US LNG - This Is Truly Amazing -- February 25, 2026

Locator: 50051LNG.

Weather: wow, in the background, CNBC this a.m. -- it's still snowing hard in NYC!

LNG: link here. 

Venture Global: Top US LNG Firm With CP2 Project Approval -- Charles Kennedy -- May 23, 2025

Locator: 48659LNG.

Link here.

Venture Global is on track to surpass Cheniere Energy to become the biggest U.S. LNG company by liquefaction capacity if regulators approve the CP2 export project.

Venture Global is urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to greenlight its third liquefaction plant, CP2 in Louisiana, by the middle of the year.

The CP2 LNG facility will be located adjacent to Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

CP2 LNG was initially proposed to be a facility with a capacity of 20 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), but Venture Global has raised the maximum capacity to 28 mtpa.

Venture Global’s two operational LNG export terminals, Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines, have a combined capacity of 38.5 mtpa. CP2 would add another 28 mtpa and raise the company’s total export capacity to 66.5 mtpa, above Cheniere’s 60 mtpa.

Venture Global more than doubled its first-quarter revenue from a year earlier as its Plaquemines and Calcasieu Pass plants have launched operations and exports in recent months.

Last month, Venture Global started contractual deliveries from its first LNG export project, Calcasieu Pass, to its long-term customers amid an ongoing dispute with major oil and gas firms over the delays to the official commercial operations date at the export project. 

Much more at the link.

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LNG Termainals

From May 14, 2025: link here.

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North American LNG Project Tracker

Flashback: from November 6, 2023.

Locator: 45962LNG.     

Link here. 

Holy Mackerel : It Never Quits — The Next Wave Of LNG Terminals — November 6, 2023

Locator: 45962LNG.     

Note: no e-mail access.

Link here. 

Update On Sempra Activity in Mexico -- May 5, 2022

I'm blown away by all the natural gas, all the LNG stories, right now. 

There's probably a handful of non-Bakken energy companies I really enjoy following. It's a long, long story. Earlier today, I posted a short note on that company, Sempra. 

A reader happened to catch that and sent me this note:

With all the news flying about, it can be daunting to try and keep track.

Just to be clear, the proposed LNG plant that you referred to today - Vista Pacifico at Topolobampo -  is their second project. The Energia Costa Azul is under construction and should be online in about 24 months. 

There is a third Mexican west coast project at Puerto Libertad that should receive FID shortly.

All the gas will be US sourced, mainly Permian and possibly Piceance.

The distance from West Texas to these plants is about the same as to the Gulf coast and pipes, storage and berths are already in place as they were originally designed to be import terminals.

A little sleuthing led me to this, from naturalgasintel.com, published just one month ago, April 4, 2022. Archived.

Two liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects planned for Mexico’s Pacific Coast have reached significant milestones in recent days.

The projects comprise Sempra Infrastructure’s Vista Pacífico LNG terminal planned for Topolobampo, Sinaloa, and Mexico Pacific Ltd.’s (MPL) liquefaction project envisioned for Puerto Libertad, Sonora.

Sempra Infrastructure and TotalEnergies SE are expanding their “strategic alliance” in North American energy with two agreements, one involving LNG exports and the other for offshore wind.

In the memoranda of understanding (MOU) announced Thursday, the San Diego-based unit of Sempra and the French major TotalEnergies outlined partnerships that intertwine their interests in gas exports and renewables in Mexico and California.

In one MOU, TotalEnergies is considering contracting about one-third of the capacity from a proposed LNG site in Mexico. Vista Pacífico LNG would be sited near Sempra’s refined products terminal in Topolobampo, Sinaloa. If the project is sanctioned, TotalEnergies could obtain around 1.3 million metric tons/year (mmty) of the terminal’s planned 4 mmty capacity. The energy major could also take a minority equity stake in the project, as it has with other projects.

The map:

Sempra Update -- May 5, 2022

US LNG export terminals are tracked here.

Sempra Energy: expects FID on new Cameron LNG train in 2023. Link here. 

Sempra Energy earnings call transcript.

Lots of Sempra Energy news in 1Q22 earnings report:

Sempra Energy said Thursday -- May 5, 2022, that the venture that owns the Cameron liquefied natural gas plant in Louisiana remains on track to make a final investment decision in 2023 to build a new liquefaction train at the plant, Reuters reports.

Sempra said in its Q1 earnings report that Cameron LNG plans to complete development work on the fourth liquefaction train in the summer 2023, with the company "in a position to make a final investment decision thereafter."

