natural gas

GAIL (India) Ltd. and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. have struck a pact to pursue natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) opportunities around the globe, particularly targeting petrochemicals, gas procurement, pipelines and LNG, the companies said. GAIL and Sumitomo, which have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on projects, hold half of the capacity in the Cove Point LNG liquefaction terminal project in the United States (see Daily GPI,June 17). Both said they view the U.S. market as a “growth area for their line of businesses and would cooperate on businesses ranging from upstream to downstream.” GAIL is India’s leading natural gas company with a presence along the entire hydrocarbon value chain. Sumitomo is a leading integrated trading and investing enterprise headquartered in Tokyo. Sumitomo also invests in a range of businesses such as metal, mineral resources, energy, chemical, etc. Its subsidiary Pacific Summit Energy LLC participates in in natural gas trading and marketing (physical and financial) in the United States.

An Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) specialty firm is jumping north to launch an export plan in Nova Scotia after making a start on expanding in North America with a Louisiana terminal project. Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (LNGL) of West Perth on Monday announced an agreement to buy a mothballed, partially built Canadian import terminal site on Cape Breton Island for US$11 million from Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

An Oklahoma district court judge last week affirmed a decision by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) that was challenged by a ConocoPhillips unit, determining the producer owed more royalties on natural gas sold from federally owned lands.

Next-day deliveries of physical natural gas on balance posted modest advances in Monday’s trading, with most points scoring gains of a few pennies. West Coast locations were higher on warm weather, but New England and the Mid-Atlantic also rose.

Two companies interested in drilling for natural gas in the Loyalsock State Forest met recently with officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), but to the chagrin of environmentalists the agency did not receive — and may not have asked for — copies of the materials shown for subsequent redistribution to the public.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN), whose only focus is land drilling in North America, has newbuild contracts for high-spec rigs for at least another year, with pressure pumping utilization and U.S. pricing exceeding expectations during the second quarter.

While reporting reduced year-over-year quarterly earnings, Noble Energy Inc. senior executives on Thursday talked up a 56% collective production increase for the company’s Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin and Marcellus Shale properties in 2Q2014 and a new exploration discovery at the Katmai prospect in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Lowell, MA-based TRC Companies Inc. said Lauren O’Donnell has joined the company as vice president for oil and gas. The company, which provides engineering, consulting and construction management services to the energy, environmental and infrastructure markets, said O’Donnell, who previously was the director of the division of gas-environment and engineering at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will be “an integral member” of TRC’s focused oil and gas initiative, developing and implementing strategies to assist TRC’s clients in securing federal permits for new energy infrastructure projects. In her role with FERC O’Donnell directed the preparation, review and approval of environmental documents for interstate natural gas pipelines, storage facilities and liquefied natural gas terminals across the United States, and she has ensured compliance with the Commission’s requirements during construction and operation.

Comments have been extended to Aug. 15 for the proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning area’s oil and gas lease sales scheduled for 2017-2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said. The original comment deadline had been Thursday (July 31) (see Daily GPI,June 13). The proposed sales are for the 2012-2017 program (see Daily GPI, June 29, 2012;Dec. 18, 2012). Following comments, BOEM plans to prepare a draft program. Online comments may be submitted by clicking on BOEM’s “Open Comment Documents”link. Written comments may be sent to Kelly Hammerle, Five-Year Program Manager; BOEM; 381 Elden St.–HM-3120; Herndon, VA 20170.