The Brass LNG project in Nigeria is now advancing towards a final investment decision in the first quarter of 2012 after Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. agreed to cut its own stake in return for a soft $2 billion loan from Japan.
In a further boost to the development of LNG as a fuel for shipping, the US government will back the conversion to LNG from diesel of one of New York's emblematic Staten Island ferries.
The coal-seam-gas-to-LNG project being developed in Australia by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina has chosen a joint venture comprising CB&I of the US, Japans Chiyoda Corp. and Italys Saipem for the front-end engineering and design contract.
The Philippines will next month signal the start of an LNG and natural gas development programme that will see plans laid for LNG import facilities and a major pipeline, partly financed by the World Bank and project lenders such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
South Korea paid around $695 per tonne last month for LNG imports, an increase of $147 per tonne compared with the same period last year, as long-term index-linked prices rose and the global LNG spot market tightened.
Linklaters, the global law firm and energy projects adviser, said it was retained by France's GDF-Suez on the potential acquisition by China Investment Corp. of a 30 percent stake in its E&P division, and of a 10 percent stake in the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago, for…
EGL, the Swiss-based energy trader, said it delivered its first LNG cargo to Greece, the latest of a growing number of trading firms to declare their increased presence in the LNG spot market.
GDF-Suez, one of Europes leading LNG players, has signed wide-ranging financial deals with Chinas wealth fund, China Investment Corp. (CIC), and with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), to support its projects, and for the Chinese to take LNG and energy stakes.
Trinidad & Tobago said it was looking to companies like BP, Spains Repsol and Brazils Petrobras to help make sure the LNG story does not come to an end in the Caribbean nation because of a lack of feed-gas.
LNG prices are heading for a three-year high in the Asia-Pacific region as some of the worlds biggest LNG buyers based in Japan, such as Tokyo Electric Power Co., readjust their strategies and focus on securing incremental LNG cargoes for the fourth quarter and early 2012.