LNG

Kinder Morgan Inc., the US pipeline giant transporting natural gas to LNG plants and to customers around America, has taken a positive investment decision to expand the Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP) expansion project after securing binding firm transportation agreements for all available capacity.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the US Driftwood LNG export plant proposed for Lake Charles in Louisiana, has resumed natural gas drilling in the Haynesville Shale basin in the north of the Gulf Coast state and could acquire more acreage.

Enbridge Inc., the Canadian company whose natural gas pipelines span North America to connect supply basins, urban demand centres as well as LNG export plants, is caught up in a battle just revived by the Democratic Party governor of the US state of Michigan.

Texas LNG Brownsville, the mid-scale export plant proposed by industry veterans Vivek Chandra and Langtry Meyer, has been handed a ruling by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that it would issue an air permit allowing the construction and operation of the liquefaction facility.

The project is one of three being developed around the South Texas port and will be built on a 625-acre site located on the Port of Brownsville's deepwater ship channel near plentiful natural gas supplies and pipelines.

Texas LNG plans to ship 4 million tonnes per annum of cargoes to established and emerging markets.

“We appreciate the hard work and effort from TCEQ and are pleased to have reached this important achievement that paves the way for a 2021 final investment decision and construction of an LNG facility consistent with all air emission regulations,” said the project’s joint founder Chandra who is Chief Executive.

“Though current LNG markets are unusual in terms of pricing and supply dynamics, Texas LNG is confident that its low-cost, flexible commercial model, and realistically-sized production volumes will be key differentiators, ideally suited for global customers when operations begin in 2025,” explained the CEO.

The other two projects planned for the Brownsville Ship Channel area are Rio Grande LNG run by Houston-based NextDecade Corp. and Annova LNG whose backers include Chicago-based power company Exelon Corp.

The Rio Grande venture plans to produce 27 MTPA while Annova is aiming for 6.95 MTPA.

Langtry Meyer, the other co-founder of Texas LNG Brownsville and who is Chief Operating Officer said his company was committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner.

“This includes the use of electric motors instead of conventional gas turbine compressors to minimize air emissions, making the facility one of the world’s cleanest LNG liquefaction plants,” Meyer explained.

“By delivering clean, safe, low-cost Texas natural gas energy to our customers around the world, Texas LNG can contribute to a cleaner global environment,” he stated.

The TCEQ air permit adds to the November 2019 authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to proceed with the project.

Other permits received include one from Department of Energy to export US-sourced LNG to any country with which trade is not prohibited by federal law or policy.

Texas LNG will aim to source low cost and abundant Permian Basin feed gas using third-party pipeline infrastructure and an efficient modular construction design for the plant.

The US is increasing its domestic natural gas demand for gas-fired power plants as the number of facilities has now overtaken coal-fired plants and the power industry competes with liquefied natural gas export projects for abundant feed-gas resources.

The Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas liquefaction and export plant in Texas has yet to ship its first cargo to become the third large-scale LNG export facility to enter commercial production in the US.

TransCanada Corp., the North American pipeline company with plans for LNG plant connections in British Columbia and elsewhere in the region, said it had placed into service a key Mexican pipeline across the border from the US states of Texas and New Mexico.

The US government said that after becoming a net natural gas exporter in 2017, the nation’s liquefied natural gas and pipeline exports continue to rise throughout 2018 to 2030, according to a revised report.

April 12 (LNGJ) - Texas, one of the main hubs of future US LNG exports from around the Gulf Coast ports such as Freeport, Corpus Christi, Port Arthur and Brownsville, saw monthly natural gas output increase 3 percent year-on-year in February to nearly 638.5 billion cubic feet, according to the Texas Petro Index report from economist Karr Ingham. “With natural gas prices in February averaging $2.67 per 1,000 feet (Mcf), the value of Texas-produced gas increased about 40 percent to more than $2.34 billion,” said the report. The Baker Hughes count of active drilling rigs in Texas averaged 476 units, 28.6 percent more than in the same month of 2017. “An estimated average of 215,500 Texans remained on upstream oil and gas industry payrolls, about 13.8 percent more than the revised average of 189,400 in February 2017,” it added.

The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, the largest in the US, said upstream oil and natural gas activity in the state had come to the end of “a punishing 24-month economic contraction”, adding momentum to the state’s extensive shale-gas plays and LNG developments.