Separately, Sempra said its infrastructure unit entered into a non-binding agreement with TotalEnergies  for Sempra's Vista Pacífico LNG project under development in Mexico.

TotalEnergies  would contract for roughly one-third of the long-term export production, and it would participate as a minority equity investor in the project.

Sempra also said it expects to close the sale of a 10% stake in Sempra Infrastructure Partners to a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for $1.79B in cash during Q2; upon closing, Sempra will own a 70% controlling interest in Sempra Infrastructure.

More here. 

US LNG Exports -- May 18, 2021

US LNG export terminals are followed here.

Three Wells Coming Off The Confidential List; WTI Trending Toward $67; Active Rig Count Stays Steay At 19 -- May 18, 2021

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Data I'm most interested in today: CDC Covid-19 vaccine data.

Biggest story yesterday: Biden's cash-to-kids program, monthly check starting July 15, 2021, through the end of the year:

• six years of age and under: $300 / month
• over six years of age: $250 / month
• does anyone really think the politicians will end this program, January, 2022? Every US rep up for re-election in the mid-term elections (2022).
  

Story of the day: Walmart

• blow-out earnings
• guidance raised;
• shares in pre-market trading: WMT up almost $5/share; up almost 4%;

The market:

• CVX: why is it down? Warren Buffett just sold half of his holdings; not a "sell" and could soon be a "buy." It really is amazing how much Buffett can affect an individual stock.
  
• Brent: breaks $70; this is a big deal. Chart of the day.
  
• WTI: trending toward $67.
• oil will face a supply crisis before demand peaks: opinion -- oilprice.
  
• dollar: breaks below 90 -- probably the major reason why oil is where it is
• copper: are folks paying attention? Link to Irina Slav;
  
• one monster offshore wind turbine needs 63,000 lbs of copper

ATT:

• it will come out of this just fine; on this one I think pundits are absolutely wrong; this will be interesting to follow; of course the dividend will be "re-sized"; why wouldn't it be after a deal this big? Could be a great trading stock; possibly a great long-term stock. It will be interesting to see SeekingAlpha articles on same. Jim Cramer rant here.
• Ian Bezek; Harold L. Vogel; Gary Gambino;
  

They're reading the blog:

• posted the other day: 
• that's the problem with Apple TV. It has no content. I subscribe to Apple TV (still for free. Well, almost free: one cent per month). Apple needs to do something and needs to do something this year if it wants to "save" Apple TV. Every month it waits, the gap between Apple and Amazon, and the gap between Apple and Netflix widens. At some point the moat may be too big for Apple to bridge. Especially if Amazon acquires the MGM catalogue.
• today's news: Amazon looking to buy MGM catalogue;

EVs: "While you were distracted by Elon vs Bitcoin the last few days, Nikola quietly manufactured another 0 vehicles." -- Chadford Whitmore VI. Link here.

Other:

• Amazon looking to buy MGM; would the regulators allow this? If Hunter Biden is on the board, it will be a slam dunk.
  
• Apple unboxing: over at Macrumors.
  
• online video downloader so good it's banned in the US; savefrom.net letter here;
  

LNG:

• US exports won't be able to keep up with Asian demand;
• chokepoint: Panama Canal

***********************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$66.58	5/18/2021	05/18/2020	05/18/2019	05/18/2018	05/18/2017
Active Rigs	19	14	66	61	52

Three wells coming off the confidential list -- Tuesday, May 18, 2021:

• 37541, drl/NC, BR, Don Juan 3C-UTFH, ULW,  Dimmick Lake, first production, t--; cum --;
• 36993, 3,442, MRO, Leiderbach 11-27H, Chimney Butte, t11/20; cum 153K 3/21; see this note;
  
• 36126, drl/NC, Slawson, Stalion 4-1-12TFH, Big Bend, first production, t--; cum --;

RBN Energy: the impact of decarbonization efforts on the LNG industry. 

On the surface, it may seem that the LNG market has normalized after the past year’s tumult, and it’s true that many of the day-to-day disruptions that plagued LNG offtakers and operators have subsided. Mass cargo cancellations are a distant memory, and U.S. LNG exports have been flowing at record levels. Global demand has recovered, and buyers are back to worrying more about what they normally worry about: storage refill and securing enough supply for the next winter. However, in other ways, the pandemic and the more decisive shift toward decarbonization measures in many ways have fundamentally changed how deals for future LNG development will get done. Today, we look at what the global initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will mean for LNG project financing.

