The Papua LNG joint venture partners led by Total SA have signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Papua New Guinea for development of the Elk-Antelope gas-condensate fields, known as the Papua LNG Project.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has officially opened the Inpex group’s $40-billion Ichthys LNG project at a ceremony in Darwin, a symbolic milestone that also propels Australia to the top of the list of the world’s LNG exporters, according to Adelaide-based energy economics group EnergyQuest.
Brazos Midstream, with an 85% interest, will operate a newly formed joint venture in the Delaware basin with Williams Cos. Inc. Under terms of the agreement, Williams will contribute its existing Delaware basin assets to the partnership in exchange for a 15% minority position.
US Energy Sec. Rick Perry congratulated the Czech Republic on breaking free of its dependence on the Russian Federation for natural gas in the 1990s and called on other European nations to similarly diversify their suppliers now. “The dangers of excessive dependence were highlighted in 2006, 2009, and 2014…[when] Russia cut off gas supplies to and through Ukraine, harming that nation as well as other European allies and friends,” he said in Prague on Nov. 14.
Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline LLC will solicit shipper commitments for crude oil transportation service from the Guernsey, Wyo., origin point to refinery delivery points along the Pony Express system and to Cushing, Okla.
State-owned GAIL (India) Ltd. said pipe contracts recently awarded will allow construction to begin in December on a 453-mile natural gas pipeline between Barauni, Bihar, and Guwahati, Assam. The spur line is part of the 2,110-mile Jagdisphur-Haldia-Bokaro-Dhamra system under construction in northeastern India.
A federal district court judge in Montana vacated a Mar. 23, 2017, US Department of State Record of Decision authorizing construction of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline and ordered further environmental reviews of the project.
Phillips 66 Partners reports that Gray Oak Pipeline LLC will launch a binding expansion open season to solicit shipper commitments for long-term crude oil transportation services from West Texas.
Gassco AS is in the process of restarting its Kollsnes gas processing plant and associated Vestprosess condensate pipeline in western Norway after a collision between two ships off the Sture terminal near Bergen early Nov. 8 led to closure of the installations.
EnLink NGL Pipeline LP, a subsidiary of EnLink Midstream, launched a binding open season for expansion capacity volume commitments for common carrier transportation service on its existing Cajun-Sibon natural gas liquids pipeline system.
The Sture oil terminal in western Norway was shut and evacuated early Nov. 8 after a Maltese oil tanker and a Norwegian military frigate collided in this key North Sea oil port. Rystad Energy anticipates that 365,000 b/d of oil production will be shut in for several days before the terminal is again ready to receive oil piped from offshore fields in the Norwegian North Sea.
Saddlehorn Pipeline Co. LLC and ARB Midstream LLC have launched an open season for crude oil transportation commitments for a joint tariff from the future Matador pipeline through the Saddlehorn pipeline to Cushing, Okla.
Lone Star NGL LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP, Dallas, will construct a seventh natural gas liquids fractionation facility at Mont Belvieu, Tex., and expand the Lone Star Express Pipeline providing capacity for transportation commitments secured form the Delaware and Permian basins.
Magellan Midstream Partners LP and Navigator Energy Services have launched an open season to assess customer interest to transport various grades of light crude oil and condensate from Cushing, Okla., to Houston.
Enterprise Products Partners is launching a series of projects to expand fractionation capacity by 55,000 b/d at its existing operations in Texas and Louisiana. As part of the initiative, EPP plans to optimize its Shoup fractionator in Nueces County, Tex., by expanding and repurposing a portion of the partnership’s South Texas pipeline system, including construction of 21 miles of pipeline along with the conversion of 65 miles of existing natural gas pipeline to NGL service to enable EPP to supply Shoup with 25,000 b/d of additional NGL volumes, the operator said.
Enbridge has restored partial service to customers of its BC Pipeline following the Oct. 9 rupture of a natural gas transmission pipeline 13½ km north of Prince George, BC, but supply is still limited, and retail customers are being asked to continue to conserve throughout the winter, said British Colombia electric power and gas distribution and retail company FortisBC.
Sempra Energy and Total SA have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the development of North American LNG export projects. The scope of MOU covers continuing the development of the Cameron LNG liquefaction-export project in Louisiana and EnergÃa Costa Azul (ECA) liquefaction-export project in Baja California, Mexico.
TransCanada Corp. will expand its Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) System to connect existing and new supply to incremental intra-basin demand. The expansion consists of about 197 km (122 miles) of large-diameter pipeline, three compression units, meter stations, and associated infrastructure.
Production from Erskine gas and condensate field in the UK North Sea has been restarted, reported project partner Serica Energy PLC. Formation of gas hydrates had delayed the restart of the field, where production was suspended on Jan. 16 because of a blocked condensate pipeline.
Enable Midstream Partners LP, Oklahoma City, is expanding its crude oil midstream business in the Anadarko basin and its crude water gathering systems in the Willison basin.
