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Alaska has signed an agreement with major oil and gas firms to build an 800-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from the state's North Slope to a proposed export plant and on to Asia. The project, expected to cost between $45 billion and $65 billion, would be one of the largest projects of its kind in the world and would free gas stranded for decades without a market. The project, which would liquefy the gas for shipment in tankers overseas, is expected to take ten years to build, according to the state. Asian nations like Japan and South Korea are...

FERRY company Brittany Ferries has just placed an order for a new vessel that will be its largest, cleanest and most environmentally-friendly ship to date. The €270million cruise-ferry will be powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) which emits 25% less carbon dioxide than traditional oil engines – and, as it burns with a clean flame and no smoke, emits no dust, soot or sulphur and is low in nitrogen oxide emissions.

The price of oil is basically the same the world over. This is because fleets of ships and miles of pipelines transport oil from where it is plentiful to where it is needed (although a Carter era law bans the export of US oil). The only difference in oil price is due to its varying quality and the cost to transport it. Not so for natural gas. In the US, gas costs around $4 per MMBtu (million BTU, about a million cubic feet). In England, the price is $8, and in Japan, the price is $16. Why wouldn't someone liquefy...

Trucking fleet operators in the Northwest are showing growing interest in filling up with natural gas instead of diesel. Two reasons: natural gas is cheaper and burns cleaner than the gasoline or diesel that goes into most vehicles. The problem is there are very few filling stations for natural gas. Cleaner air, lower costs, limited infrastructure Take delivery truck driver Corey Schaller. He has one last stop before he can call it a day. He has to refill the gas tank of the beer truck he drives for Kent, Washington-based Click Wholesale Distributing. But there are just a few places...

<p>Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has completed building the hull of the world's largest floating facility, which has been constructed to process natural gas off the coast of western Australia.</p> <p>Shell said Tuesday that the 488-meter (1,600 foot) hull of the structure, known as "Prelude," was floated out of the dry dock in Geoje, South Korea where it is being built.</p>

One thing that makes the energy sector so intriguing is the constant overlap between markets and politics. In many ways, energy security is synonymous with national security, and the supply and demand needs of the oil market can make the most unlikely bedfellows. One country that has been at the center of energy and politics for decades has been Israel. For years the country has been dependent upon foreign energy sources, but a major discovery by Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL ) and its partners has turned this situation on its head. Let's look how this massive natural gas find could...

The trucking industry is responsible for more than 68% of total freight moved in America, according to a report by the American Trucking Association. In 2012, 9.4 billion tons were transported by truck. Industry-wide total revenue generated was in excess of $642 billion. In other words, a lot of economic trade is carried on the back of an 18-wheeler. The problem is figuring out how to fuel the engines capable of hauling all that freight, while still ending up with a positive bottom line. Profit margins for trucking companies average less than 5%, with fuel costs taking up more than...

GE Capital’s Transportation Finance business and Clean Energy Fuels Corp.[NASDAQ: CLNE], the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, have entered into a strategic alliance to accelerate the conversion of heavy-duty trucking fleets from diesel to cleaner-burning, less-expensive natural gas. To take advantage of this opportunity, truck fleet operators will first work with Clean Energy to develop natural gas fueling contracts, and will then apply for loans and leases, including fair market value leases, from GE Capital to acquire trucks from manufacturers that produce commercial natural gas vehicles (NGVs). Clean Energy will then help offset the...

There are believed to be as many as 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria, commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters. Many of the groups are small and operate on a local level, but a number have emerged as powerful forces with affiliates across the country or formed alliances with other groups that share a similar agenda. The BBC News website looks at the most prominent. Big snip

Editor’s note: This is the first in a 10-part series produced by the Alaska Support Industry Alliance to educate the public about liquefied natural gas. Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas converted to its liquid form. When natural gas is cooled to minus-259 degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes a clear, colorless, odorless liquid. LNG is produced by taking natural gas from a production field, processing it to remove impurities, and then liquefying the processed gas. LNG isn’t corrosive or toxic. It doesn’t explode or burn as a liquid. Natural gas is primarily methane, with low levels of other hydrocarbons,...