The LNG industry has been impacted by three major events in the last 18 months, all of which have implications for the future of the industry in the short-, medium-, and long-term. Firstly, the initial wave of U.S. LNG projects, centered on the U.S. Gulf Coast, has now reached full production capacity, running at rates equivalent to about 10.5 Bcf/d (80 Mtpa), or approximately 20% of global LNG demand in 2020, with the first of the early second-wave projects due to begin exporting later this year. The second major event was brought on by the pandemic and the resulting demand destruction. U.S. LNG suffered from cargo cancellations as a result of COVID-19, which limited exports from the Lower 48 last year to an annual average of 6.5 Bcf/d (49 Mtpa). So far in 2021, there is no sign that there will be a repeat of last year’s cargo cancellations as LNG prices in global markets have been robust, notwithstanding the boost in supply. However, 2020’s global LNG market was essentially unchanged from 2019, growing by less than 1%, versus original market expectations of 4-5%. As such, the demand curve for LNG has shifted to the right by at least one and, more likely, two years, before the anticipated growth trajectory resumes. During this period, sponsors of renewable energy projects havemaintained much of their momentum, and that growth in renewable energy will serve to reduce the plateau or peak demand for LNG as the world pursues decarbonization strategies — which is the third factor that will impact LNG, and the focus of our discussion today. In particular, the current market environment and push for decarbonization are upending traditional approaches to funding and capacity commitments for new developments.

LNG Bottleneck At The Panama Canal -- December 8, 2020

From RBN Energy today:

On the 8th of October, the LNG carrier Golar Penguin loaded a cargo for RWE at the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas. Five days later, on October 13, the vessel was sitting just north of Panama. But then, the ship abruptly changed direction on the 14th and headed towards the Cape of Good Hope to deliver to the Far East. The reason for the diversion was that the vessel did not have a passage booked in the new locks of the Panama Canal and would have had to wait approximately nine days for its turn to transit, before heading across the Pacific Ocean to Asia. Since then, as queues of LNGCs for Panama Canal transits, both northbound (ballast) and southbound (laden) have developed, more ships have opted for the longer route. In today’s blog, we look at the delays that have developed surrounding the Panama Canal and the implications that its operations hold for global LNG trade.

The 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal to accommodate larger vessels with larger beams and greater drafts was a big deal for LNG shippers looking to lower the per-unit costs of delivering to Asia (more on the economics in a bit). But as increasing shipments seek to traverse the canal, wait times have increased and led to a bottleneck that not only affects existing traffic but presents a challenge for future projects hoping to minimize costs in a highly competitive global LNG market. The delays currently being experienced for voyages to Asia via the Panama Canal route were much less of a problem over the summer when shut-ins of U.S. LNG production reduced the waiting time for LNG carriers wishing to pass in either direction. However, all first-wave LNG production facilities, with the exception of Corpus Christi Train 3, are now operational, resulting in nameplate production capacity of over 60 MMtpa from the Lower 48 states, or roughly a sixth of the current world production capacity. In November, the U.S. sent out a record number of cargoes — and that number will likely be surpassed this month. Given the determination of project sponsors aiming to develop a second wave of U.S. Gulf Coast LNG export schemes, what constraints and costs will the Panama Canal impose on these projects, and just as importantly, what advantage might the projects under development on the west coast of North America enjoy over their rivals? We’ll get to answering that shortly, but first some historical background on the Canal usage and scheduling.

Earlier, over at ZeroHedge:

Back on June 24, 2016, the NY Times dissed the Panamanians over their widening of the canal. Link here.

Update here. 

This is one of the reasons I find SRE so exciting. They saw this coming and made the decision to build a huge LNG export terminal on the west coast of California. Baja California, that is. Previously posted. 

The story is tracked here.  

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SRE: Coasta Azul

Sempra's Baja California LNG export terminal -- biggest LNG story of the year? 

Link here.

Sempra's Mexico LNG Export Terminal -- Biggest LNG Story This Year? -- Update -- November 17, 2020

Locator: 10010COSTAAZUL.

Updates

April 14, 2024: to come on line in 2025 if "Biden's pause" doesn't affect it.

December 10, 2020: RBN Energy update.

December 9, 2020: Total takes stake. 

Later, 9:53 p.m. CT: from a reader --

This particular project is intriguing on so many levels. 

The initial Phase 1 will produce a modest ~3 mtpa (million tonnes per annum), but the total project - which includes Phase 2 - will produce almost 15 mtpa when completed.

The 'clock' will start with today's FID and it will be instructive to the entire LNG industry at just how quickly this plant will start producing. 

They are employing the same modular concept that Calcasieu Pass is using with great effect. 

