President

Japan’s Mitsui Corp. has been selected to construct a pipeline that would carry U.S. natural gas to Mexico from Tucson, AZ, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced in Japan while on a tour of Asian countries. The $460 million Tucson-Sasabe pipeline would have capacity of 770 MMcf/d and would join several other pipeline projects to move U.S. gas to Mexico (see Daily GPI, March 8). Mexico is seeking inexpensive U.S. shale gas to fuel power generation and supply industrial users. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Mexico imported more U.S. gas than ever last year (see Daily GPI, March 14), and according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs, U.S. gas imports by Mexico will continue to increase (see Daily GPI, Feb. 11).

Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) President Zhou Jiping signed a memorandum of understanding for the companies to cooperate on a project to send natural gas to China via an eastern route pipeline. “The signed document is of long-term strategic nature; it determines the parameters of Russian natural gas supplies to China via the eastern route and establishes the framework for a 30-year contract for gas supplies from Russia to China,” Miller said. CNPC is the largest state-owned petroleum company in China. Gazprom and CNPC signed an agreement of strategic cooperation in 2004 that covers consideration of supplying Russian gas to China. Opportunities are also being explored for joint gas processing and gas chemical projects in eastern Russia and in other countries, Gazprom said (see Daily GPI, March 15).

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Thursday voted to move President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior secretary to the Senate floor.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Thursday voted to move President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior secretary to the Senate floor.

The “threat of regulatory overreach” in not allowing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports “is tantamount to introducing price controls on natural gas,” ExxonMobil Chemical Co. President Stephen Pryor said last week, directly countering the campaign of another chemicals giant, Dow Chemical Co., which has been heavily lobbying to protect its domestic feedstocks.

The “threat of regulatory overreach” in not allowing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports “is tantamount to introducing price controls on natural gas,” ExxonMobil Chemical Co. President Stephen Pryor said Tuesday, directly countering the campaign of another chemicals giant, Dow Chemical Co., which has been heavily lobbying to protect its domestic feedstocks.

President Obama has signed an executive order to strengthen the cybersecurity of critical U.S. infrastructure by increasing information sharing and by jointly developing and implementing with industry partners a framework of cybersecurity practices. “Proactive and coordinated efforts are necessary for us to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning and resilient critical infrastructure — including the assets, networks and systems that are vital to public confidence and the nation’s safety, prosperity and well-being,” according to a White House statement. “This endeavor is a shared responsibility among the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial entities, and public and private owners and operators of critical infrastructure.” The executive order expands to other sectors the voluntary Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program, an information sharing program already in use by the Department of Defense, enabling near real-time sharing of cyber threat information. The order also requires federal agencies to produce and share unclassified reports of threats to U.S. companies and directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to lead the development of a framework of cybersecurity practices to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. It calls for a review of existing cybersecurity regulation and includes private and civil liberties protections, the White House said.

President Obama on Tuesday signed an executive order to strengthen the cybersecurity of critical U.S. infrastructure by increasing information sharing and by jointly developing and implementing with industry partners a framework of cybersecurity practices.

Regina Hopper, president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), one of the top lobbying groups for natural gas in Washington, DC, has resigned effective Feb. 28 under pressure from the board. “The ANGA board was extremely disappointed with her performance,” and several senior staff members have recently left, a knowledgeable source told NGI. Hopper has been at the helm of ANGA, which represents leading producers, since 2009 (see NGI, March 2, 2009). ANGA Chairman and Apache Corp. CEO G. Steven Farris commended Hopper’s performance and said she had “led ANGA’s growth from its infancy into its becoming an important voice in the discussion around fuel diversity and economic growth for our nation. We are grateful for her service, for the strong organization she leaves behind, and we wish her much success in her future endeavors.” ANGA now is searching for a successor. “I was hired to build an effective and powerful advocacy organization with strong fiscal management,” Hopper said. “By all accounts we have achieved these important objectives.”