LNG

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI), the leading US pipeline feed-gas company for liquefied natural gas plants and a key energy infrastructure operator and developer, reported an almost 10 percent rise in first-quarter net income with contributions from all business segments while forecasting soaring LNG and pipeline gas exports through 2030.

Mitsui & Co. of Japan, a leading liquefied natural gas market participant and trader, confirmed the acquisition of shale-gas assets in South Texas with access to LNG export plants on the US Gulf Coast.

Mitsui said it purchased a 92 percent working interest in the Eagle Ford basin assets from a subsidiary of Silver Hill Energy Partners, a private company based in Dallas, Texas.

The assets comprise 8,500 net acres known as the Hawkville field and with easy reach of the region’s LNG export cluster.

The confirmation statement from Mitsui on the acquistion did not include a value for the transaction.

“Additional gas production is expected from this asset with further development,” said the company.

The Eagle Ford acreage will be managed by a company subsidiary, Mitsui E&P USA.

“The subsidiary will develop and operate the asset, aiming for stable gas production of over 200 million cubic feet per day from the field,” Mitsui explained.

Mitsui stated that it was also promoting liquefaction and export of US natural gas to global markets and has methanol production businesses using natural gas as feedstock.

Cameron stake

It has also increased its offtake from the Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana, operated by Sempra Infrastructure, and where the Japanese company has a 16.5 percent shareholding.

However, Mitsui’s LNG assets are global with holdings in the Middle East at liquefaction plants in Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

In Asia, Mitsui has an LNG stake in the Tangguh export project in Indonesia and is still a shareholder in the Sakhalin LNG plant in the Russian Far East.

It additionally has a stake in the oldest Australian liquefaction plant, the Woodside-operated Northwest Shelf (NWS) plant, and has an impending tolling deal at NWS using feed gas from the onshore Perth Basin in Western Australia.

“In addition to proactively pursuing upstream development projects, we will strengthen the natural gas value chain, including adjacent businesses,” Mitsui stated.

Mitsui said it believed that natural gas and LNG would play an important role as a “pragmatic solution” for the energy transition and it would continue to contribute to the stable supply of energy.

Williams, the US pipelines company and growing LNG sector participant, has closed the acquisition of MountainWest Pipelines Holding Company from Southwest Gas Holdings in a deal worth $1.5 billion and for a network covering three states.

Williams paid $1.07Bln in cash and $430 million of assumed debt for the MountainWest system

It comprises around 2,000-miles of interstate natural gas pipelines primarily located across Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

The MountainWest pipelines carry 8 billion cubic feet per day of transmission capacity.

MountainWest also operates 56 Bcf of total storage capacity, including the Clay Basin underground storage reservoir, providing working gas to Western markets.

With the acquisition of MountainWest, Williams expands its infrastructure network and increases its business mix of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-regulated natural gas transmission and storage.

Williams said the acquisition starts up the company’s services in the key Rockies gas markets, including natural gas delivery into Salt Lake City and other demand markets not previously served by Williams.

Natural gas focus

“Our natural gas focused strategy is anchored in having the right assets in the right places to serve our nation’s growing demand for clean, affordable and abundant natural gas,” said Alan Armstrong, the President and Chief Executive of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Williams.

“This acquisition enhances our position in the Western US and is complementary to our current footprint, providing us with infrastructure for natural gas deliveries across key demand markets,” explained Armstrong.

“With the acquisition now complete, we look forward to welcoming MountainWest employees to Williams and bringing value to our shareholders by delivering safe and reliable services to both Williams and MountainWest customers as we increase the utilization of our existing large-scale platforms,” added the CEO.

Williams is also expanding its LNG activities and in mid-November 2022 said it had entered into a non-binding heads of agreement with Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of California utility Sempra, to further connect the Haynesville shale basin to growing LNG export demand along the Gulf Coast .

The accord contemplates long-term gas sales of about 0.5 billion cubic feet per day delivered to near Gillis, Louisiana, and two LNG offtake agreements for around 3 million tonnes per annum in the aggregate from Sempra Infrastructure’s proposed Cameron LNG expansion and Port Arthur LNG project in Texas.

Williams said these proposed Sempra transactions complement the recently sanctioned low-carbon Louisiana Energy Gateway gathering project.

WhiteHawk Energy, the US company with royalty and field assets covering 475,000 gross acres in the Marcellus Shale, has agreed to acquire natural gas assets primarily located in the Haynesville Shale from where more feed gas will flow to US Gulf Coast LNG plants.

Targa Resources Corp., one of the largest US independent midstream infrastructure companies, has agreed to acquire Lucid Energy, a natural gas gathering and processing services company in the Delaware Basin from US asset managers for $3.55 billion in cash and the transaction will be completed in the third quarter.

TC Energy, the North American natural gas pipelines and energy transportation group, reported a first-quarter profit compared with a loss in the prior-year period as it boosted LNG feed-gas provisions.

TC Energy Corp., one of North America’s leading pipeline companies and LNG feed-gas suppliers, posted a first-half loss because of the cancellation of the Keystone oil pipeline to the US and is also in a dispute over the Coast GasLink for Canadian LNG projects in British Columbia.