Unlike Calcasieu Pass, this ECA project already has berthing and storage facilities as it has been an LNG import terminal for years. 

While pipelines already exist, some midstream outfit embarked upon huge capacity upgrades out of West Texas to the Mexican  (Baja) border several months ago. [Comment from blog author: this I find most interesting.]

Biggest attribute of ECA is its location, being on the Pacific coast. [Comment: because of its location, I almost consider this an American LNG export terminal. My hunch is that SRE knew it would be close to impossible to get a greenfield LNG export terminal off the coast of US-California. Baja-California works out just fine. LOL.] 

Not only will this bypass the need for using the Panama Canal and its fees, the trip to Asia will be very short.

This could be about the most profitable LNG project extant IF things play out as expected. [Comment: wow, that is very, very interesting ... I bet every LNG export operator was scrambling to find a west coast terminal and SRE pulled it off. Very, very interesting. Wow, this is fascinating.]

Note how fast SRE announced the contractor -- one day after the permit issued.  

November 17, 2020, from SeekingAlpha:

• Sempra Energy says it reached a final investment decision to build the Costa Azul liquefied natural gas export project in Baja California, Mexico, making it the only LNG export project in the world to reach FID this year.
• ECA Liquefaction, the joint venture between Sempra and its IEnova Mexico subsidiary, will build the plant at the existing Costa Azul LNG import plant at an estimated ~$2B capital cost, with production of first LNG expected in late 2024. [Cameron was forecast to cost $8 - $10 billion.]
  
• The plant, which will have a nameplate capacity to produce 3.25M metric tons/year of LNG, already has 20-year agreements with units of Mitsui and Total for the purchase of ~2.5M mt/year from the project's first phase.
• Mexico's President Lopez Obrador (AMLO) said last week that the government would give the project an export permit as long as the company helped to offset an oversupply of gas in the area.

Original Post

Just the other day, November 13, 2020:

SRE: Mexico will give LNG conditional export permit -- AMLO! Link here.

• Sempra Energy's local IEnova unit likely will receive an export permit for a proposed liquefied natural gas facility in northwest Mexico, as long as the company helps offset an oversupply of gas in the area, Mexican Pres. Lopez Obrador says. 
• The President says he is inclined to approve the permit but stresses what he considers excess natural gas in the area around the northern Pacific coast, given that state-owned power company Comision Federal de Electricidad does not use the fuel to generate electricity. 
• Lopez Obrador says supply contracts signed by the previous government obliged CFE to buy natural gas that is not needed. 
• The comments appear to walk back the government's interest in requiring IEnova to build a second LNG export facility before approving the pending plant in Ensenada, which was reported in August.
  

Today: TechnipFMC wins $1-billion-plus contract for Sempra's Mexico LNG plant. Link here. 

• TechnipFMC after-hours on news it received a notice to proceed for a major Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract by Sempra Energy and IENova at the Energía Costa Azul liquefied natural gas facility in Mexico; for TechnipFMC, a "major" contract exceeds $1B. 
• The Costa Azul project, which won a final investment decision today, will add a natural gas liquefaction facility with nameplate capacity of 3.25M metric tons/year to the existing regasification terminal using a compact and high efficiency mid-scale LNG design. 
• TechnipFMC has been involved in the project since 2017, including the delivery of the front end engineering design. 
• Earlier this month, TechnipFMC reportedly was set to win a "huge" offshore engineering contract from Qatargas.

In its press release, Sempra refers to the Costa Azul (blue coast) project as a "landmark" project. 

Note: Costa Azul LNG is a sea port and natural gas processing center, located 15 miles north of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Ensenada is about 50 miles due south of Tijuana along the west coast of Baja.

Three Wells Coming Off The Confidential List -- October 8, 2020

I'm back. Sorry for the late start. I had to take our car in for annual inspection and because I'm home alone, had to get the bike on the carrier, and then ride the bike home. Reverse the process later today.

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US crude oil imports, link here. 

OPEC basket, link here: pretty much levels off at $40.45 despite issues in Norway, US Gulf.

*************************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

$41.09	10/8/2020	10/08/2019	10/08/2018	10/08/2017	10/08/2016
Active Rigs	13	56	64	59	33

Three wells coming off confidential list -- Thursdy, October 8, 2020: 11 for the month; 11 for the quarter, 676 for the year

• 36979, drl/A,  Kraken, Hobart 34-27 2H, Oliver, t--; cum 153K 8/20; a 34K month; a nice well;
• 36669, drl/A,  Hess, TI-Ives-157-94-0601H-7, Tioga, t--; cum 71K 8/20;
• 34293, loc/NC, BR, State Double Dodge 1A TFH-ULW, Dimmick Lake, no production data,

RBN Energy: Covid-19 slowing progress on LNG Canada project. Archived.

