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Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter, is using its gas money to cash in on some top-of-the-line U.S. supplied military hardware. Qatar’s defense minister, Hamad Bin Ali al-Attiyah, met with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and signed acceptance letters for $11 billion worth of Apache attack helicopters, Patriot missile defense batteries and anti-tank Javelin missiles, the Pentagon said in a statement Monday. “Today’s signing ceremony underscores the strong partnership between the United States and Qatar in the area of security and defense and will help improve our bilateral cooperation across a range of military operations,” said Rear Adm....

Drilling companies in the booming Permian Basin may soon have an option to power their heavy-duty equipment with the same stuff they’re pumping from the ground. Stabilis Energy, a Beaumont-based company that has been marketing liquefied natural gas to oil field companies, plans to partner with Flint Hills Resources to build a LNG plant in Odessa tailored toward providing fuel for high horsepower engines in drilling rigs and pressure pumpers. The companies did not disclose the cost of the project, which is expected to have a capacity of about 100,000 gallons of LNG per day. Pending final approval by the...

Dominion Energy has welcomed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final approval to site, construct, and operate the Cove Point LNG liquefaction and export project. “We are pleased to receive this final approval that allows us to start constructing this important project that offers significant economic, environmental and geopolitical benefits,” said Diane Leopold, President of Dominion Energy. “This order is based on more than two years of thorough, exhaustive analysis by FERC along with numerous other federal and state agencies. It also reflects a robust public input process. Dominion is dedicated to constructing a safe, secure, environmentally compatible and reliable export...

U.S. energy exports, much of which come from the Houston region, represent a large chunk of the nation's overall export growth in the coming years, according to a new national HSBC Bank USA report. The banking report notes that Houston will see an additional job creation surge going forward partially because of energy exports that target emerging foreign markets. HSBC specially mentions that "chemical plant expansions and liquefied natural gas terminal upgrades, coupled with the opening of Mexico's energy industry to foreign investment, will result in a new export boom for Houston and will create more than 55,000 new jobs."...

Poland Plans Gas Hub to Kill Reliance on Russian Energy ReutersSep. 18 2014 14:41 Last edited 14:41 Poland is taking steps towards creating a gas trading and transit hub in Central and Eastern Europe aimed at accomplishing what much of the region has failed to do: shake off almost complete reliance on Russian gas imports. Poland will open a liquefied natural gas terminal in 2015 and build new pipelines — including a planned north-south corridor stretching to Croatia — to help ease the grip of Russia's Gazprom over former Soviet bloc nations. Central Europe's biggest economy, which also intends to upgrade gas links to Lithuania to allow the re-export of gas to the Baltics, has said it plans to build 2,000 kilometers of pipelines criss-crossing the country...

AIDEA board OKs early work, concession for North Slope plant for Interior supplies On Aug. 25 the board of the Alaska Industrial and Export Authority passed a couple of resolutions that move forward a project to build a liquefied natural gas plant on the North Slope, for the supply of natural gas to Fairbanks and the Alaska Interior. One resolution authorizes AIDEA to spend $1.6 million, in addition to an existing commitment of $4.5 million, for the early procurement of long lead-time items needed for the plant, while the engineering and design work for the plant is still in progress....

...Higher purchase prices compared with diesel trucks, improved diesel fuel economy and continued scarcity of fueling stations are damping natural-gas-powered truck demand. About 10,480 of the heavy-duty trucks are expected to be sold this year, up 20% from the 8,730 sold last year, according to Power Systems Research. However, some forecasters had expected sales to about double to 16,000 vehicles this year amid the trucking industry's enthusiasm for natural gas a year ago. What happened? A big roadblock remains the premium for a heavy-duty gas truck—$50,000 more than the about $150,000 for a new diesel-powered truck. In theory, the payback...

Douglas-Westwood, a UK-headquartered provider of energy business strategy, research and commercial due-diligence services, commented on "Australian LNG - A Lost Cause?" in its latest edition of DW Monday. DW MONDAY: "AUSTRALIAN LNG - A LOST CAUSE?" Recent news headlines on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector in Australia seem to be centered around its unsustainable rising costs. Woodside Petroleum had to ditch plans last year for its Browse LNG plant, which had gone way over budget at an estimated cost of $80 billion. In the interest of continuing the development, Woodside and its partners have now turned to floating LNG...

Sempra Energy, GDF Suez and other investors in the Cameron LNG project have made their final investment decision on the project and intend to move forward with it, the companies announced this week. The facility will be located at Sempra Energy’s existing Cameron LNG import terminal in Hackberry, La. It is expected to cost around $10 billion. “Today’s commitments from our project sponsors and international banks put us one step closer to delivering domestic natural gas to America’s trading partners in Europe and Japan,” Sempra LNG president Octavio M.C. Simoes said in a statement. The facility will have three liquefaction...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) administrator, in his March report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the U.S. Senate, stated that EIA analysis shows that during the next 25 years, natural gas will grow dramatically in use by freight trucking and other commercial transportation modes. Source: EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 2014.The New York Times profiled the freight truck natural gas conversion process in an April 2013 article and recently reported plans by the Obama Administration to impose tough new fuel efficiency standards for big trucks, potentially reducing diesel's competitiveness.In addition, NGV Today, the publication for the...

