American

Pangea LNG (North America) Holdings LLC, a relative latecomer to the North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export race, is approaching regulators, and the market, with a smaller, more scalable project on the Texas Gulf Coast that the company’s CEO, an LNG veteran, says has better odds of coming to fruition than some mega project competitors.

Pangea LNG (North America) Holdings LLC, a relative latecomer to the North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export race, is approaching regulators, and the market, with a smaller, more scalable project on the Texas Gulf Coast that the company’s CEO, an LNG veteran, says has better odds of coming to fruition than some mega project competitors.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Monday said that 31 onshore oil and natural gas auctions conducted generated $233 million for American taxpayers in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) has agreed to pay Chesapeake Energy Corp. $125 million for crude oil and condensate gathering assets in the Eagle Ford Shale. The acquired assets are complementary to and would be connected with PAA’s existing crude oil and condensate gathering systems. Included in the purchase are 40 miles of crude oil/condensate gathering pipelines with a throughput capacity of 50,000 b/d; 150,000 bbl of existing crude oil and condensate storage capacity; 300,000 bbl of storage capacity under construction; and a truck unloading terminal. Chesapeake agreed to provide long-term acreage dedications of future production from its South Texas leasehold in Webb and Dimmit counties.

The North American “shale revolution” is providing infrastructure companies and U.S. master limited partnerships with solid growth opportunities over the next two decades, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse.

The Canadian government earlier this month granted Chinese state-controlled industry a spot in the North American oil and gas industry with its approval of a merger by CNOOC Ltd. of Nexen Inc. (see NGI, Dec. 10), but it pledged that the toehold will not be allowed to grow into a dominant role.

The North American “shale revolution” is providing infrastructure companies and U.S. master limited partnerships with solid growth opportunities over the next two decades, according to an analysis by Credit Suisse.

Next year already is shaping up as another growth spurt for natural gas as a transportation fuel, based on recent announcements. American Honda will be coming off a record sales year for its compressed natural gas (CNG) Civic models, which will have added styling and features next year, but those 2013 cars will not be on the market until all of the 2012 CNG Civics are sold, the company said at the end of November. Ford F-450 and F-550 trucks are being converted for utility and other fleet work by Seattle, WA-based World CNG and by Vancouver, BC-based Westport Innovations. World is providing dedicated CNG conversions and new F-550 Ford trucks, using a bodymaker, Caseco Manufacturing and its Oklahoma City-based installation partner, Clear Sky CNG. Westport said by mid-2013 it will have converted F-450 and F-550 CNG bifuel trucks outfitted at its Kentucky Integration Center, a Ford-qualified NGV modifier. Separately, the city of El Paso, TX, has contracted with Mansfield Gas Equipment Systems to design, build and operate three CNG fueling stations on city property to fuel city-owned and leased vehicles.

Baker Hughes Inc. is reporting positive results from a program to convert a fleet of its North American hydraulic fracturing (fracking) units to bifuel pumps that use a mix of natural gas and diesel, the oilfield services operator said Monday.