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Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum International have announced plans to build a $10 billion natural gas liquefication facility in the Gulf Coast port of Sabine Pass. The announcement comes as the two companies and the rest of the natural gas industry eagerly await permission from the U.S. government to begin exporting natural gas, which is cooled and liquefied before being shipped overseas.

North America has seen nothing short of a revolution in natural gas production over the last several years. Evidence of this revolution can be found in the dramatic shift in projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) during that timeframe. In 2005, the EIA projected US imports of LNG — natural gas cooled to -160o C (-256o F) to enable it to be transported by ocean-going tankers — would hit 12 Bcf/day by 2030. Seven years later, the EIA projected that by 2030 exports of LNG could be as high as 12 Bcf/day. To see a swing of 24...

The United States exported 9,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) of foreign-origin crude oil to China in January 2013, according to data EIA released on March 28. Many media outlets picked up this information, noting that the United States had not exported crude oil to China since 2005. However, the United States does export small amounts of crude oil on a regular basis, mostly to Canada, which is not shown on the graph. From 2003 to 2012, the United States exported an average of 35,000 bbl/d of crude oil — 98% of those exports were delivered to Canada. By comparison, in...

Exxon Mobil Corp. is studying the possibility of exporting natural gas from the U.S. Gulf Coast and Canada as new shale drilling has unlocked enough natural-gas reserves to meet domestic demand for years to come and allow exports, Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said Wednesday. Exports of natural gas will create jobs, increase tax revenues and help the U.S. trade balance, Mr. Tillerson said at the company's shareholder meeting in Dallas. Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company and the largest U.S. natural-gas producer, recently has said it was analyzing exports from domestically produced natural gas. Mr. Tillerson's remarks...

“The Obama administration is crafting a proposal that could make it easier to export firearms and other weapons to certain countries in an effort to boost sales for U.S. companies, increase trade and improve national security, according to senior government officials,” Sari Horwitz of The Washington Post reported Wednesday. “The plan, which is part of President Obama’s overhaul of U.S. export rules, is being debated by several agencies and it could be months before a final rule is proposed, according to officials,” Horwitz writes, adding “At least two federal agencies — the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department...

...in 2012, after eighty years of the Ex-Im Bank successfully and happily obeying its charter, President Obama has directed the Ex-Im Bank to violate it wholesale. Instead of only loaning to good foreign risks, he wants them to loan to American companies (in competition with American banks). Instead of only making loans attached to, and collateralized by, American export shipments of physical goods, he wants them to make start-up loans, short-term finance loans, bridge loans, that have nothing to do with export shipments (though they might help the companies become exporters, in the same way that if you give me...

German Foreign Orders Plunge...Again by Robert Brusca January 6, 2012 German orders are losing momentum again and rapidly after a false signal of a pause in the unraveling as of October. Orders in October had surged by 5% (M-o-M) and a surge of that degree blunted a lot of downward momentum that had seemed to be in train as October posted a very powerful one-month gain. Yet, now, in the light of the 4.8% drop in November and the September drop of 4.6%, we are left instead with a legacy of extreme volatility and of clearly waning momentum in what...

In 2011, the United States could become a net exporter of petroleum products — gasoline, diesel and other oil-based fuels — for the first time in 62 years. Don’t confuse this with, “U.S. on track to become energy independent.” The fuels we export are at least partly dependent on the oil we import. The possibility for energy independence is there — but the administration’s policies will likely continue to conspire to hamstring domestic energy production.Nevertheless, this is still an important milestone, as The Wall Street Journal reports: So long as the U.S. remains the world’s biggest net importer of crude...

In the week ended September 16th, the US exported more refined products than it imported. Year-over-year, the US is now exporting 714,000 barrels/day more refined products than it is importing. The largest portion of these exports is diesel fuel. Combined with the wide price spread between US WTI crude and North Sea Brent, the demand for diesel fuel is propping up pump prices for gasoline in the US even as crude prices continue to fall. The situation we’re seeing in the energy markets now is similar to the situation almost exactly three years ago. According to the US Energy Information...

