Australia

The tanker Energy Atlantic on Monday was stationed at a buoy offshore from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana and was expected to arrive at the facility Tuesday to begin loading its first cargo — and the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be exported from the Lower 48 (see Daily GPI,Dec. 23, 2015). Meanwhile, the first LNG cargo recently departed from the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) facility on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia, ConocoPhillips said Monday. Construction of the APLNG facility began in 2011 and consists of two production units, each with the capacity to deliver 4.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG. Construction on the second production unit is nearing completion, with expected first LNG in the second half of 2016. The project is expected to be self-funding once the second unit comes online.

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and China Huadian Green Energy Co. Ltd. have signed a nonbinding agreement for the former to supply 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia over a 10-year period beginning in 2020.

Australia Pacific LNG has begun production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Curtis Island facility in Australia and is on track to export its first cargo by the end of the year, according to project partner Origin Energy Ltd. Origin’s David Baldwin, CEO of integrated gas, said, “With first LNG production, Australia Pacific LNG has now achieved its last major milestone prior to exporting LNG to customers in Asia. The Origin-operated upstream activities, which deliver gas to Curtis Island, are fully operational and performing well, and Origin, together with partners ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, are now focused on achieving first export. Australia Pacific LNG produces natural gas from a reserves base in the Surat and Bowen basins in Queensland, Australia. The gas is piped to the LNG facility on Curtis Island (see Daily GPI,July 9, 2012).

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday imposed a $16.7 million penalty on Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) for “failure to timely report” alleged ex parte communications and “misleading” the regulatory body, a violation of CPUC rules. The five-member CPUC effectively affirmed an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) proposed penalty for the alleged breach of CPUC ethics rules (see Daily GPI,Oct. 29). The penalty follows a disputed ALJ finding that the utility violated CPUC ex parte communications rules on 10 occasions between March 26, 2013 and June 17, 2014 regarding SCE’s pending case on the closure of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). SCE has challenged the charges. In addition to the fine, the CPUC ordered SCE to develop a public website tracking all of its future nonpublic, individual communications related to the SONGS investigation.

U.S. regulators have given the green light to Royal Dutch Shell plc’s proposed buyout of UK rival BG Group plc, clearing the way for completing the merger in early 2016 as planned.

U.S. regulators have given the green light to Royal Dutch Shell plc's proposed buyout of UK rival BG Group plc, clearing the way for completing the merger in early 2016 as planned.

The Cooper Basin in Australia, Argentina’s Neuquen Basin and two formations in Turkey are the best prospects today for global unconventional production based on their geology, market access/pricing and regulatory schemes, according to an analysis by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH).

University of Adelaide researchers in Australia are developing a new type of laser system that will monitor methane levels across large areas in order to monitor emissions of the greenhouse gas. The system has the potential to detect methane leaks from long-distance underground gas pipelines and gas fields, including coal seam gas extraction operations, and to measure methane emissions from animal production, the university said. “We hope to accurately measure methane concentrations up to a distance of 5 kilometers,” said project leader David Ottaway, senior lecturer in the university’s School of Chemistry and Physics. “This will give us an ability to map methane over an area as large as 25 square kilometers in a very short time. At the moment current technology only allows detection at a single point source as it blows past the detector.”

Aurora Oil & Gas Ltd. has begun drilling activities earlier than expected on its recently acquired Eagle Ford Shale acreage, the Australia-based company said Monday.