The Inpex Corp.-led joint venture’s first cargo of LNG from the Ichthys project has been shipped from the onshore gas liquefaction plant in Darwin, Northern Territory. Inpex said the Pacific Breeze LNG carrier sailed from the terminal late on Oct. 22 bound for the Inpex-operated Naoetsu LNG receiving terminal in the Niigata Prefecture in Japan where it is expected to arrive by midweek next week.
Imperial Oil Ltd. has restarted production at its Norman Wells operations in the Northwest Territories following the return to service of Enbridge Inc.’s Line 21 pipeline. Imperial had previously resumed limited shipments of crude oil from storage in September. The company expects production to ramp up in the months ahead to about 10,000 b/d, consistent with rates prior to the shutdown.
Energy Transfer LP subsidiaries Dakota Access LLC and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Co. LLC (ETCO) launched a binding expansion open season to solicit shipper commitments for expanded transportation service through the Bakken pipeline system.
JupiterMLP LLC has secured enough funding from Charon System Advisors to build the 1 million-b/d capacity Jupiter Pipeline from the Permian basin to the Port of Brownsville, Tex., and will hold an open season for remaining capacity in November.
Crimson Midstream and MPLX have launched a binding open season to assess interest and solicit commitments from prospective shippers for crude oil transportation service on the Swordfish Pipeline. The pipeline is being developed to connect existing terminal facilities in St. James, La., and Raceland, La., to the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port terminal facility in Clovelly, La.
Tallgrass Energy LP, Leawood, Kan., and Silver Creek Midstream LLC, Irving, Tex., will expand their Powder River basin joint venture to own the Iron Horse Pipeline, the Powder River Express Pipeline (PREP), and crude oil terminal facilities in Guernsey, Wyo. Tallgrass will operate Powder River Gateway LLC with 51%. Silver Creek will own 49%.
The Asia-Pacific’s oil and gas industry looks set to rebound over the next 12 months as rising demand, stronger commodity prices, and an uptick in merger and acquisition activity bring greater confidence to the region, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) Sour Gas, a subsidiary joint venture of ADNOC and Occidental Petroleum Corp., is set to build a pipeline to carry molten sulfur produced by its Shah field sour gas operations.
Sydney-based AGL Energy’s plans to establish an LNG import terminal at Crib Point in Victoria by 2021 will be delayed following the Victorian government’s call for the company to submit a full environmental assessment of the project.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has let a contract for the concept definition and engineering of two natural gas floating production, storage, and offtake facilities for its proposed Browse—North West Shelf LNG development off Western Australia.
Aspen Midstream is building a large-diameter residue gas pipeline and both a lean and rich gas gathering system in the Austin Chalk play in Texas. Aspen’s Austin Chalk System is in Giddings field. The system is supported by a combined total of about 150,000 acres of long-term dedications from multiple producers. Aspen is engaged in discussions with other producers about additional dedications.
Enbridge received approval from Canada’s National Energy Board on Oct. 10 to restart one of its natural gas pipelines following response to a rupture in a transmission pipeline 13.5 km north of Price George, BC.
Williams Cos. Inc.’s Transco interstate pipeline has executed binding 15-year commitments with Seneca Resources Co. LLC and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. for 100% of the 580 MMcfd of firm natural gas transportation capacity available under its proposed Leidy South expansion project.
A lack of pipelines to carry oil and natural gas out of the Permian basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico will limit exploration and production and weaken realized prices until late 2019, when new pipeline capacity comes online, Moody’s Investors Service said in a recent report.
Williams’s Transco interstate pipeline executed binding, 15-year commitments with Seneca Resources Co. LLC and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. for 100% of the 580 million dekatherms of firm transportation capacity under its proposed Leidy South expansion project designed to expand Marcellus and Utica takeaway capacity.
Woodside Energy Ltd., Perth, has chosen Bechtel as the preferred execution contractor for the proposed expansion of its Pluto LNG facility on the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha in Western Australia. Woodside said it would work closely with Bechtel in preparation for award of the contract for the front-end engineering and design phase of the Pluto project.
Qatar Petroleum (QP) is adding a fourth liquefaction train to the LNG expansion project it announced in 2017. When the expansion is complete, Qatar’s LNG production capacity will be 110 million tonnes/year, a roughly 43% increase from the current 77 million tpy.
TransCanada Corp. has started service on the Western Build of its WB Xpress project to increase movement of Appalachian basin natural gas to the US Gulf Coast.
Enbridge Inc. will shut down and replace its Line 5 across the Straits of Mackinac with a multi-use utility tunnel that the Calgary energy transmission company will pay for, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) announced.
Williams Cos. received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to place its Atlantic Sunrise natural gas project into full service. The company plans to do so Oct. 6, 2018.
