noLNG

Kitimat LNG files application to export gas, still looking for buyers

Kitimat LNG is trying to clear the last major regulatory hurdle for its natural gas export terminal on the B.C. coast.

But the venture, spearheaded by the Canadian subsidiary of Apache Corp and EOG Resources Canada, has yet to line up enough customers to make the project economically viable once it starts operating in 2015.

Kitimat LNG announced late Thursday it has filed a regulatory application with the National Energy Board to request permission to export up to 10 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually for a period of 20 years.

Apache Canada spokeswoman Natalie Poole-Moffatt said she expects a decision within the next 12 months.

The question that’s still open, however, is who’ll buy the gas once it arrives in Asia.

“We are in ongoing discussions, and we are confident that we should be in good stead by the time the plant opens in 2015,” she said.

Kitimat LNG started negotiating purchase agreements before Apache Canada bought its majority stake earlier this year.

Gas Natural, based in Spain, had tentatively agreed to buy 30% of the production from the terminal, while Korea Gas Corp had expressed interest in an additional 40%. But the agreements were mere MOUs and, although discussions are ongoing, according to Moffatt-Poole, they haven’t progressed to a firm deal.

Also, in Asia Kitimat LNG will have to compete against other natural gas producers, most notably Russia. But Russia has a tendency to use its natural gas supplies as a political tool. Kitimat LNG could use this fact to market itself.

“The long and short of it is, (our supply) will be economical, and Canada and North America have a great supply of gas and a very politically stable environment,” Poole-Moffatt said.

The Kitimat terminal will be fed from Apache’s and EOG’s natural gas holdings in northeastern B.C.

Both companies are trying to tap demand for the fossil fuel outside the oversupplied North American market. (highlighted by blogger)

markus.ermisch@sunmedia.ca

DOE Authorizes LNG Re-Export for Sempra LNG

Posted: December 8, 2010

The U.S. Department of Energy has authorized Sempra LNG Marketing, LLC to re-export up to 250 Bcf of LNG from the Cameron LNG facility over a two-year period beginning on February 1, 2011. The order specifically proscribes the export of any domestically produced LNG under this permit.(bold/underlined by blogger)

US gas export plan sparks price fears

By Gregory Meyer

Published: December 7 2010 18:17 | Last updated: December 7 2010 18:17

An outcry from big US energy users is complicating plans to export some of the country’s bounty of natural gas.

Two consumer groups said they were worried that proposals to liquefy for export as much as 3.4bn cu ft per day of domestic gas would drive up prices. Monday is the deadline for public comment on a project to export gas from Louisiana state. More: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/968979ec-0227-11e0-aa40-00144feabdc0.html#axzz17V5tavuc

Riverkeeper leader a hero to friends, obstructionist to foes

HOOD RIVER, Ore. — From his second-story office in an old househere, Brett VandenHeuvel has a fine view of the object of hispassion. Last Wednesday, the Columbia River coursed by in the neardistance, wide, cold and gray, with white hills rising above itsbanks after a recent snowfall.

VandenHeuvel, the executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper,has made it his duty to fight any project he considers harmful tothe 1,400-mile waterway. More: http://tdn.com/news/local/article_98d8f458-000f-11e0-b3c1-001cc4c03286.html ...Comment by Brett van den Heuvel, I think the thing that the story completely missed, and that perhaps you could comment on in letter to editor, is that the LNG victory was a huge group effort of hundreds and hundreds of people and over a dozen organizations, etc.  The story reads like Riverkeeper simply waved a magic wand in order to “bleed” LNG.  Nothing is further from the truth, as you’ve seen for years.  Riverkeeper was but one piece of an amazing coalition – a coalition that started in Cowlitz County and Clatsop before Riverkeeper even got involved.

Gas Blasts Spur Questions on Oversight of Pipelines

At a Christmas Eve gathering in 2008, a natural
gas explosion in a suburban Sacramento neighborhood killed a 72-year-old man
and injured his daughter and granddaughter. Investigators determined that
Pacific Gas and Electric was to blame for a leak, but federal and state
regulators never cited the utility for safety violations.

Complete article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/25/us/25pipeline.html?exprod=myyahoo

County board OKs new review on pipeline

New evidence will be
allowed at meeting

By KATIE WILSON
The Daily Astorian

Jaws actually dropped
at the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday night after three
of four commissioners voted to allow new testimony and evidence on a liquefied
natural gas application decision.

"What it tells me is that they're
really listening," said Astoria resident and longtime LNG opponent Laurie
Caplan after the meeting. The commissioners' decision caught her completely by surprise.

More: http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=395&ArticleID=73551

Yemen LNG security "good" despite militant hand grenade attack

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKSGE68L05820100922

Yemen LNG security "good" despite militant hand grenade attack

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKSGE68L05820100922

Cheniere Plans Ambitious US LNG Export Scheme

By subscription

http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?Try=Yes&document_id=687235&publication_id=8

Letter: Steps toward pipeline appeal

The Clatsop County Commissioners have a great opportunity to demonstrate their respect for the public's opposition to liquefied natural gas (LNG). Recently, the hearings officer hired by the county ignored the evidence presented in a public hearing and the county's professional staff recommendation and gave preliminary approval of the proposed Oregon LNG (OLNG) pipeline.

This pipeline would start in Warrenton on the Skipanon Peninsula, north of Harbor Drive, and rip through Clatsop County, to transmit regasified LNG to California. I am one of nine parties appealing that decision to the county. I encourage the current board of county commissioners to take several steps concerning this appeal:

http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&ArticleID=73440