Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP‘s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP) has signed a binding, 20-year firm transportation precedent agreement with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japanto ship 600,000 Dth/d of natural gas earmarked for the proposed Cameron LNG liquefaction facility in Hackberry, LA, which is slated to begin liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in the second half of 2017. Mitsubishi will serve as the foundation shipper for TGP’s Southwest Louisiana Supply Project, which is designed to provide transportation from various supply basins in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana to Cameron Interstate Pipeline, which connects directly to the Cameron LNG Terminal. Kinder does not own Cameron Interstate Pipeline or the Cameron LNG facility. Sempra Energy, Mitsubishi and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. recently signed 20-year tolling capacity and joint venture agreements for the terminal (see Daily GPI, May 17). “TGP’s unique footprint, connecting key conventional and shale supply areas from the South Texas Eagle Ford to the Utica and Marcellus in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and access to the Haynesville Shale supply area and the Perryville Hub in Louisiana, makes our Southwest Louisiana Supply Project an ideal fit to serve the future supply needs of Mitsubishi Corp. and the planned Cameron LNG complex,” said TGP President Kimberly Watson.

Energize West Virginia with Natural Gas and America’s Natural Gas Alliance is holding town hall meetings in West Virginia where industry experts will discuss hydraulic fracturing and answer questions from the public. The first meeting was Wednesday; additional meetings will be held June 11 in Roanoke, WV, and July 25 in West Union, WV.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received bonus oil and natural gas bids totaling $115,411 for 12 parcels in Utah that cover 14,614 acres in the latest quarterly lease sale, officials reported Tuesday. BLM Utah officials said all the offered parcels were sold, and in addition to the bonus bids, the sale netted $21,928 in rental fees and $1,800 in administrative fees. Bean Resources Inc., of Lafayette, LA submitted the highest total bid per acre ($25) and the highest total bid/parcel ($41,925), both on parcel No. 7 in the BLM-Utah Color Country District. In the previous quarterly lease sale, the highest total bid/parcel ($614,600) was also for a parcel in the Color Country District (see Shale Daily, Feb. 22). That lease sale garnered bonus bids totaling $4.068 million for 26 parcels that covered 37,414 acres, mostly in the far southeast corner of the state near BLM’s Moab and Monticello, UT, offices.