LNG

Bureaucratic indecision and squabbling surrounding some parts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities are holding up processing of FERC applications, according to one Oregon LNG project executive.

Emera CNG LLC, a would-be exporter of compressed natural gas to the Caribbean, has applied at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for export authorization employing a “little guys to the front of the line” rationale.

In an effort to reduce operating costs and emissions from oilsands mining in northern Alberta, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has signed an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. to test a new engine and fuel mix using liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Total Canadian volumes approved for overseas sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) jumped this week to 14.5 Bcf/d or 5.3 Tcf/year, adding up to 139.6 Tcf over the life of the licenses, when the National Energy Board (NEB) granted export licenses to four projects.

ConocoPhillips Alaska (COPA) has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to resume exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Kenai, AK, facility located in the Cook Inlet, according to an e-mail to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) and other stakeholders.

Freeport LNG Expansion LP has snagged a $1.3 billion equity investment from IFM Investors for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export facility on Quintana Island near Freeport, TX. Funds will support development of the facility’s second train.

FERC will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project of CE FLNG LLC, an affiliate of Cambridge Energy Holding LLC, which plans to construct and operate two floating natural gas liquefaction, storage and offloading units on the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, LA, as well as an associated 37-mile natural gas pipeline (see Daily GPI,April 19). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission opened a scoping period for the EIS that is scheduled to end Jan. 6 [PF13-11-000]. CE FLNG plans to moor two self-propelled liquefaction, storage and offloading vessels at the terminal that would each be about 1,100 feet long and 180 feet wide, rising about 80 feet above the waterline. The vessels would be capable of producing up to 8 million tonnes per annum of LNG and storing 250,000 cubic meters of LNG. The project has been approved for free trade agreement (FTA) country exports; approval to export to non-FTA countries is pending at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Brazil’s fuel of the future could be natural gas, but some challenges will have to be overcome if that is to be the case, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. While the potential for gas demand is “robust,” the supply side of the equation needs some work, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports will continue to be necessary in the years ahead.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has less than 11 months to finalize regulations for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the state, a task made more challenging after receiving thousands of public comments, including many from those opposed to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).