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In what could be the largest natural gas discovery in history, Italian energy company Eni says it has unearthed a "supergiant" gas field in the Mediterranean Sea covering about 40 square miles. The gas field could hold a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Eni says that's the energy equivalent of about 5.5 billion barrels of oil. The company won't know the field's true size until it begins to develop it. Found in the deep waters off the northern coast of Egypt, Eni claims the gas field to be the largest ever in the Mediterranean and possibly...

Remember “peak oil”? We were solemnly lectured that the world was running out of hydrocarbon energy sources, so we must immediately lower our standard of living and reduce energy consumption. But as with all Malthusian predictions of shortage, that forecast failed to reckon with human ingenuity and the wonder of the price system stimulating new supply. The sky-is-falling faction turned to equally fallacious predictions of global warming as a means to bludgeon others into reducing their standard of living (while the warriors like Robert Kennedy and President Obama keep their private jets). Meanwhile, in the real world, energy supplies, in...

Dive Brief: With a 100% renewable goal now on the table and oil prices falling, Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) has revealed he opposes plans to import liquefied natural gas as a bridge fuel to cleaner and less expensive power. At a business and policy conference this week in Honolulu, Ige, a keynote speaker, said the state does not need LNG and should be moving forward on its renewable goals instead. Both Hawaiian Electric (HECO) and Hawaii Gas have floated plans to construct import terminals, with gas deliveries beginning to reach the state in 2019. HECO has pledged to push...

A $27 billion energy project is rising rapidly on this icy peninsula jutting above the Arctic Circle, but the race to shore up its finances has emerged as a test of Moscow’s ability to weather Western sanctions. U.S. restrictions on OAO Novatek, the project’s Russian leader, are squeezing the massive Yamal LNG liquefied-natural-gas venture, a centerpiece of President Vladimir Putin’s plan for Russia to reduce its heavy dependence on natural-gas customers in Europe by increasing exports to Asia and, in turn, cementing Russian ties with China. Barred by the sanctions from raising long-term dollar loans, Novatek and its foreign partners,...

We recently looked at the restart of the first Japanese nuclear reactor in four years, and assessed its impact on Japanese oil demand. It was somewhat burying the lede, however, not to address the impact on LNG demand. So with Japan’s developments still fresh in our minds, here are ten challenges faced by the global LNG market: 1) Asia is the key market for LNG. Japan accounts for approximately 35% of the global LNG market. Combined with South Korea, it accounts for ~50% of it, while Asia as a whole accounts for 75%. The gradual return of nuclear reactors in...

Southern Company isn’t alone in spending billions to position itself for the natural gas future. One of the largest companies that owns utilities in the U.S., Southern Company, announced a big deal this week that highlights just how aggressively power firms are looking to boost their natural gas power resources at the expense of the declining coal industry. On Monday, Southern Company SO 2.61% said it plans to buy natural-gas distributor AGL Resources GAS -0.08% for $8 billion in cash. The deal, which is for $12 billion but includes $4 billion in debt, offers AGL shareholders a 38% premium over...

Natural gas production across all major shale regions in EIA's Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) is projected to decrease for the first time in September. Production from these seven shale regions reached a high in May at 45.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) and is expected to decline to 44.9 Bcf/d in September. In each region, production from new wells is not large enough to offset production declines from existing, legacy wells. The DPR provides a month-ahead forecast of natural gas and crude oil production for the seven most significant shale formations in the United States. In order to estimate...

Exelon said three of its nuclear power plants did not clear the PJM capacity auction for the 2018-19 planning year. The Quad Cities nuclear plant in Illinois, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania will not receive capacity revenue from this auction, according to The Wall Street Journal. PJM said it would increase payments to power generators by 37 percent beginning in June 2018, increasing to $164.77 per megawatt per day. The increase is an almost $45 jump over the previous amount reached in auction last year. Power producers bid for long-term contracts...

Several hundred protesters turned out Saturday to march across the Delaware River in opposition to a proposed 114-mile pipeline that would shuttle natural gas from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. Those against PennEast’s proposal said during the mile-long march they’re concerned the pipeline would badly damage the landscape and natural resources in the region, and lower property values. “The people of Pennsylvania and New Jersey are showing they are unified in their message to PennEast: Go home, we don’t want your pipeline,” said Maya van Rossum, who leads the nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper Network. “It’s also a message to politicians and regulators....

In an attempt to curb methane emissions from oil and gas development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the nation's first regulations on emissions of that gas. Compared to 2012 levels, the EPA aims to reduce the nation's oil and gas sector methane output by up to 30% by 2025, according to a release. The regulations target methane and smog-forming volatile organic compounds, which are produced by oil and gas drilling operations. They also aim to reduce emissions from new and modified facilities that collect, transport and store oil and gas. The proposal follows 2012 rules, which limit toxic...

