Countries

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is convening a forum with ministers and senior government officials from 13 countries and the European Union that are engaged in offshore oil and gas extraction, along with representatives from industry, academia and nongovernmental organizations, to discuss the development of cutting-edge technologies for containing potential deepwater well blowouts on outer continental shelves. Salazar, who is meeting this week with Brazilian and Mexican officials to discuss cooperative efforts on safety in offshore energy development, said the Ministerial Forum on Offshore Drilling Containment will be held at the Interior Department in Washington, DC, April 14. More information about the forum, including a draft agenda, is available at http://www.doi.gov/whatwedo/energy/MFODC2011/index.cfm.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved Freeport LNG’s request to export 511 Bcf of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually to more than two dozen foreign countries with which the United States has free trade agreements involving natural gas and LNG.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved Freeport LNG’s request to export 511 Bcf of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually to more than two dozen foreign countries with which the United States has free trade agreements involving natural gas and LNG.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. is selling a 50% working interest in its Farrell Creek assets in the Montney Shale to Sasol Ltd. for C$1.05 billion. As part of the deal, the partners said Monday they will weigh the market viability of converting gas to liquid fuels using Sasol’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology.

The U.S. State Department signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that will allow the two countries to share technical expertise on shale gas resources. Preliminary estimates by India’s Association of Petroleum Geologists indicate that India’s shale gas reserves may be larger than its proven conventional gas deposits. The MOU would help India assess its shale gas resources and help to train Indian personnel. As part of the agreement, the U.S. Geological Survey plans to study India’s shale gas resources. The United States also would help India prepare for its first shale gas auction, which is scheduled to be held by the end of 2011.

Natural gas is on track to become the world’s dominant fuel in the next 10 years as intercontinental pipelines crisscross countries and producers unlock the energy inside untold amounts of shale, a Houston-based consultant said Thursday.

Natural gas is on track to become the world’s dominant fuel in the next 10 years as intercontinental pipelines crisscross countries and producers unlock the energy inside untold amounts of shale, a Houston-based consultant said Thursday.

With the U.S. losing out to foreign countries in the bidding war for liquefied natural gas (LNG), the level of LNG imports this year and next is expected to be well below the 2007 high of 771 Bcf, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook for August. The agency also significantly cut its spot price price projections for this year and 2009, citing increased domestic production and the drop in crude oil prices as factors.

With the U.S. losing out to foreign countries in the bidding war for liquefied natural gas (LNG), the level of LNG imports this year and next is expected to be well below the 2007 high of 771 Bcf, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook for August.