DAEGU, South Korea — Asia’s large-scale gas importers, long saddled with premium prices, say a cheaper alternative lies several thousand feet below North American soil, where companies are unlocking enormous gas reserves from shale rock. The shale boom has already revolutionized the gas market in the United States and Canada, giving both countries not only a reliable domestic supply but also the ability to sell overseas. Asian utility and gas company executives, speaking this week at a global energy forum here, have said that North America’s gas wealth could prove nearly as transformative across the world, leading to the first...

Soon old-school diesel locomotives could be replaced by ones powered mainly by liquified natural gas. GE Transportation presented retrofit technology that enables locomotives to use both diesel and liquid natural gas at Railway Interchange 2013, the North American rail industry’s largest trade show and technical conference, the International Railway Journal reported. The system allows up to 80 percent natural gas substitution. The LNG is cryogenically stored in a tender and enables trains to travel further without refueling. New LNG powered locomotives will allow many industry players to meet stringent Tier 4 locomotive emissions standards set to take effect Jan. 1,...

The companies seeking to advance a multibillion dollar natural gas pipeline project in Alaska have a leading contender for the terminal site where gas would be liquefied and shipped to Asia, signaling that a decades-old dream could still become a reality. Exxon Mobil, BP, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada Corp. announced Monday that the Kenai Peninsula town of Nikiski is the leading contender. Senior project manager Steve Butt said there are three or four other sites are still being considered — he declined to identify those — but said Nikiski has the land needed for the plant and the companies know they...

A California liquefied natural gas producer is set to build a production plant in North Texas that could initially produce 86,000 gallons of fuel per day. Applied Natural Gas Fuels said Wednesday the plant in Midlothian, about 30 miles south of Dallas in Ellis County, would fire up in 2015 seeking to attract buyers in high-horsepower, trucking, oil and gas and similar industries that normally consume diesel fuel. A boom in U.S. natural gas production has made LNG competitive with diesel for such uses. The Midlothian plant will be the company’s first in Texas. It is also doubling production at...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are expected to agree to increase Canadian shale gas exports to Japan from around 2020, Japanese officials said Sunday. Canada’s envisioned shale gas exports are likely to total 40 million tons a year. The gas will be shipped after being processed into liquefied natural gas, the officials said. Abe and Harper plan to reach the agreement in a meeting on Tuesday in Ottawa during the Japanese leader’s five-day visit to Canada and the United States from Monday.

Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE ) has jumped more than 7% during trading over Tuesday and Wednesday as investors applaud two major catalysts for the stock. For one, CEO Andrew Littlefair just purchased 127,000 shares, valued at approximately $1.6 million. Investors always like to see management with skin in the game, so to speak. It's a vote of confidence in the company and also aligns CEOs with shareholders' interests. Additionally, the company announced a joint venture with industrial giant General Electric (NYSE: GE ) to develop liquefied natural gas projects throughout the United States. Motley Fool analyst Taylor Muckerman appreciates...

This week that the Department of Energy (DOE) tentatively approved a fourth non-FTA permit to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Secretary Moniz is credited with improving the speed with which his Department has moved on exports, having approved three permits in his short tenure compared to one under his predecessor. The Department of Energy’s approval of non-FTA permits is just the first step in the process of bringing U.S. natural gas to the world market, so a lot is riding on its approval stamp. Without the DOE’s approval, U.S. natural gas exports – and the important economic benefits – will...

The Obama administration on Wednesday authorized natural gas exports from a fourth U.S. facility, speeding up a review process that would-be gas exporters and their allies in Congress had criticized as too slow. Dominion Resource Inc's conditional permit for liquefied natural gas exports from its Cove Point terminal on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay came just over a month after the Energy Department approved exports from a terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Dominion's was the fourth natural gas export permit issued by the administration. It was the third permit issued this year, following a pause of nearly two years in review of...

Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria? Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria? Of course. Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe. Why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been...

Why is it that natural gas sells in the U.S. for $3.94 per 1,000 cubic feet and in Europe and Japan for $11.60 and $17, respectively? Part of the answer is our huge supply. With high-tech methods of extraction and with discovery of vast gas-rich shale deposits, estimated reserves are about 2.4 quadrillion cubic feet. That translates into more than a 100-year supply of natural gas at current usage rates. What partially explains the high European and Japanese prices is the fact that global natural gas markets are not integrated. Washington has stringent export restrictions on natural gas. Naturally, the...