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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission indicated that it may cease processing Calais LNG’s proposal to build a proposed $1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and associated pipeline project in light of the loss of a key financial backer. “We are aware of the recent events regarding Calais LNG Project Co. LLC’s loss of original investor GS Power Holdings LLC, and the expiration of its option to purchase agreement for the project site. As a result, we are assessing whether it remains appropriate for Commission staff to continue to process your applications,” wrote Jeff Wright, director of FERC’s Office of Energy Projects, in a letter order [CP10-31, CP10-32]. In July Calais LNG announced that GS Power Holdings, a key financial backer, had pulled out of the project (see NGI, Sept. 27). The Maine Board of Environmental Protection at the time agreed to a Calais LNG request to put its permit request on hold until December to give the company time to line up financing and gather information required by state regulators. The proposal seeks to site the import terminal on the St. Croix River in Calais, ME. The terminal would have three storage tanks and the capacity to deliver 1 Bcf/d of revaporized LNG to the 20-mile, 36-inch diameter Calais Pipeline, which would interconnect with Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline in Princeton, ME.
AltaGas Ltd. has received approval from the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board for its Harmattan Co-stream Project. The Co-stream Project will allow 250 MMcf/d of rich, sweet natural gas sourced from the NOVA Western Alberta System to be processed using spare capacity at the Harmattan Complex to recover ethane and natural gas liquids. It will expand the availability of feedstock for Alberta’s petrochemical industry and retain extraction revenues and value in Alberta in an economical manner, AltaGas said. Construction of the project is expected to take 14 months.
Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX) has agreed to provide the Alberta Department of Energy with an Alberta gas price index, referred to as the Alberta Market Price (AMP). The AMP is a volume-weighted average of cleared transacted prices for all gas delivered in a calendar month at the NGX Alberta market center on the TransCanada Corp. Alberta System, NGX said. The department will use the AMP to calculate its gas reference price, forming the basis of the royalty obligations for Alberta energy producers. The launch of the new pricing regime is planned for January.
Faced with weather-related construction delays, the $600 million, 302-mile interstate Bison natural gas pipeline’s start has been delayed until some time in January, TransCanada Corp. said. The 30-inch diameter pipeline, which would bring Powder River Basin supplies to the Midwest, was originally slated to be placed in service last month. Initiated last year on a fast-track basis at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Bison obtained FERC’s approval in less than a year’s time last spring (see NGI, April 19). When opened, Bison and its related pipeline system facilities will extend northeastward from the Dead Horse region near Gillette, WY, through southeastern Montana and southwestern North Dakota where it interconnects with Northern Border Pipeline Co.’s system near the existing pipeline’s Compressor Station No. 6 in Morton County, ND. Bison’s design capacity is approximately 477 MMcf/d with potential expandability of up to approximately 1 Bcf/d, according to TransCanada. Bison holds capacity commitments for 10 years each with four shippers: foundation shipper Anadarko Energy Services Co. (250 MMcf/d); Williams Gas Marketing Inc. (100 MMcf/d); Minnesota Energy Resources Corp. (51.706 MMcf/d); and MidAmerican Energy Co. (5 MMcf/d).
Noting that the companies are still in the “investigative phase,” a Michigan-based spokesperson for Fiat SpA and the Chrysler Group LLC said the automakers aren’t ruling out any alternative transportation fuels for their future marketing efforts in the United States. Natural gas is just one of several options being explored, and electric vehicles (EV) and clean diesel are included in the mix. An array of factors, including consumer acceptance, availability of fueling infrastructure and many other considerations, are part of the ongoing assessment. The increasingly plentiful U.S. natural gas supplies may be one factor, but consumer attitudes toward having a compressed natural gas in the trunk of a vehicle is another, the spokesman said. Fiat and Chrysler have no current timeline for deciding which of the alternative fuel options they will pursue. The initial reintroduction of Fiats in the United States will involve only gasoline-powered versions. CEO Sergio Marchionne has talked bullishly on natural gas, a fuel used extensively in his cars in Europe (see NGI, Dec. 6).
North Dakota-based Basin Electric Power Cooperative recently received more than a half-billion dollars in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of the federal agency’s $2.9 billion rural energy infrastructure financing program. Basin Electric’s proposed 300 MW Deer Creek natural gas-fired power plant in South Dakota is getting $405 million for financing as part of the Bismarck, ND-based cooperative’s USDA awards. The rest of its federal loan guarantees — $153 million — will be used for developing two wind projects that collectively will generate 120 MW. Now under construction, the Deer Creek gas-fired plant is scheduled to come online in the spring of 2012. Deer Creek is a combined-cycle generation facility located near Elkton, SD, in Brookings County. The project was approved by Basin Electric’s board of directors in October 2007.
Halliburton Co. has reached an agreement to turn over to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Jan. 11 all documents related to fluids used in the controversial hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process, ending a battle that could have landed in court. In November, the EPA sent letters to nine nine major national and regional fracking service providers to submit information as part of its study on fracking and its impact on drinking water quality. Halliburton was the only company that failed to comply, forcing the EPA to subpoena the company (see NGI, Nov. 15). The EPA was seeking information on several topics, including chemical composition of fluids used in fracking, the impacts of the chemical fluids on human health and the environment, standard operating procedures at fracking sites, and the sites where fracking has been conducted. In March the EPA began the study of the potential risks associated with fracking — a technique used to stimulate production of natural gas from wells drilling in gas shales (see NGI, March 22). The study was authorized by Congress. The eight companies that cooperated with EPA’s request for information were BJ Services, Complete Production Services, Key Energy Services, Patterson-UTI, PRC Inc., Schlumberger, Superior Well Services and Weatherford.
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