Commercial

Although it is still awaiting its first commercial cargoes, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s newest liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal at Cameron along the southwest Louisiana coast was officially opened last Wednesday with the help of Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sempra CEO Donald Felsinger. The $900 million receiving terminal can process up to 1.5 Bcf/d.

Although it is still awaiting its first commercial cargoes, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s newest liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal at Cameron along the southwest Louisiana coast was officially opened Wednesday with the help of Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sempra CEO Donald Felsinger. The $900 million receiving terminal can process up to 1.5 Bcf/d.

Capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and industrial sources on a commercial scale with 100 projects worldwide by 2020 and 3,000 projects by 2050 will require trillions of dollars of investment, according to a report released last Tuesday by the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum Ministerial in London.

Capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants and industrial sources on a commercial scale with 100 projects worldwide by 2020 and 3,000 projects by 2050 will require trillions of dollars of investment, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum Ministerial in London.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved a $77.8 million refund for Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania customers. The PUC voted 5-0 to approve the refunds to residential, commercial and industrial customers who received service between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009. The amount received by each customer will vary depending on usage. According to Columbia’s filing, the overcollection resulted from a large, sustained reduction in gas prices, which occurred after Columbia had filed its quarterly adjustment. Those customers will receive a one-time credit on their bills during the November billing cycle. Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania serves about 413,000 customers in 26 Pennsylvania counties.

BP has completed a gas-to-liquids (GTL) demonstration project in Nikiski, AK, and proven that it can produce diesel and aviation fuel from natural gas on a commercial scale. The company plans to close the facility by the end of 2009 after seven years of operation, the company said Wednesday.

The latest proposal for developing the first commercial-scale natural gas storage in Arizona failed to get help from the legislature before it adjourned early this month. A House-passed bill (HB 2352) would have allowed water injection to clear out shallower salt caverns for eventual underground gas storage, but the bill failed to make it to the Senate floor.

The latest among several serious proposals for developing the first commercial-scale natural gas storage in the state failed to get help from the Arizona legislature before it adjourned at the beginning of July. A House-passed bill (HB 2352) would have allowed water injection to clear out shallower salt caverns for eventual underground gas storage, but the bill failed to make it to the Senate floor.

PAA Natural Gas Storage LLC has begun commercial operations of the second of three storage caverns at its Pine Prairie facility in Evangeline Parish, LA, increasing aggregate working gas capacity to approximately 13.8 Bcf. Phase I development of the Pine Prairie facility consists of three caverns with aggregate permitted capacity of 24 Bcf. The first cavern began operation in October. The second cavern received the requisite permits in March and has just begun operations. Leaching operations on the third cavern began in December, and this cavern is expected to begin operations during the second quarter of 2010. The company is indirectly owned 50% by Plains All American Pipeline LP and 50% by Vulcan Capital.