Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is on a trade mission to talk up exports of liquefied Alaskan gas to Asian markets. Parnell is slated to meet with Japanese and South Korean officials and business leaders over the coming days. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry arranged a meeting of Parnell and executives from companies such as Samsung C&T, STX Energy, Daesung Industrial Co. Ltd., Korea Midland Power Co., GS Global Co., LG International Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industries and Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. Ltd. Parnell recently met with the CEO of Kogas to discuss Alaska’s role as an LNG exporter and the state’s desire to boost exports with an in-state gas pipeline. Alaska’s major oil and gas producers and TC-Alaska are working with the Alaska Pipeline Project on the commercialization of North Slope gas with a specific focus on a large-scale liquefied natural gas project in Southcentral Alaska (see Daily GPI, July 31).

The gas processing technology development unit at an Illinois-based Honeywell, UOP LLC, is working with Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) to improve processing used in the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and in LNG ship-board transportation. UOP said it is focused on developing an advanced carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption technology to improve the reliability and efficiency of equipment used to remove contaminants from the gas before it is liquefied. Petronas and UOP are hoping to create improvements that can be deployed in onshore and offshore gas processing equipment, which could include LNG export facilities now being planned for various U.S. sites. On a more global basis, the process improvement work is an outgrowth of “growing global demand for natural gas,” said Rebecca Liebert, general manager of UOP’s gas processing and hydrogen unit in Des Plaines, IL. The boom in demand is particularly strong in Southeast Asia, Liebert said.

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