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday approved Oregon LNG to export liquefied natural gas, as the Obama administration works through applications to export fuel from the domestic drilling boom to markets in Asia and Europe. Oregon LNG, which is controlled by Leucadia National Corp , has been authorized by the department to export up to 1.25 billion cubic feet per day of the fuel for 20 years. It hopes to begin exporting LNG in 2017. The Astoria, Oregon-based project still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which will review the project's environmental...

Like most of its Asian neighbors, the Philippines has been a net energy importer for decades. The country’s dependence on hydrocarbons is relatively lower as compared to South Korea or Singapore as it has alternatives such as geothermal, hydropower and other renewable sources for electricity generation. But rising energy consumption and the expected depletion of gas resource at the offshore Malampaya field – the country’s major gas development – in a decade’s time has induced the Philippines to seek alternative energy supplies. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) import, together with the accompanying gas receiving facilities, is one of the options being...

The United States plans to export abundant supplies of liquefied natural gas could generate tens of thousands of new jobs in industries that supply producers of the fuel, according to industry participants and a new study. But critics claim that increased demand from energy-hungry overseas customers would drive up domestic natural gas prices, causing manufacturers' costs to rise, and deterring job creation. As Congress considers bills that would speed government approval of applications to build LNG export terminals, a trade association representing manufacturers and others that service the shale gas industry projected that the construction and operation of the multi-billion-dollar...

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized Cameron LNG LLC’s plan to build and operate facilities to liquefy and export natural gas from its existing LNG import terminal in Hackberry, La. FERC also approved Cameron Interstate Pipeline LLC’s application to construct and operate pipeline and compression facilities in Cameron, Calcasieu, and Beauregard Parishes to supply the Cameron LNG facility with domestically-produced gas. Sempra Energy Corp. owns the project. The June 19 actions marked the second time FERC has approved an LNG export facility. It approved the Sabine Pass liquefaction project in April 2012, which is under construction. Sabine Pass’s application to...

...Buoyed by the unexpected success of crude by rail, companies are beginning to consider transporting natural gas as remote drilling frontiers emerge beyond the reach of pipelines, executives said. Natural gas by rail is years away and likely to face strong public resistance after a series of explosive crude-by-rail accidents. But the potentially multibillion-dollar development could connect gas-rich regions like North Dakota with urban centers, presenting an opportunity for railroads, drillers and tank car makers already cashing in from hauling oil on trains. It could also be a cure for environmentally unfriendly flaring, a growing problem in far-flung areas where...

Though natural gas is abundant in the U.S., whether it can serve as a financially viable transportation fuel is a difficult question to answer. Commercial fleet operators from across the country this week are in Houston discussing the economics of natural gas, which often is touted as a less expensive, cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline. But industry officials at the Natural Gas Vehicles USA conference say despite their hopes for natural gas, converting fleets to run on the fuel isn’t always easy. Though the fuel has its advantages, the finances of making it work for fleets don’t always add up. “There...

As political shenanigans continue to delay approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, Alaskan voters hold the key to avoiding a similar fate for what could be North America’s largest pipeline project. At an estimated cost of at least $45 billion, the Alaskan LNG natural gas pipeline project will deliver jobs and provide a boost to the economy in towns and villages all along the 800-mile route stretching from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula. After decades of talking about how to tap into the vast gas resources on Alaska’s North Slope, this project is poised to make that reality....

With Congressman Greg Walden’s leadership, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed a bill last week (H.R. 6) to prevent the Administration from sitting on natural gas export permit applications. The longest pending permit? Nearly 900 days. There are 24 such permits pending approval, including two in Oregon. Where does the rest of Oregon’s congressional delegation stand on the issue of exporting natural gas? We’re going to find out soon enough. Over the last six years, no other industry sector has generated more capital investment and jobs than oil and gas. It isn’t even close. Since the end of...

Summary Supply-demand balance in the global LNG market remained tight in 2014, thanks to China's rapidly growing demand for this commodity and limited capacity additions on the supply side. Tightness should continue through the end of 2016, with the next slug of export projects in Australia bringing a degree of price relief and potentially redirecting some cargos back to Asia. The global LNG market should loosen toward the end of the decade as additional supplies come onstream and some contract rotation occurs. Against this backdrop, the Asian market's premium to North American natural gas (after liquefaction and transportation costs) could...

A liquefied natural gas facility in southern Maryland is generating intense criticism from environmental groups, in a fight that echoes the protracted battle over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Energy company Dominion Resources is hoping to invest up to $3.8 billion to upgrade the Cove Point LNG facility as an export terminal. If successful, it could become the East Coast's chief LNG export facility, sending billions of cubic feet of natural gas to Japan, India, and elsewhere. Dominion stresses that the project would have a huge economic impact close to home as well. "The local area of Calvert County gets...