Asian

Shell Canada Ltd. and its trio of Asian energy partners have asked Canadian regulators for approval to build a facility near Kitimat, BC, that would be capable of exporting up to 24 million tons/year (MMt/y) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) beginning in 2019. The proposed facility is double the size of the one Shell announced in May.

Shell Canada Ltd. and three Asian energy giants are drawing up plans to develop a 12 million ton/year liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Kitimat, British Columbia — the largest facility proposed in the west coast province to date.

Shell Canada Ltd. and three Asian energy giants are drawing up plans to develop a 12 million ton/year liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Kitimat, British Columbia — the largest facility proposed in the west coast province to date.

Terra Energy Corp. said it is targeting international companies — particularly Asian firms — for a possible joint venture (JV) — and it is considering the sale of its natural gas-rich Montney Shale portfolio in British Columbia (BC) as it shifts toward more oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) production.

The Interior Department’s first assessment of the shale potential of Alaska’s North Slope found the potential for up to 2 billion bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 80 Tcf of undiscovered, technically recoverable gas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). “We looked under the entire North Slope of Alaska,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt, who called it a landmark study. The results will enable industry to make “good seismic decisions,” will guide their investments, said Anne Castle, assistant secretary of water and science. Alaska’s shale resources “hold great promise,” but production has never been attempted due to the infrastructure challenges, Castle noted. Three source rocks of the Alaska North Slope were assessed in the study: the Triassic Shublik Formation, the lower part of the Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Kingak Shale, and the Cretaceous pebble shale unit-Hue Shale, according to USGS. It said those shale formations are known to have generated oil and gas that migrated into conventional accumulations, including the Prudhoe Bay field. But the shales also likely retain oil and gas that did not migrate. If the shale gas should be developed, it’s remains an open questions as to whether it could make its way to the United States, which lacks pipelines and/or a West Coast liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal for the gas to be delivered. The nation’s sole export terminal, located in Kenai, AK, exports LNG to Asian markets.

Industry and government are getting an education about the tallest hurdle in the way of Canadian plans for new Asian energy export channels: aboriginal communities that occupy or claim vast tracts of northern Alberta and British Columbia (BC). The lessons are being taught by emerging commercial relationships and parallel regulatory cases on oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Industry and government are getting an education about the tallest hurdle in the way of Canadian plans for new Asian energy export channels: aboriginal communities that occupy or claim vast tracts of northern Alberta and British Columbia (BC).

Nexen Inc. last week secured two joint ventures (JV) in two separate transactions, both with Asian companies, that promise to give the Calgary-based independent a solid footing to expand development in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) as well as British Columbia (BC).

Nearly half of the U.S. oil and natural gas merger and acquisition (M&A) activity during the third quarter was driven by shale plays, according to the latest survey by consultancy PwC US.