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Commonwealth LNG Signs Deal to Sell 1 MTPA to Malaysia’s PETRONAS

Marcellus/Utica molecules may be heading to Malaysia. Commonwealth LNG yesterday identified PETRONAS LNG Ltd., a subsidiary of Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, as the major Asian energy company referenced in the company’s May 5 announcement of a buyer to purchase 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for 20 years from Commonwealth’s 9.5 MTPA facility under development in Cameron, Louisiana. Commonwealth LNG currently has 4 MTPA of offtake under long-term agreements. The company expects to finalize all of the deals it needs before making a final investment decision (FID) in Q3 2025. The Commonwealth facility targets its first LNG production in 2029. Read More “Commonwealth LNG Signs Deal to Sell 1 MTPA to Malaysia’s PETRONAS”

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Trump Trade Deal Lifts Ethane Export Ban to China; Cargo to India

MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was blocking at least three (possibly more) cargoes of ethane by rejecting permits to export to Enterprise Products Partners (see U.S. Denies Permit for Enterprise to Export Ethane Cargoes to China). Ethane is a raw feedstock used to create plastics. Denying China access to our ethane will hurt the Chinese economy. We later reported that it appears the export ban to China was just a bargaining position and was unlikely to remain in place (see Trump Using Ethane Exports to China as Bargaining Chip in Trade War). That observation was prescient. On June 10, U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached a tentative framework that removed the export ban. Read More “Trump Trade Deal Lifts Ethane Export Ban to China; Cargo to India”

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Japan’s JERA Signs Multiple Deals for 5.5 MTPA of U.S. LNG

The Japanese certainly want to stay on the good side of Donald Trump regarding trade. Yesterday, JERA Co., Inc., Japan’s largest power generation company, joined U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright (the Chair and Vice Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, respectively), along with Shigeo Yamada, Ambassador of Japan to the United States, to announce that the company has finalized several 20-year agreements to procure up to 5.5 million tonnes per year (MTPA) of LNG from the United States. Read More “Japan’s JERA Signs Multiple Deals for 5.5 MTPA of U.S. LNG”

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Marcellus/Utica Set to Grow Thanks to LNG, Data Centers, Southeast

click for larger version

It’s been no secret that natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica has stalled over the past few years. Since 2021, the M-U has been rangebound in producing somewhere between 34 and 37 Bcf/d (see the chart). The main reason we haven’t expanded our production is the lack of transportation (pipelines) to move our molecules to the markets that can use them. However, the ceiling for M-U production appears to be shattering. New pipeline projects to move more of our molecules are one, but not the only, factor in what may be another growth spurt in M-U production. Another factor is a growing market adjacent to the M-U (the Southeastern U.S.) with extra volumes needed for utility companies to distribute to new customers. Read More “Marcellus/Utica Set to Grow Thanks to LNG, Data Centers, Southeast”

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Maintenance at 2 LNG Export Plants Lowers U.S. Feedgas Demand

U.S. LNG feedgas demand slipped last week to its lowest level since mid-December due to ongoing maintenance at the Sabine Pass and Cameron LNG export facilities along the Gulf Coast. Two trains were offline at Sabine Pass, and one train was offline at Cameron, resulting in feedgas demand of 13.28 Bcf/d for the week (down 7% from the previous week). In something of a miracle, Freeport LNG was online with all trains producing! Read More “Maintenance at 2 LNG Export Plants Lowers U.S. Feedgas Demand”

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Trump Using Ethane Exports to China as Bargaining Chip in Trade War

Bloomberg reports that Donald Trump is using our dominance of a niche petroleum gas, ethane, as a bargaining chip in his trade war with China. Last week MDN brought you the news that the Trump U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is blocking at least three (possibly more) cargoes of ethane by rejecting permits to export to Enterprise Products Partners (see U.S. Denies Permit for Enterprise to Export Ethane Cargoes to China). Ethane is a raw feedstock used to create plastics. Denying China access to our ethane will hurt the Chinese economy. However, it appears that this is just a bargaining position and is unlikely to remain in place. Read More “Trump Using Ethane Exports to China as Bargaining Chip in Trade War”

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Philly LNG Project Owner Met with White House Officials This Week

We have some important new information regarding the proposed Penn LNG export facility in the Philadelphia area. In early 2024, we reported that Penn America Energy CEO Franc James, the builder of the project, said that he “pumped the brakes” on the LNG project but that it wasn’t dead yet (see Penn LNG CEO Says Philly Export Project on Hold, “Not Dead Yet”). Reuters is reporting that James met with White House officials (at the White House) on Tuesday of this week to discuss the project. We also learn from the Reuters report that James is actively considering other locations, given the resistance by left-wing Democrats in the originally proposed location. Read More “Philly LNG Project Owner Met with White House Officials This Week”

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NJ Considers Permits to Expand LPG Storage Caverns in Gibbstown

Three years ago, in May 2022, MDN brought you the surprising news that ethane, propane, and butane (NGLs) were being exported from a facility in Gibbstown, NJ, located along the Delaware River, at a former DuPont dynamite factory site (see Former NJ DuPont Dynamite Factory Near Philly Exporting NGLs). It is the same site that tried to build a new dock to load LNG for export, a project which has (so far) failed. Now comes word that the owner, Delaware River Partners (a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy), is close to receiving a permit from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection that would allow the company to build two giant underground caverns to store propane and butane at the site. Read More “NJ Considers Permits to Expand LPG Storage Caverns in Gibbstown”