Salt Creek Midstream LLC has entered into a letter of intent with Noble Midstream Partners LP to form a 50-50 partnership on a crude oil pipeline and gathering system in the southern Delaware basin.
Kinder Morgan Inc., Houston, has launched a binding open season to solicit commitments for additional capacity on the Plantation Pipeline system.
Japanese operator Inpex has made its maiden shipment of condensate from the $40-billion Ichthys LNG project in the Browse basin offshore Western Australia. The 350,000-bbl cargo was offloaded from the Ichthys Venturer floating production, storage, and offloading vessel moored 220 km off northwestern Australia.
Shell Canada Energy has taken a final investment decision on its 14-million tonne/year liquefaction joint venture, LNG Canada, in Kitimat, BC, allowing work to begin immediately. TransCanada Corp. will build, own, and operate the 2.1-bcfd Coastal GasLink pipeline that will deliver gas to the plant.
Independent Oil & Gas PLC (IOG) has completed front-end engineering and design of its Southern North Sea (SNS) natural gas project and integrity testing of its Thames pipeline, which it will recommission to bring SNS gas to shore at Bacton terminal. IOG is completing preparation for its final investment decision on SNS, having substantially completed bidding processes and advanced negotiations with preferred parties.
Oneok Inc., Tulsa, is planning a series of capacity expansions across its US NGL fractionation, pipeline, and gas processing operations. In addition to adding a 125,000-b/d NGL fractionator (MB-5) and related systems in Mont Belvieu, Tex., the company will build the 200-MMcfd Demicks Lake II natural gas processing plant and related systems in the Williston basin, Oneok said.
Noble Energy Inc., Houston, has executed multiple agreements to support delivery of natural gas from Leviathan and Tamar fields, offshore Israel, into Egypt through existing infrastructure.
Gray Oak Pipeline LLC launched an open season enabling additional shippers to enter agreements for long-term crude oil transportation service for the Eagle Ford segment of the Gray Oak Pipeline from the Helena Hub and Three Rivers terminal to Corpus Christi and the Sweeny-Freeport area.
European governments will need to broaden efforts to diversify their countries’ natural gas sources if they expect to keep Russia from regaining its previous dominance, speakers agreed during a Jamestown Foundation discussion about Baltic Energy Security. Stronger coalitions will be essential to create longer lasting solutions that benefit regions more than individual nations, they suggested.
Qatar Petroleum (QP) is adding a fourth liquefaction train to the LNG expansion project it announced in 2017. When the expansion is complete, Qatar’s LNG production capacity will be 110 million tonnes/year, a roughly 43% increase from the current 77 million tpy.
The proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline’s Mainline Alternative Route in Nebraska “would have no significant direct, indirect, or cumulative effects on the quality of the natural or human environments,” the US Department of State said in a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS).
The US Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration rescinded a requirement for unit trains carrying crude oil and other flammable substances to use electronically controlled pneumatic braking systems. PHMSA said it based its Sept. 24 action on a regulatory impact analysis that found the requirement’s expected costs would be more than its expected benefits.
Enable Midstream Partners LP, Oklahoma City, launched a nonbinding open season to gather additional interest for firm natural gas transportation capacity on the Gulf Run Pipeline, a planned interstate transportation project designed to connect US gas supplies to LNG export markets on the Gulf Coast.
Williams Cos. has completed construction of its 1.7-bcfd, 200-mile Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline, which is ready to be placed into service pending final approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The company requested such approval Sept. 19.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. subsidiary Woodside Energy Trading Singapore Ptd. Ltd. has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with Germany energy firm Uniper Global Commodities SE for the supply of as much as 600,000 tonnes/year of LNG over a period of 4 years starting in 2019.
China imposed a 10% tariff on LNG imports from the US, describing the measure as a response to the latest US tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The 10% tariff, which includes other products as well to affect $60 billion worth of trade, will go into effect Sept. 24, according to China’s ministry of commerce.
Officials of Cyprus and Egypt have signed an agreement supporting construction of a pipeline to carry natural gas from deepwater Aphrodite field off the island nation to Egypt, according to press reports.
The US and Poland will need to keep working together to fight European energy security threats represented by the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and possible additional Russian-backed projects, Polish President Andrzej Duda said following a Sept. 18 White House meeting with US President Donald J. Trump.
Additional government incentives and cost reductions will be required to make more Canadian LNG export projects globally competitive and attractive to investors, a Canadian Energy Research Institute study concluded. Otherwise, more announced projects could join the 16 that have been canceled since 2014, CERI warned in a Sept. 19 report recently released in Calgary.
European imports of LNG from US suppliers face weighty constraints, witnesses told the US Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “Most [European Union] members in central and southeastern Europe do not have LNG regasification terminals and can rarely access LNG supplies through the EU’s collective natural gas distribution network,” US Assistant Sec. for Fossil Energy Steven E. Winberg testified at a Sept. 14 hearing.