LNG

Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has signed its first transportation service contract with German utility company Uniper, following the delivery of the LNGC ‘LNG Schneeweisschen’.

The first Arc7 LNGC, Sovcomflot’s ‘Christophe de Margerie’ transited the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in a record time for a commercial vessel without icebreaker support last month.

U.S. shale gas developer eagerly await new Appalachian takeaway capacity to come online so the region can provide the bulk of 2018’s dry production growth. Delays of the $4.3-billion Rover Phase-2 pipeline project impact on the anticipated 4.0 bcf/d gains in shale gas output from the Appalachia region.

South Korea is planning to cut natural gas taxes by 74% and raise taxes on coal for power generation by 27% next year.