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U.S. Denies Permit for Enterprise to Export Ethane Cargoes to China

Two days ago, RBN Energy reported that ethane and butane exports for Enterprise Products Partners and possibly other NGL exporters were in doubt following a notice received by Enterprise from the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) flagging such exports to China as a security risk (see Ethane and Butane Exports to China in Doubt Due to Security Risk). Yesterday, Enterprise confirmed the news, with a twist. Read More “U.S. Denies Permit for Enterprise to Export Ethane Cargoes to China”

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Ethane and Butane Exports to China in Doubt Due to Security Risk

RBN Energy is reporting that ethane and butane exports for Enterprise Products Partners and possibly other NGL exporters are in doubt following a notice received from the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) flagging such exports to China as a security risk. Specifically, ethane and butane exports pose an “unacceptable risk of use in or diversion to a military end use.” RBN’s blunt assessment is this: “The BIS decision has the potential to ruin the U.S. ethane market and disrupt global flows.” Read More “Ethane and Butane Exports to China in Doubt Due to Security Risk”

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Port Arthur LNG Receives Non-FTA Export Authorization from DOE

Port Arthur, TX (click for larger version)

Last week, Sempra announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a permit to the company’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project to allow the export of up to 13.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. The non-FTA permit, which is the first issued since the completion of the DOE’s most recent public interest study, is a major regulatory milestone for the proposed Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project. Read More “Port Arthur LNG Receives Non-FTA Export Authorization from DOE”

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List U.S. LNG Export Terminals – Existing, Approved, and Proposed

Did you know that there are eight LNG export terminals currently in operation in the U.S. with a combined export capacity of 14.43 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)? There are another eight LNG projects currently approved and under construction with a combined additional capacity of 17.43 Bcf/d. That’s right, all of the facilities under construction will more than double our current LNG exporting capacity! In addition to all of that, there are another 12 facilities approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) but not yet under construction. If they were to be built, add another massive 17.65 Bcf/d. Astonishing! We have maps with the names, locations,m and capacities for all LNG export facilities either in operation or planned. Read More “List U.S. LNG Export Terminals – Existing, Approved, and Proposed”

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NYMEX Price Drops 19.4 Cents Due To Another Freeport LNG Outage

We need a scorecard to keep track of all the ups and downs at the problem-plagued Freeport LNG export facility, located near Galveston, Texas. We don’t think it’s a stretch to say the plant, which is the third-largest LNG export plant in the U.S., has been down almost as much as it has been up since first coming online in 2019 (see our Freeport outage stories here). Feed gas nominations to the facility dropped by more than 30% yesterday, indicating that one of the three trains is, once again, offline. The situation led to a sharp decline in the NYMEX futures price of natural gas, which settled down 19.4 cents at $3.204/MMBtu. No comment from Freeport on this latest outage. Read More “NYMEX Price Drops 19.4 Cents Due To Another Freeport LNG Outage”

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IGU World LNG Report Predicts Market to Evolve “Rapidly” in 2025

On May 22, the International Gas Union (IGU) released its 16th annual 2025 World LNG Report, the world’s most comprehensive public source of information on key developments and trends in the LNG sector (full copy below). According to the report, today’s LNG market is “poised to evolve rapidly” as commercial, political, regulatory, and environmental factors offer opportunities. However, the LNG market is “also fraught with uncertainty.” Read More “IGU World LNG Report Predicts Market to Evolve “Rapidly” in 2025″

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3 Years Later, Freeport LNG Returns LNG Storage Tank to Service

Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” completely shut down (all three trains) in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see Explosion Rocks Freeport LNG Export Plant – Offline for 3 Weeks). What was initially thought to be a three-week outage lasted for ten months. The plant finally returned online in March 2023 (see Freeport LNG Plant Back to Full Capacity Using 2.1 Bcf/d of NatGas). Since that time, one or more Freeport trains have been offline more times than we can count. Freeport announced yesterday that, finally, after three years, it has restored full operations to the last remaining component that was still offline since 2022—an LNG storage tank. Read More “3 Years Later, Freeport LNG Returns LNG Storage Tank to Service”

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New Pipes, Data Centers, LNG – Is M-U Set to Increase Production?

The Marcellus/Utica region is the United States’ top natural gas production area, accounting for about one-third of the country’s daily output. Natural gas production in the M-U has soared from 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) to over 33 Bcf/d today in the past 15 years. Growth has slowed in recent years due to pipeline constraints, but new pipeline projects, rising Gulf Coast LNG demand, and in-basin data center development could drive a resurgence. Despite past challenges like canceled pipelines and a focus on the Permian, our region’s vast potential and improving infrastructure suggest a breakout, according to RBN Energy. However, low gas prices and regulatory hurdles remain big concerns, though data centers and LNG exports could boost demand significantly. Read More “New Pipes, Data Centers, LNG – Is M-U Set to Increase Production?”