Scale

The surge of U.S. shale gas supplies has caused a large-scale rethink on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the relationship of the U.S. gas market to that of the rest of the world. Those who used to watch U.S. shores for inbound tankers now wonder how soon and how many tankers will leave this country loaded with liquefied shale gas.

The United States is the undisputed leader in the development of unconventional natural gas resources. However, much of the rest of the world is on to the shale gas promise and will soon be exploiting its reserves, according to a new analysis by Douglas-Westwood.

NOVA Chemicals Corp. said Tuesday it had signed agreements with three companies for a long-term supply of Marcellus Shale ethane for its thermal cracker facility in Ontario.

Royal Dutch Shell said Monday it is planning to build a “world-scale” ethylene cracker with integrated derivative units in the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia. The cracker would process ethane from Marcellus natural gas to produce ethylene, one of the primary building blocks for petrochemicals.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) plans to completely cut out or scale back a number of its energy analysis programs due to a 14% reduction in its budget for the current fiscal year.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) plans to cut out completely or scale back a number of its energy analysis programs due to a 14% reduction in its budget for the current fiscal year.

Because an “all-time high level” of uncompleted natural wells in the Haynesville Shale await a tie-in to pipelines, don’t expect an immediate drop-off in incremental supply as the rig count drops, analysts with Raymond James & Associates Inc. said in a note Monday.

California, its utilities and the rest of the West Coast, went on alert Friday in response to the 8.9 Richter Scale quake that occurred offshore northeastern Japan, and the only significant impact was the closure for 2-1/2 hours of a natural gas-fired electric generation plant in the northern end of the state. Otherwise, California’s two major coastal nuclear generating plants and a host of gas and power facilities were unaffected.

Without the fanfare six years ago when multi-billion-dollar contracts were signed with major utilities, two large-scale solar thermal projects in California have been sold and their 20-year offtake utility contracts canceled. This comes at a time when Congress and the Obama administration are proposing to cut federal dollars related to renewable energy development and investment banks have become skeptical toward the green energy space, particularly solar.