When plans for LNG Canada, a big LNG export project on the British Columbia coast, were sanctioned two years ago this month, the move came as a welcome sign that Western Canadian natural gas producers might finally be able to break their long-standing reliance on just one export customer: the U.S. Access to Asian and other overseas gas markets became a high priority, in part because U.S. demand for Canadian gas had been sagging for years as production in the Marcellus/Utica and other U.S. plays came to meet the vast majority of domestic needs. But while construction on LNG Canada has steadily advanced, there are signs that delays could be mounting. Today, we begin a two-part update on this all-important Canadian LNG export project and its accompanying Coastal GasLink pipeline.

From the early days of gas market deregulation in the 1980s, Canada enjoyed an expanding love affair with its southern neighbor in the form of growing natural gas exports. With U.S. domestic gas supplies looking to be heading toward terminal decline in the early 2000s, Western Canada’s abundant supplies and rising gas prices throughout North America appeared to be locking in a vast, profitable, and long-term gas export relationship. Also, a number of LNG import terminals were developed in the U.S. in anticipation of shipped-in gas supplies from overseas.

That all changed with the Shale Revolution, which turned the U.S. into a gas production powerhouse. Steadily expanding U.S. gas supplies over the past decade reduced the need for Canadian gas and sent Canada’s gas exports into a sort of terminal decline of their own. The share of U.S. gas demand met by Canadian supplies collapsed (on a net basis) from 10.5% (~7 Bcf/d) in 2010 to just 5.1% (~4.3 Bcf/d) through the first seven months of 2020, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). At the same time, some of those U.S. LNG import terminals were re-purposed as export terminals  deal with the new abundance of U.S. gas supplies.

The Bakken Revolution And The Pipeline Buildout -- July 14, 2019

Before I get to the ArgusMedia article, a note that a reader sent me last night:

As a further indication of the future pathways of natgas, LNG, and the amazing confluence of numerous technologies, Cheniere just signed a contract to provide LNG to the Norwegian company, Hoegh, who is placing the just-christened "Galleon" off Port Kembla, Australia.

The Galleon is a floating storage and regasification Unit (FSRU), essentially an LNG ship that has the capacity to regassify the liquid and deliver it ashore.

The Port Kembla import terminal is being built especially cheaply ($170 million) and in a very brief time frame (~16/18 months). The terminal is expected to provide 70% of the gas needs for New South Wales.

The ability to cheaply liquefy (in ever smaller volumes), store, ship, and regassify natgas is upending long standing practices on a global scale.

Combining the ability to now deliver gas quickly to far flung locations around the world, coupled with the latest iterations of built for purpose combined cycle gas plants, countries such as Brazil, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Argentina, Pakistan and several others are quickly embracing this emerging, disruptive paradigm.

World's largest FSRU is departing Turkey and soon will be setting up in Hong Kong.

Now, back to the ArgusMedia article:

Although this is a short piece, it's certainly worth reading, from ArgusMedia: how the US shale boom has propelled pipeline infrastructure buildout. Essentially it's a 2 and a half minute video but it's pretty good.

From twitter today, alerting me to the story:

Houston connectivity is growing.

Houston is the chokepoint.

Then this:

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The Hunting And Fishing Page

Link here to The Bismarck Tribune.

A Bismarck man whose invention in 1964 revolutionized walleye fishing is being inducted into the North Dakota Fishing Hall of Fame.

The bottom bouncer today is a staple of most anglers’ tackle boxes, for fishing lakes or rivers with weedy or rocky bottoms that can cause a lot of lost tackle and frustration.

They have the late Bob Meter to thank. Half a century ago, his own frustration led to the creation of what has become a classic piece of tackle.

Meter was one of the North Dakotans who “put fishing on the map,” said Bill Mitzel, editor and former publisher of Dakota Country Magazine.

List Of LNG Export Terminals Update -- December 16, 2018

A most important post regarding LNG export terminals in the US was posted on October 12, 2016.

To all of that, add Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas (existed prior to October, 2016) and now the fact that Qatar plans to expand.

Later, a writer expands on the above --

Quick followup to this LNG export post ... several projects of special note -

Driftwood incorporating modularization to produce HUGE volumes at VERY low cost

Delfin using new generation of 'Floaters' (FLNG) to reduce time and cost even further.

Main Pass Energy Hub to produce - if it comes to fruition - a revolutionary floater approach using 2 ships to produce an astounding 24 million tonnes per year (mtpa) at a cost of $9 billion.

