Exporting

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell on Monday met with Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) CEO Kangsoo Choo in Juneau to talk up the idea of exporting liquefied Alaska natural gas to Asian markets. The meeting was a follow-up to when the two met in September and other talks between Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan and other Kogas officials.

Exporting liquefied domestic natural gas to world markets would generate a net benefit to the U.S. economy, and the more liquefied natural gas (LNG) that’s exported, the greater the benefit, according to a macroeconomic analysis of the impact of LNG exports commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and released for public comment Wednesday.

The United States should be exporting more chemicals, glass, steel, aluminum and other products, but the country’s leaders should think long and hard before adding liquefied domestic natural gas to that list, a Dow Chemical executive said Wednesday. While end-user industries fear higher gas prices, producers are looking to all potential demand sources to lift gas prices and make their dry gas operations economic once again.

Converting shale and tight sands formations into affordable natural gas and oil reserves have become the true “game changer” for the United States “because it changes the most important game in the world, the game of war,” according to global intelligence expert George Friedman.

Some opponents of exporting liquefied domestic gas argue that doing so would encourage more development of shale gas resources using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) well stimulation. Since fracking is bad (causes pollution), so are liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, they argue. But that’s not how it works, FERC said in approving facilities proposed by Cheniere Energy Inc. units to liquefy and export gas from the Louisiana coast.

Sempra Energy plans to ride the growing U.S. bandwagon for exporting plentiful domestic supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a $7 billion joint venture (JV) and midstream master limited partnership (MLP) centered on its under-used Cameron LNG receiving facility in Louisiana, said CEO Debra Reed, who spoke to analysts Thursday in San Diego.

In addition to investing in its California utilities, Sempra Energy plans to ride the growing U.S. bandwagon for exporting plentiful domestic supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a $7 billion joint venture and midstream master limited partnership (MLP) centered on its under-used Cameron LNG receiving facility in Louisiana, according to CEO Debra Reed, who spoke Thursday at a Sempra financial analysts’ conference in San Diego.

Producing natural gas in North America today isn’t a particularly lucrative venture, but for proponents of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), particularly from Western Canada, the times couldn’t be better.

Producing natural gas in North America today isn’t a particularly lucrative venture, but for proponents of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), particularly from Western Canada, the times couldn’t be better.