more congressional mandates in the 2011 and 2016 federal pipeline safety authorizations as a subcommittee held a hearing on May 1 to begin preparing a replacement.
The cost of building and operating oil sands projects has fallen in recent years and total oil production is expected to rise by another 1 million b/d by 2030, but external factors—such as price uncertainty caused by pipeline constraints—are contributing to a more moderate pace of production growth than in years past, according to IHS Markit.
A Rangeland Midstream Canada Ltd. subsidiary expects new crude oil and condensate pipelines and related facilities it plans to design, construct, and operate in the Marten Hills region of north central Alberta to be in service in second-quarter 2020.
Sydney-based Australian Industrial Energy Group (AIE) has received development consent from the New South Wales Government for its plan to import LNG into Port Kembla on the NSW coast.
CNOOC Ltd. and China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp., have signed agreements to acquire 10% interests each in the Arctic LNG 2 plant to be built by Novatek on the Gydan Peninsula of Russia.
Cogent Midstream LLC, Dallas, will construct a 25-mile, 20-in. pipeline to deliver 400 MMcfd of residue gas from its Big Lake natural gas processing complex in Reagan County, Tex. to Kinder Morgan’s Gulf Coast Express Pipeline.
Qatar Petroleum issued an invitation to tender for construction of the LNG carrier fleet for its North Field Expansion project.
ExxonMobil and Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group entered into a sale and purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas.
Port Arthur LNG LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, received FERC authorization to site, construct, and operate the Sempra-led Port Arthur LNG liquefaction-export facility under development in Jefferson County, Tex., moving the project closer to a final investment decision.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued the order granting authorization for Tellurian Inc.’s proposed Driftwood LNG export project and an associated pipeline in Louisiana. The project would produce as much as 27.6 million tonnes/year of LNG for export.
The Canadian government has delayed until June 18 its decision on the contested expansion of the Trans Mountain crude oil and products pipeline between Alberta and British Columbia.
Canada’s National Energy Board has granted approval to Nova Gas Transmission Ltd.’s (NGTL) West Path Delivery project plan to construct and operate a 21½-km natural gas pipeline, two compressor station unit additions, and related facilities to supply southwest Alberta and connected markets with Western Canadian production.
Concho Resources Inc. and Frontier Midstream Solutions IV LLC have agreed to form Beta Crude Connector LLC (BCC) to build and provide crude oil gathering, transportation, and storage services in the northern Midland basin. Frontier will serve as operator. Each company will own equal equity interest.
Train 1 of the Cameron LNG project in Hackberry, La., has reached the final commissioning stage, marking the transition from construction to startup, said McDermott International Inc. Since the initial award in 2014, McDermott and Chiyoda International Corp., a US subsidiary of Japan’s Chiyoda Corp., have provided the engineering, procurement, and construction for the project.
Qatar Petroleum reported it has issued the invitation to tender package for engineering, procurement, and construction of the four LNG megatrains of its North field expansion project. The package has been issued to three EPC joint ventures: Chiyoda and Technip France; JGC and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co.; and Saipem, McDermott Middle East, and CTCI.
Zydeco Pipeline Co., jointly owned by Shell Midstream Partners and Shell Pipeline Co., launched a binding open season seeking commitments for non-firm capacity crude transportation service on its 350-mile pipeline from Houston and Nederland, Tex., to St. James and Clovelly, La.
US Congressional Republicans reintroduced legislation aimed at simplifying and streamlining the federal process for authorizing exports of LNG on Apr. 10. The Senate measure, which Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.) sponsored with John N. Kennedy (La.) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) as cosponsors, would terminate existing prohibitions on both exports and imports of gas. As would the bill Rep. Clay Higgins (La.) introduced in the House.
US Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill on Apr. 8 that would require the use of professional engineers to approve local natural gas delivery system changes and on-site monitoring of pressure regulation stations so that qualified employees could quickly shut off gas flow in an emergency. Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) introduced a similar measure, HR 2139, in the US House the same day.
Total SA along with joint venture partners ExxonMobil Corp. and Oil Search Ltd. have signed a gas agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea that defines the fiscal framework for the Papua LNG project (Elk-Antelope field development) in the country’s Eastern Highlands. This follows the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties for development of the Elk-Antelope fields in mid-November 2018.
The number of incidents affecting people has decreased 20% as the total of US mileage and deliveries has increased more than 10% in the last 5 years, the American Petroleum Institute and the Association for Oil Pipelines jointly said in their 2019 Liquids Pipeline Performance Report on Apr. 8.
Tellurian subsidiary Permian Global Access Pipeline LLC (PGAP), Houston, is holding a binding open season to secure prospective shippers for a proposed 42-in. interstate natural gas pipeline connecting the Permian basin in Texas to southwestern Louisiana.
US House Democrats have called for speedier implementation of mandates in the 2011 and 2016 reauthorizations of the federal oil and gas and hazardous materials pipeline safety law. “It’s simply unacceptable that safety-critical rules passed by Congress 8 years ago are lingering somewhere,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio (Ore.) said at the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee’s Apr. 2 hearing.
Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, has signed a heads of agreement with Chinese distributor ENN Group for the sale of 1 million tonnes/year of LNG from Woodside for 10 years starting in 2025.
Qatar Petroleum will solicit tenders for engineering, procurement, and construction of onshore facilities in its expansion of natural gas liquefaction capacity later this month, according to a project report by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, minister of state for energy affairs and QP president and chief executive officer.
NextDecade Corp. has entered into a 20-year LNG supply agreement with Shell NA LNG LLC. The agreement with Shell is for 2 million tonnes/year of LNG from NextDecade’s 27 million-tonne/year Rio Grande LNG plant at the Port of Brownsville in South Texas.
Global LNG trade occurred at record volumes for the fifth consecutive year, reaching 316.6 million tonnes, according to the International Gas Union’s (IGU) 2019 World LNG Report. This marks an increase of 28.2 million tonnes (9.8%), from 2017, the third-largest annual increase ever behind only 2010 and 2017.
The ExxonMobil Corp.-led PNG-LNG project in Papua New Guinea has made a midterm LNG sale agreement with Unipec Singapore Pte. Ltd. for the supply of about 450,000 tonnes/year of LNG over 4 years starting this month. Unipec is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinopec, one of PNG-LNG’s original long-term customers.
Noble Energy Inc. has sanctioned the Alen natural gas development project offshore Equatorial Guinea with the start of production expected in first-half 2021. Gas will be processed through Alba Plant LLC’s liquefied petroleum gas plant and EGLNG’s LNG plant at Punta Europa, Bioko Island—both onshore and Marathon Oil-operated.
Gazprom and RusGasDobycha have begun implementing plans for a large natural gas liquefaction and processing complex on the Gulf of Finland near Ust-Luga, Russia. The companies decided on final configuration of the complex, which will process 45 billion cu m/year of gas and yield 13 million tonnes/year of LNG, as much as 4 million tpy of ethane, and more than 2.2 million tpy of LPG.
President Donald J. Trump issued an updated presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline on Mar. 29. The move was seen as an attempt to jump-start the project’s construction after a federal judge in Montana blocked it in November and ordered further environmental reviews.
An indigenous coalition is forming in Canada with the aim of buying a controlling interest in the Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion project between Alberta and British Columbia from the federal government.