A project proposed to place up in the woods of northeast Pennsylvania: New Fortress Energy will be the operator. A near-Elba Island capacity of 2.1 mtpa LNG plant for under $900 million and an 18 month build time.

I realize that the numbers, scope and terminology of the natgas world can be confusing, but the handling, processing and transportation of this stuff is rapidly evolving with enormous, global implications.

Worth Re-Posting -- February 13, 2018 -- North Dakota Natural Gas Production Setting Records

Rigzone, Eni, and others are making a big deal about the big natural gas field found off-shore near Cyprus (Mediterranean Sea), where Eni says it will produce 2.9 Bcf of natural gas by the end of the year (2018). Don't get too excited: the Bakken, an oily play -- not a natural gas play -- already produces more natural gas than Eni does from the Zohr field. From an earlier post:

February 12, 2018: Turkish warships are impeding a rig from reaching a location of Cyprus where Italian energy company Eni is scheduled to drill for gas. -- from Twitter. Update from Reuters. Turkey is wearing out its "welcome" in the EU. Eni says it will produce 2.9 Bcf per day from Zohr field by second half of 2019. Compare that "2.9 Bcf" to the Bakken: from the last Director's Cut,

What was North Dakota's natural gas production in the most recent month, November, 2017? Yup, another all-time high: 2.1 billion cubic feet / day.

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Asian Demand For Natural Gas Surging

From Bloomberg:

Asia’s rapacious thirst for liquefied natural gas is sucking supplies from surprising places.

China to Japan and South Korea are paying top dollar for the super-chilled fuel. The pull is so strong that Norway’s Statoil ASA, which usually exports most of its LNG to Europe, is shipping a rare cargo east. It plans to send more.

Asia gets most of its LNG from Australia, including from the giant Gorgon project on the country’s northwest coast. Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are also big suppliers.

Statoil’s tanker, the Arctic Aurora, due in South Korea this week shows how the LNG market is becoming global, with more cargoes traveling long distances from the Atlantic to the Pacific region as China leads a landmark shift to burning gas instead of coal. For Statoil, it’s a chance to squeeze a little more profit from its overall gas production that’s already near full capacity.

“What we’ve seen in Asia is strong prices,” said Peder Bjorland, Statoil’s head of natural gas. But “it doesn’t help to have strong prices if you don’t have the shipping capacity. It’s been difficult to get hold of spot vessels.”

The producer has in the past sent cargoes to Malaysia, China, India and Japan, but it mainly serves the markets in Europe and the Americas.

Sanctions? What Sanctions? Boston Still Importing LNG From Russia -- January 19, 2108

Refresh your memory regarding this story at this post.

Now this article: Boston, MA, still importing LNG from Russia -- Bloomberg --

The vessel named Gaselys was set to land at a terminal outside Boston on Saturday and changed its course to delay the date of its arrival, according Engie SA, the French utility that owns the cargo. 

The ship turned east last night and listed its destination as Algeciras near Gibraltar, and that entry still remains on a ship-tracking database compiled by Bloomberg.

“The final destination of the cargo did not change,” Damien de Gaulejac, a spokesman for Engie, said by email. “It is still Everett, but the date of delivery has been adjusted, in particular for weather reasons.”

The route seems a bit convoluted. This graphic helps explain it:

Disclaimer: The article refers to a "u-turn" -- obviously the tanker did not make a "u-turn"; it made a full 360-degree turn to get back on course back to the US. The route shown is for demonstration purposes only. The exact location of the "turn" and the exact route could be significantly different. If this is important to you, go to the source.

Don alerted me to the article. My reply:

I find this whole thing ridiculous. 

Sanctions against our "arch" enemy and we import their natural gas even though we have such a glut of natural gas, we are exporting it. 

For all one knows, natural gas being fungible (a commodity), that LNG in the Russian tanker originated in the US. 

Even if it "technically" did not originate in the US, for all "practical reasons" it did. So instead of a short pipeline from the natural gas fields in the Marcellus, Boston is getting their natural gas via this route:

• Pennsylvania Marcellus natural gas to Dominion Energy Cove Point
• tanker from DE Cove Point to Rotterdam (the Netherlands)
• tanker from Rotterdam (the Netherlands) to Novatek PAO's Yamal facility, Russia's second LNG export terminal
• from Yamal, Russia, back to the US, specifically Everett, MA (Boston)

Putin, the Russians, and the French must all be laughing all the way to the bank.

Sanctions? What sanctions?