The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on August 10 set a record for electricity demand, topping 69,000 MW twice during the afternoon. The peak came as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted that Texas also set a record for gas power burn—natural gas usage in its power sector—reaching an average 4.5 Bcf/d through August 11. The peak came during a recent heat wave, with temperatures across the state topping 100F. Though reserves briefly fell below 2,500 MW, ERCOT was able to weather the episode without any system emergencies. Wholesale prices peaked at $2,250/MWh during the hour period of greatest...

Denmark's first potential fracing project has been cancelled, as France's Total said it is pulling out of its shale gas exploration project in northern Denmark after failing to discover adequate deposits. Insufficient Deposits The Danish Energy Ministry said late Monday that the French supermajor's shale gas exploration in the Vendsyssel district in northern Jutland has been permanently shutdown. Total said it did not encounter sufficient shale gas deposits to render its efforts worthwhile, hence shutting down what would have been Denmark's first fracing project ever. The Energy Agency said in a press release, "The drilling results have not fulfilled the...

U.S. households are saving hundreds of dollars a year because natural gas prices are low, but that’s about to change. Astudy by NERA Economic Consulting has found new regulations on power plants mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) will increase natural gas prices to 2007 levels, virtually guaranteeing these savings will soon be wiped out. A study by the Brookings Institution found natural gas prices have plummeted as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, also known as horizontal “fracking,” has caused U.S. natural gas production to skyrocket to all-time highs, making the United States the world’s top producer of...

A subsidiary of the Russian state corporation Rostech has offered to build a pipeline that will carry gas from Iran to cities in Pakistan. The project is estimated to cost $2.5 billion dollars. The pipeline will extend almost 1100 kms from Karachi, in southern Pakistan, to Lahore in the north-east. This is the first major project in Pakistan in 40 years in which Russians are involved. Project terms The project envisages the construction of five compressor stations. As planned, the project should be ready for the gas pipeline to enter into operation in 2017. During construction, “technology, materials, equipment and...

Yuhuang Chemical Inc., the Houston-based North American subsidiary of China-based Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd., has added 55 jobs to its corporate office in Houston and will continue to add more to support the development of its $1.85 billion methanol production complex in Louisiana. Yuhuang Chemical announced on Aug. 10 that it reached an agreement to transport gas on the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, owned by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams Cos. Inc. (NYSE: WMB), to serve the methanol complex. In addition to serving Yuhuang chemical, the Transco pipeline system also serves the Sabine Pass liquefaction project under development by Houston-based Cheniere...

Peaceful protesters sought to stop plan to store natural gas in New York lakeEnvironment activists in New York have enlisted the help of the Holy Father to help further their cause. Thirteen protesters arrested while forming a human blockade around a gas storage facility in Seneca Lake, New York, on August 4, were “reading from Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’” according to AlterNet. The protesters were trying to bring attention to a proposal to store “tens of millions of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas, and up to two billion cubic feet of natural gas, in abandoned subterranean...

President Obama is surreptitiously colluding with radical anti-growth environmentalists to force ideologically driven carbon-emission controls on the energy industry that will devastate the U.S. economy, congressional investigators have discovered. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drew up rules aimed at limiting carbon emissions from power-generation plants, "key stakeholders — including the American public — had little to no influence over the debate while powerful environmental activist groups were given unprecedented access to and influence over administration officials," the Washington Times reported yesterday. Collusion between the EPA and the green's isn't exactly breaking news. They've been doing it for years, but...

The Obama Administration is often accused of being sluggish in granting permits for projects to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S. Critics claim it has thus denied the U.S. a historical opportunity to become a leading natural gas exporter on par with Russia and Qatar. Whether ten approvals out of forty applications in four years is sluggish or not is a matter of perspective. But the debate on the pace of approvals has masked a much more important fact: American gas is no longer desired abroad, no matter...

New plants coming online are set to drive industrial natural gas growth forward by more than three percent in the next two years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in an analysis Wednesday. Industrial facilities, which include methanol and fertilizer plants, consumed an average of 21.0 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in 2014, up 24 percent from 2009. By the end of 2015, that figure is expect to rise by another 3.4 percent to an annual average of 21.7 billion cubic feet per day. In 2016, the EIA predicted another 3.9 percent gain to 22.5 billion cubic...

The North American ocean carrier TOTE is deploying the world’s first container ships fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The move anticipates imminent environmental regulations that are likely to trigger large shifts in the maritime shipping industry. TOTE is making the move to comply with the international Marpol Annex VI maritime emissions standards, first implemented in 2005. Restrictions on emissions like sulfur and nitrogen oxide will tighten in 2016 within designated emission control areas (ECAs), including the waters surrounding North America. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides are generated in large volumes by conventional maritime ships, which have long relied on so-called...