Critical Project for Canadian LNG Exports Gets Favorable FERC Review
Spectra Energy’s Atlantic Bridge project has just gotten an important “favorable” Environmental Assessment (EA) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A favorable EA is a signal that FERC will, later this year, grant a full approval for the project. And that’s really good news for Canadian LNG export plants–and equally good news for Marcellus drillers. Here’s how this news all ties together. The Atlantic Bridge project is a series of upgrades to two different pipeline systems already in existence: the Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT) pipeline and the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline (M&NE). The two pipelines will be connected along the coast of Massachusetts, near Boston. Thing is, right now the M&NE flow gas from north to south, from Canada to the U.S. Part of the Atlantic Bridge project is to make M&NE bidirectional, able to flow gas from south to north. The AGT will collect gas from the prolific Marcellus via a third Spectra-owned pipeline–the Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO) pipeline–delivering Marcellus gas to New England. Yes, much/most of the gas will go to New England, but excess gas produced during periods of the year when not as much gas is used in New England will then be available to flow on up to Canada and to one of several new LNG export facilities either in planning or under construction. It all starts with a favorable EA…
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As we pointed out to you last December, evil corporate raider Carl Icahn (invests in companies so he can fire a bunch of people, boost the stock and pocket the profit) had fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki (see 
Radical environmentalists from groups like the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Earthjustice continue a full court press to try and stop Dominion’s Cove Point LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility, currently under construction (more than a quarter done) along the coast of Maryland. These groups coordinate and collude to try and deny a single, legitimate business–Dominion–the right to conduct business. Sounds like something out of Stalin’s Russia or Hitler’s Germany–but no. It’s right here in the US of A. Here’s the radical’s strategy in a nutshell–throw as much feces against the wall as you can, and hope that some of it sticks. One pile of feces they’ve thrown is to file multiple lawsuits, in various courts (see 
How low can world LNG prices go? One of the potentially important markets for U.S. LNG is Japan. Historically when drillers would get $3-$4 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) here at home, they could easily get $8 or more per Mcf in Japan–if they could just get the gas loaded onto ships and get it there. Hence facilities being built like Dominion’s Cove Point, Maryland, which export gas to Japan (and India). But something happened on the way to the LNG party. Last December Platts reported LNG deliveries to Japan and Korea were fetching $7.40/Mcf (see 
Last June MDN told you about Compass Natural Gas, a company that compresses natural gas and trucks it to locations not served by a pipeline, cool concept called a “virtual pipeline” (see 
Big Green groups, including the nutty Sierra Club, the left-leaning Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the odious Earthjustice continue to pump money and lawyers and time into an effort to stop progress on Dominion’s construction of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cove Point, Maryland. As of March the Cove Point project was already a quarter done (see 
Forget about drilling, infrastructure is where it’s at baby! That’s our words summarizing a new study just released by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA). The new study, titled “North American Midstream Infrastructure Through 2035: Leaning into the Headwinds” (full copy below) says the U.S. and Canada need to invest $546 billion (real 2015$) total over the 21-year period from 2015 to 2035–or $26 billion per year–in natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids infrastructure. Natural gas infrastructure includes “gathering and transmission pipelines, compressors, laterals, gas-lease equipment, processing, gas storage and liquefied natural gas export facilities” (NGI). Our tongue-in-cheek opening statement isn’t completely true. You need drilling or sooner or later you have no gas to flow through the infrastructure. However, for the time being, investors (and engineers and construction firms, etc.) need to pay attention to infrastructure buildout…
The International Gas Union (IGU) released their “2016 World LNG Report” at the LNG18 conference yesterday taking place in Perth, Australia. The report (we have a full copy below) shows global LNG, or liquefied natural gas, is set to grow. It will play an increasingly important role in the world’s energy mix. In addition to giving a great overview of the worldwide LNG industry, the report contains some really cool appendices, including a list of active liquefaction (i.e. export) plants, a list of export plants under construction, a list of receiving terminals (and terminals under construction), and a list of LNG ships that cart it from point A to point B. LNG, as we’ve said a number of times, will be an important market for Marcellus/Utica drillers. We look at this report like “everything you wanted to know about LNG”…
In an interview on CNBC, Chevron chairman and CEO John Watson said some interesting things. Among them: Watson believes the oil markets will “balance out” (price/production-wise) in the “coming months.” He also spoke about the prospects for LNG, saying it’s “maturing” and we are entering “a new phase”…