Re-Posting: Cheniere, Asia; Qatar Has Sold Its Entire Flexible Winter LNG Supply -- December 6, 2017

Updates

Later, 10:49 p.m. Central Time: see first comment --

The rapid development of improving liquification processes for natural gas has huge implications.

Telurian's $15 billion dollar cost to produce 27 million tons per year of LNG at its proposed Driftwood project is astonishingly low. [Lake Charles, Louisiana.]

For context, the massive LNG Gladstone operations off Queensland [Australia] cost about $60 billion for roughly the same capacity.

In addition, the Norwegian company, Golar, is teaming up with an outfit named Delfin to position 4 FLNG ships off Louisiana which will produce LNG much more cheaply yet.

On the other end, converting older ships into regasification facilities - FSRUs - will economically allow receipt of LNG almost anywhere in the world.

These are the reasons behind tentative plans to import US LNG into a Melbourne-based FSRU in a few years.

Coals to Newcastle.

Original Post

This is just one of the reasons I do not enjoy watching business shows on network television, particularly CNBC. [My latest stretch of not watching CNBC began last Thursday afternoon and continues). The show will spend all day (sometimes multiple days) talking about a single deal (like the Aetna - CVS story), talking about it ad nauseam and completely missing all the other incredible stories out there.

This was posted earlier. It's such an incredible story, on so many levels, I am re-posting it:

Cheniere boosts LNG tanker fleet amid Asian demand boom -- from Reuters via Rigzone, data points:

• expanded its shipping fleet with a flurry of spot vessel charters to keep up with Asian winter demand growth as spot prices hit three-year highs
• Cheniere's Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana: 22 cargoes last month
• ramping up its fourth train
• more than half its shipments going to China, Japan, or South Korea
• can you say Panama Canal expansion (which the NY Times famously said the expansion was doomed to failure)
• < but get this: Qatar entirely sold out of flexible winter LNG supply following a frenetic period of deal-making with term buyers in China and South Korea
• Cheniere now has 22 ships on the water

It appears the world's largest exporter of LNG is no longer the swing producer; the swing producer/exporter for LNG is the US. 

This has been predicted for quite some time -- that the LNG market would get really, really tight. I did not expect it to happen so soon. Must be a cold, cold winter in Asia,

Making America great again -- with energy. 

Making America Great Again -- August 7, 2017

Cove Point LNG, Maryland -- open for business -- later this year. Link here.

Dominion Energy said work on the Cove Point LNG export facility near Lusby, Maryland is 95 percent complete and on track to start service in the fourth quarter of 2017.

All of the major equipment has been set in place with the focus now turning on commissioning activities, Dominion said in its July report.

All of the five tower cranes used to transfer equipment onsite have been taken down and transported offsite, Dominion said, adding that all the barge loads and heavy haul deliveries have been transported.

Once it is completed, the liquefaction facility being built at its existing LNG terminal will have the capacity to produce 5.25 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year.

The production capacity has been fully subscribed with Pacific Summit Energy, a U.S. unit of Sumitomo Corporation, as well as with GAIL Global (USA) LNG, a U.S. unit of India’s utility GAIL, under 20-year terminal service agreements.

According to this site, it appears that the US will increase LNG exports from almost zero in 2016 to almost 4 trillion cubic feet by 2020 (if I'm reading the graph correctly).

If I did the math correctly, 4 trillion cubic feet LNG equals about 80 million metric tons LNG. Of that 80 million metric tons, Cove Point will account for 5.25 million metric tons (again, of course, if I did the math correctly). If you want to check the math, start with this data point: 1 million metric tons LNG = 48.7 billion cubic feet NG.

Whether or not I'm reading the graph correctly or if I did all the math correctly, at least I have a feel for the size of Cove Point vs the total amount of LNG the US will export in the out years.

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The Movie Page

Wow, wow, wow. I never expected this. This was supposed to be the summer blockbuster -- The Dark Tower.

It looks like a phenomenal dud -- The Guardian.

New Link Added: North American LNG Export / Import Terminals -- 2017

A reader provided a great link: North American LNG export/import terminals -- 2017; it's now at the "Data Links" page.

Making America Great Again -- US Beef Could Be In China By Next Month; Update On LNG Export Terminals In Texas -- June 10, 2017

Link over at Williston Herald. US beef had been banned since 2003 due to mad cow disease concern. New administration was able to get this reversed.

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US LNG Exports

Updates

June 11, 2017: see first comment; reader doesn't understand the problem. I agree with the reader. 
 

Original Post

 

US natural gas boom could snarl traffic at one of America's busiest ports -- Bloomberg.

