Freeport

B.M. “Mack” RankinJr., 83, who co-foundedFreeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.and served as vice chairman of the board, died Wednesday. Rankin foundedMcMoRan Oil & Gas Co.in 1969 with partnersW.K. McWilliams, who is deceased, and current ChairmanJim Bob Moffatt. In 1981, McMoRan merged withFreeport Minerals Co.to form Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the predecessor parent company, which has since become one of the largest natural resources companies in the world (seeDaily GPI,July 24;Dec. 6, 2012). “We lost a brother, a friend and a valued member of our board of directors,” Moffatt said. “Mack has been a great partner and adviser for many years.” Rankin, who had more than 50 years of experience in the natural resources industry, was a member of the All American Wildcatters and from 2008 to 2010 was chairman of theU.S. Oil and Gas Association. In 2010 the Dallas native received theTexas Oil & Gas AssociationDistinguished Service Award. Rankin, a graduate of theUniversity of Texas at Austin(UT), was a member of the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame and had received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Business Administration. Rankin was an avid supporter of UT and endowed, among other things, a professorship in petroleum land management. The UT Longhorn athletic dining hall is named in his honor. Rankin is survived by his wife, Ashley, and son, Richard.

Dow Chemical Co. officials on Monday said a comprehensive plan to connect U.S. operations with “cost-advantaged feedstocks” from abundant supplies of domestic shale gas is moving forward and is on track to deliver long-term competitive advantages for the worldwide operations.

Enterprise Products Partners LP plans to build one of the world’s largest propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units on the Texas Gulf Coast to take advantage of abundant supplies of propane thrown off by shale gas plays and to address periodic shortages of propylene in the region.

Houston-based Contango Oil & Gas Co., better known as a Gulf Coast player, on Monday joined with some financially savvy partners to invest up to $380 million over the next five years in Encana Corp.’s holdings in the Jonah field, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States and the third largest oilfield in Wyoming.

Days after a Royal Dutch Shell plc subsidiary announced that it intends to purchase a site in Pennsylvania — presumably for its “world-scale” ethane cracker in the Marcellus Shale — media reports are fueling speculation that two companies are interested in building their own crackers in West Virginia, with one possibly making their announcement today, Wednesday.

Cheniere Energy Inc. has closed the sale of its 30% limited partner interest in Freeport LNG Development LP for net proceeds of approximately $104 million to ZHA FLNG Purchaser LLC, an entity formed by Zachry American Infrastructure LLC and Hastings Funds Management USA Inc. on behalf of institutional investors, Cheniere said. Net proceeds are to be used to pay down a portion of the $400 million, 9.75% term loan held by a Cheniere subsidiary, the company said (see Daily GPI, April 26). The transaction is in line with Cheniere’s strategy of improving its capital structure and reducing debt.

FERC Thursday approved a major interstate natural gas pipeline project that would provide additional takeaway capacity for producers in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas basins, as well as a salt dome storage facility proposed for Southeast Texas.

McMoRan Exploration Co. subsidiary Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC has filed a license application with the Coast Guard for a proposed offshore Louisiana liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and gas storage project and filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a 5 mile, 1.5 Bcf/d gas pipeline.

McMoRan Exploration Co. said Monday that its subsidiary, Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC, has filed a license application with the Coast Guard for a proposed offshore Louisiana liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and gas storage project.