Radiation Detected in Used Vehicle for Exports near Tokyo Kawasaki, Kanagawa Pref., Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)--Radiation levels of up to 58.86 microsieverts per hour have been detected in a used vehicle stored in a port facility here for exports, local authorities said Tuesday. The vehicle was brought to the port facility in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, Monday after being auctioned in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo. The vehicle is now kept by its owner. The vehicle measured between 6.034 and 58.86 microsieverts in radiation, Kawasaki city government officials said. The amount of radiation in the air around the...

The nation’s trade deficit held steady at $45.6 billion in August from the prior month, the Commerce Department said. The trade gap in July was revised up from the initial estimate of $44.8 billion. The deficit in August was close to the consensus of analysts surveyed by MarketWatch.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The trade deficit the United States runs with the rest of the world shrank in July, according to data released Thursday, as record exports helped offset the biggest trade gap with China in 10 months. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to a seasonally adjusted $44.8 billion in July from $51.6 billion in June, a decline of 13.1% — the largest percentage decline since February 2009. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a $51 billion deficit.

Wracked by debt but blessed with abundant sunshine, Greece plans to develop some 20,000 hectares of solar power parks in a bid to export renewable energy to Germany, a report said on Saturday. Top-selling Ta Nea daily said the project, which has a tentative budget of 20 billion euros ($29 billion), could create 60,000 jobs at a time when Greece is battling a deep recession and record unemployment figures. Germany is looking for alternative energy sources after chancellor Angela Merkel's government decided to shut down all 17 of the country's nuclear reactors over 11 years, following the disaster at the...

8 Share Print Email “Did Fast & Furious violate the Arms Export Control Act?” attorney and author David T. Hardy asks on his Of Arms and the Law blog. He’s referring to the Arms Export Control Act that “authorizes the President to define defense articles and regulate their export.” There’s no exemption from the State Department permit requirement for “official use” since no one is admitting walked guns are part of approved U.S. foreign policy, so the bottom line seems to be: Any person who willfully violates these provisions "shall upon conviction be fined for each violation not more than...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit jumped 15.1% in May to the highest level in almost three years, largely because of the increased cost of oil imports. The trade gap widened to a seasonally adjusted $50.2 billion from $43.6 billion in April, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the biggest monthly deficit since October 2008. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecast the trade deficit to rise to $44.5 billion.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in April as imports from Japan were curtailed due to the earthquake, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The nation’s trade deficit narrowed 6.7% in April to $43.7 billion from a revised $46.8 billion in March, the Commerce Department said.

2011/05/25 09:29 KST S. Korean exports to debt-ridden European nations plunge SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports to southern European countries have plunged this year as demand has slowed due to the region's debt crisis, the customs office said Wednesday. South Korea's exports to Portugal nearly halved to US$490.5 million during the first four months of this year, down from $882.9 million a year earlier, according to data offered by the Korea Customs Service (KCS). Exports to Greece fell 15.8 percent to $304.2 million, while those to Italy started to contract in April after three months of growth,...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in March to the highest level in nine months despite a new record high for exports of goods and services, government data showed Wednesday. The trade deficit — that is, the difference between exports and imports — widened to $48.2 billion for the month from a downwardly revised $45.4 billion in February, originally reported as $45.8 billion. Imports of goods and services rose by 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted $220.8 billion during March, while exports rose 4.6% to $172.7 billion, the Commerce Department estimated. This was the biggest one-month jump in...

The biggest single user of Cook Inlet natural gas is shutting down, raising fresh concern about the future of Southcentral Alaska's main energy supply. Due to deteriorating market conditions, the Nikiski liquefied natural gas plant will no longer export gas to Japan starting this spring, its owners announced Wednesday.

Russia and China have agreed to resolve the issue of the illegal production of Russian arms in China, a deputy head of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Tuesday. "We have made progress in an understanding of this problem. Moreover, all the documents concerning the protection of intellectual property have been signed," Alexander Mikheyev said following the opening ceremony of the Airshow China 2010 exhibition in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. "China does not refuse to discuss these issues, which are primarily a concern for Russia," he said, adding that Rosoboronexport will hold talks on the issue with Chinese...