Piedmont Natural Gas will solicit bids for asset management services and gas supply to begin Nov. 1 for its North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee operations. The Charlotte, NC-based utility has a total system throughput of more than 250 Bcf/year, with firm transportation contracts on Columbia Gas Transmission, Columbia Gulf Transmission, Dominion Transmission, East Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline, Midwestern Gas Transmission, Texas Eastern Transmission, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Transcontinental Gas Pipeline. The company will be seeking asset management services, seasonal and year round supply for contract terms yet to be determined. To receive a copy of the request for proposals when posted, contact Keith Maust, (704) 731-4901; or Sarah Stabley, (704) 731-4907.

FERC has approved for prefiling review Venture Global Plaquemines LNG LLC‘s planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that would be sited in Plaquemines Parish, LA. Plaquemines LNG plans to construct a terminal ultimately capable of exporting 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG. The first phase would have 10 mtpa of capacity. The project site would be about 623 acres south of Myrtle Grove, LA, on the west side of the Mississippi River, Plaquemines LNG has told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [PF15-27]. Venture Global also is developing an LNG export terminal in Calcasieu Parish, LA (see Daily GPI, June 24); the Plaquemines project is the company’s second in Louisiana.

LINN Energy LLC and affiliate LinnCo. are selling their remaining Howard County, TX, Permian Basin properties for $281 million to an undisclosed buyer, the companies said Monday. Closing is expected during 3Q2015 with an effective date of May 1, 2015. The properties being sold include 6,400 net acres prospective for horizontal Wolfcamp drilling and 2,000 boe/d of current production from 133 gross wells. At the start of the year, LINN slashed capital spending and cut its dividend due to the depressed commodity price environment (see Shale Daily, Jan. 2). During 4Q2014, the company announced Texas asset sales worth $2.3 billion with proceeds to be used to fund a recent acquisition from Devon Energy Inc. (see Shale Daily, Oct. 3, 2014; June 30, 2014). Last March, LINN formed a partnership with Quantum Energy Partners to acquire and develop oil and natural gas assets (see Shale Daily, March 24).

G2X Energy Inc. of Houston plans to start site work by the end of this year for its proposed world-scale methanol production facility in Lake Charles, LA. All state and federal permits for the project have been obtained, and staff hiring is in progress. The opening of a local G2X office is planned, said CEO Tim Vail. “Our hope is to have our EPC [engineering, procurement, construction] contractor, the Proman Group, to begin site work by the end of this year.” When complete, the Big Lake Fuels facility would be able to produce more than 1.4 million metric tons of commercial-grade methanol per year. The site also is being designed for additional facilities to convert methanol to automotive gasoline in the future. The plant is to be located on a 200-acre site on the Calcasieu Industrial Canal off of the main Calcasieu Ship Channel. It is adjacent to multiple large natural gas pipelines (both interstate and intrastate) and industrial electricity connectivity. The site affords the option to ship methanol via barge or oceangoing vessel and has the capability to support multiple production process trains (see Daily GPI, Dec. 19, 2014). G2X is partnering with Southern Chemical Corp. and Proman on the project.