The first of 10 LNG (liquefied natural gas) mini-trains at Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia export facility went online in December of last year (see Elba Island Finally Exported First Marcellus LNG Cargo on Friday). Since that time, the other nine trains have come online one at a time, with the last unit going into service in August (see Final Elba Island LNG Train Goes into Service – All 10 Now Online). As happens with these facilities, each year the owner/operator will take units offline for maintenance. Some of Elba’s 10 trains are offline for maintenance right now, but not all of them.
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Category: CNG/LNG
RI’s Eco-Socialists Want Nothing Done to Prevent Gas Outage
In January 2019, Aquidneck Island (part of Rhode Island) ran out of natural gas and left thousands without heat on the island for days during a frigid cold snap. Concerned that it would happen again, in November 2019 the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board waived a licensing requirement to allow a “temporary” LNG storage facility in Portsmouth (see With “Backs Against Wall” Rhode Island Approves LNG Facility). The gas utility, National Grid, conducted a study and presented various options to keep this from happening again. Which option do Aquidneck Island legislators prefer?
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Meg Gentle Suddenly Departs as CEO of Tellurian/Driftwood LNG
In December 2015, evil corporate raider Carl Icahn (invests in companies so he can fire a bunch of people, boost the stock and pocket the profit) fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki (see Evil Corporate Raider Carl Icahn Claims Another CEO Scalp). Souki didn’t let it slow him down. He started a new LNG export company, Tellurian, to compete with his old company (see Revenge: Fired Cheniere CEO Starts Competing LNG Company). Souki later lured away Cheniere executive Meg Gentle to be the CEO of Tellurian. As of yesterday Gentle is out, replaced by Octávio Simões.
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One of Elba Island’s 10 LNG Trains Remains Offline 6 Mos Later
We were wrong. In August MDN told you that the tenth and final mini-train had gone online at Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia LNG export facility (see Final Elba Island LNG Train Goes into Service – All 10 Now Online). That the tenth mini-train had gone online was correct, no issue there. What was incorrect was that all ten mini-trains are now online and working. Such is not the case.
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Rochester, NY Congressman in a Panic Over LNG “Bomb Trains”
In June, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in conjunction with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), published final rules to allow specially constructed tanker cars for railroads (DOT-113 tank cars) to ship LNG (see PHMSA and Fed Railroad Admin Publish Final LNG by Rail Regs). The new rules went into effect on August 24. A liberal Democrat Congressman from Rochester, NY, is now, months later, all of a sudden in a panic and asking the PHMSA and FRA to rescind the new rules.
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BP Says Demand for U.S. LNG has Recovered to Pre-Pandemic Levels
According to the president and CEO of BP Energy, one of BP’s largest North American subsidiaries, “Demand for gas to be liquefied and exported from the US has recovered beyond pre-pandemic levels to nearly its maximum capacity.” Whoa, who knew? We are far from being over and done with the COVID-19 pandemic, yet LNG demand is already back and has exceeded demand from before the pandemic. This is seriously good news for the Marcellus/Utica and the export of our molecules.
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UGI Energy Launches LNG Peak Shaver in Bethlehem, PA
Yesterday UGI Energy Services, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania utility company UGI Corporation, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its brand new Bethlehem, PA LNG peak shaver facility. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairwoman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille was among the dignitaries on hand to celebrate. What is a “peak shaver” and why is this an important project for the PA Marcellus?
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Now Runs Cove Point LNG!
In July, when Dominion Energy announced it had decided to exit the natural gas pipeline business by selling it to Warren Buffett and cancel the much-needed Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, the company said it would retain a 50% ownership in its Cove Point LNG export facility and sell a 25% interest to Buffett’s company (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). Not mentioned in the original announcement was that Buffett’s company would take over the operation of the Cove Point facility…
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DOE Approves Cove Point, Six Other Plants to Export LNG Thru 2050
Last week the U.S. Dept. of Energy announced it has extended the terms of seven long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) export authorizations through 2050. One of the facilities receiving an extension is the Cove Point LNG export facility in Maryland, a facility that exports 100% Marcellus molecules.
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Marcellus/Utica LNG Heading to Barbuda, West Indies?
Eagle LNG Partners built and maintains a smallish LNG facility in Maxville, Florida (suburb of Jacksonville). Since early 2018, Eagle LNG has loaded hundreds of ISO and trailers loads from their Maxville LNG facility for Crowley Maritime and other customers (see Eagle LNG Celebrates 100th LNG Bunkering at Port of Jacksonville). Eagle is spreading its wings. Earlier this week the company announced it has entered into a long-term agreement to provide a turn-key U.S. natural gas solution for the Barbuda Ocean Club in Barbuda, West Indies.
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France Blocks $7 Billion U.S. LNG Deal as “Too Dirty”
The French government has asked one of its own companies, Engie, to hold off on signing a deal worth $7 billion to buy U.S. LNG from NextDecade’s planned Rio Grande export facility in Brownsville, Texas. It seems France thinks our fracked-gas LNG is too dirty for them.
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NYMEX NatGas Price Breaks $3/Mcf Thanks to LNG Shipments
The price of natural gas trading at the Henry Hub terminal in southern Louisiana, the national benchmark price used for NYMEX futures contracts, has been on a rocket ship ride up over the past two days. Two days ago the price added $0.12 in a single day (see Louisiana LNG Begins Moving Again, Forecast Colder, Gas Price Jumps). Yesterday the price added *another* $0.11, passing the $3/Mcf mark for the first time in over a year.
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Louisiana LNG Begins Moving Again, Forecast Colder, Gas Price Jumps
Yesterday MDN told you of a new threat to LNG shipments from Louisiana with the grounding of a semi-submersible rig, blocking traffic coming from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal (see More Shipping Channel Troubles for Gulf Coast LNG Exports). That’s in addition to a sunken barge blocking traffic from the nearby Cameron LNG terminal (see Sunken Barge in LA Helps Fuel $0.22 One-Day Drop in NatGas Price). We have some good news on both situations…
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NJ LNG Export Terminal Pits Green Politics vs. Established Law
There is a battle underway by Big Green groups in Pennsylvania to unduly influence, pressure, and bully a quasi-governmental agency, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), into overturning a legally permitted LNG export facility planned for the New Jersey shore of the Delaware River by New Fortress Energy (NFE).
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More Shipping Channel Troubles for Gulf Coast LNG Exports
Last week MDN told you about a barge sinking in a shipping channel in Lousiana that had contributed to a big drop in the price of natural gas (see Sunken Barge in LA Helps Fuel $0.22 One-Day Drop in NatGas Price). That barge is still stuck on the bottom, blocking traffic to the Cameron LNG facility. In addition to trouble for Cameron in the Calcasieu Ship Channel, a semi-submersible rig ran aground in the Sabine Bank Channel, blocking LNG traffic to and from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal.
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Philippines Taps New Fortress for LNG Infrastructure, Power Plants
We think we’ve spotted a potential new export market for northeastern Pennsylvania natural gas. New Fortress Energy (NFE) issued a joint announcement yesterday with the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) to say NFE will build LNG infrastructure and new gas-fired power plants in The Philippines. The two signed a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU).
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