Developing

A Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) fund is acquiring a 25% stake in Freeport LNG Development LP from a consortium of institutional investors managed by Hastings Funds Management (USA) Inc. and Zachry American Infrastructure LLC.

World energy consumption will increase by 56% between 2010 and 2040, driven largely by increased demand from developing countries, according to the International Energy Outlook 2013 (IEO2013), which was released last Thursday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). It sees global natural gas demand increasing by 64%.

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.”

British Columbia’s Liberal government has kept an election promise to elevate liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to a top priority by creating a ministry dedicated to developing the trade and giving the job to a senior cabinet member.

Enterprise Products Partners LP is developing two refined products export facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast to meet demand for additional refined products export capability with production from shale plays backing up the supply.

Operators developing plans to work in Alaska’s offshore, notably Royal Dutch Shell plc, have faced stiff and costly opposition for years, but Gulf of Mexico (GOM) operators should be aware that a growing threat of more lawsuits could derail some projects as well, industry executives said Tuesday at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Division of Oil and Gas is soliciting proposals for a contractor or contractors to assist DNR in characterizing and developing alternatives to advance a North Slope liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The study is intended to help the state stay abreast of risks and opportunities of the project and how they are influenced by world events. DNR said it hopes to gain an understanding of how its policies toward the disposition of its royalty share of North Slope natural gas may contribute to the success of the project. DNR said it anticipates that the contractor(s) will assemble a team of experts with various appropriate backgrounds. A pre-proposal conference will be held at 1:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, May 17 in the offices of the Division of Oil and Gas in Anchorage. Prospective contractors are encouraged to attend in person or make prior arrangements to call via teleconference by contacting Marlys Hagen at (907) 269-8666. Proposals must be received by May 20 at the DNR offices.

Spending to create new natural gas liquefaction capacity in the United States may get Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) more bang for the buck than developing additional liquefaction projects at home, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Spending to create new natural gas liquefaction capacity in the United States may get Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) more bang for the buck than developing additional liquefaction projects at home, according to Wood Mackenzie.