• Houston Ship Channel prone to backups in bad weather
• US LNG exports at record high
• Panama Canal, at a cost of $5.3 billion, was expanded to accommodate the new traffic
• approx 20 US LNG export terminals already approved or proposed for the Gulf Coast, more shipsare on the way
• it would be nice to have more export terminals on east and west coast but widely opposed by local populations

Houston Chronicle has more in-depth article on size / activity of Port of Houston, as well as all the activity going on at smaller ports, including Port of Brownsville, Texas; and, Portland, Texas. At Brownsville:

... there's about $43 billion in projects in the works at the Port of Brownsville, including an LEED-certified steel mill, a pipeline that will cross into Mexico, and three liquefied natural gas plants. The port is also working to win Congressional approval to deepen its ship channel, from 42 feet to 52.

At Portland (Texas):

One of the biggest single projects is Cheniere's new 2,000-acre, $13-billion facility here in Portland. Over 4,000 construction workers are erecting a maze of steel beams, shiny stainless pipes and towering cement tanks, as well as two white-concrete export docks on the coast. The ship berths are almost fully dredged. And the company has a contract on adjacent land that could further expand its LNG production capacity.

Oilprice expands on all the activity along the US Gulf Coast. It's more of the same, capturing some of the data points made above as well as data points made by RBN Energy over the past year. 

The Market, T+17: Great Photo In The Bakken -- February 6, 2017

For me personally, this may be the best picture of the day, sent to me by a reader.

Yesterday, while at McDonald's in Williston, north on the Million Dollar Way, a reader took this photo for four trucks carrying pipe. As the reader said, any photograph of more pipe in the Williston Basin is a great site.

On top of this: these are Western Star trucks! My son-in-law builds Western Star trucks in Portland, Oregon.

Always on the lookout for Western Star trucks. Hoo-ahhh!

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DAPL Decision By The End Of The Week?

From Bloomberg: the decision could come by the end of the week. 

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The Big Stories: Egypt

I will have to add "Egypt" to "The Big Stories" under "Natural Gas and Coal in a Post-Nuclear World."

From Bloomberg, Egypt will import a lot of LNG this year, but hopes to be self-sufficiency by 2018.

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The Market

WTI: $53.73

Hasbro surging. Our granddaughter Sophia loves the Hasbro "princess" and "Frozen" toys.

Sabine Pass LNG To Expand -- RBN Energy -- January 11, 2017

Surprise: 11 inches of snow overnight in downtown Portland, Oregon. Not predicted by weather forecasters. Even when snow started to fall, weather forecast was for 1 to 6 inches of snow -- quite a spread, and that was "real time." But yet we know, the science is settled, that the earth will be 0.2 degrees warmer 83 years from now.

Just what I need: another 5% off on all Amazon purchases. Already books are generally 40% less expensive on Amazon than what I would pay at Barnes & Noble, and now one could get another 5% cashback. The cashback generated by credit cards adds up fairly quickly.

California snow pack: 165% of normal for water content for this time of year, per Weather Channel, 6:48 a.m. Central Time, January 11, 2017. Just days ago folks were wringing their hands over only 70% of normal. 

#11 in the 20-song countdown: 

If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

	1/11/2017	01/11/2016	01/11/2015	01/11/2014	01/11/2013
Active Rigs	36	55	167	192	182

RBN Energy: new pipelines teeing up supply for more trains at Sabine Pass LNG.

Northeast producers are about to get a new path to target LNG export demand at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal.

Cheniere in late December received federal approval to commission its new Sabine Pass lateral—the 2.1-Bcf/d East Meter Pipeline. Also in late December, Williams indicated in a regulatory filing that it anticipates a February 1, 2017 in-service date for its 1.2-Bcf/d Gulf Trace Expansion Project, which will reverse southern portions of the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line to send Northeast supply south to the export facility via the East Meter pipe. Today we provide an update on current and upcoming pipelines supplying exports from Sabine Pass.

In the 11 months or so since it loaded and shipped its first export cargo in February 2015, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction and export facility in Cameron Parish, LA, has made a noticeable dent on the natural gas market, helping the market to reduce a massive year-on-year surplus in storage over the injection season and also enabling the U.S. to become a net exporter of natural gas for the first time last fall.

To date, the terminal has loaded and shipped off 61 cargoes, and the pace has accelerated in recent months. Twenty-seven cargoes (44% of the total) have  been exported since November 1, 2016, five of those in the first six days of 2017 alone.

A list of current LNG export terminal projects were provided by RBN Energy back in October, 2016.