LNG

The American Gas Association said the state of Nebraska’s state legislature became the 26th state to pass fuel choice legislation in a unanimous and bipartisan vote, securing the protection of energy choice for consumers in a majority of states across the country.

The AGA explained that consumer energy choice preserves access to safe, clean and affordable energy resources including natural gas that offer a sustainable pathway to the shared goal of reducing emissions while maintaining affordability, reliability and quality of life for Americans.

“Thanks to the bipartisan action of now 26 state governments, more than 157 million Americans and 58 million households have a protected choice when it comes to how to fuel their homes and businesses,” said AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert.

Natural gas usage

“The average home using natural gas for space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes drying has about 18 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions than those attributable to an all-electric home, and the average family using natural gas for those purposes saves an average of $1,132 per year,” explained Harbert.

“Over the past 10 years, American families have saved a total of $125 billion thanks to natural gas,” she stated.

“Those are numbers we can be proud of. They also highlight how harmful natural gas bans would be for American families,” Harbert stated.

The AGA represents more than 200 local energy companies that deliver natural gas throughout the US.

There are more than 77 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers in the US, of which 95 percent, or around 73M customers, receive their gas from AGA members.

Fuel choice legislation preserves access to natural gas in homes and businesses in states that have enacted them across America.

Nebraska became the 26th state to pass such a law, joining Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Bipartisan moves

“Every state to pass fuel choice legislation has done so in a bipartisan manner,” said the AGA.

“Since 1990, emissions from the natural gas distribution system have declined by 70 percent, even as demand for and usage of natural gas has increased with natural gas served to 23.4 million more consumers and the number of miles of distribution pipeline increasing by 59 percent,” the AGA noted.

US Natural gas is currently 3.3 times more affordable than electricity and expected to remain substantially more cost-efficient through at least to 2050.

“The affordability of natural gas is a critical reason why more than 500,000 families signed up for natural gas space heating, rather than electric heat pumps, over the past five years,” the AGA said.

Israel has suspended production at the Tamar natural gas field supplying Israel, Jordan and Egypt offshore the East Mediterranean coast and not far from the Gaza strip after the terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians over the weekend that have spread regional instability and affected natural gas prices more than crude oil prices.

Tellurian Inc., the developer of the Driftwood liquefied natural gas export plant near Lake Charles in Louisiana, has signed an agreement for the supply of eight main refrigerant compression packages for the Phase One development of the Driftwood project.

Global natural gas and LNG markets have been given further considerations to add to the mix of North Asian spot cargo prices and European gas values as the NYMEX Henry Hub jumped to $8.80 per million British thermal units on perceived very high future LNG demand from Germany to Guangdong.

Fluxys of Belgium, the gas grid and LNG terminal owner, and investment firm EIG Global Energy Partners have acquired the Quintero LNG import terminal in the South American nation of Chile.

Petronet LNG, the largest Indian importer and owner of two regasification terminals on the West Coast, has named Indian Oil Corp. director of pipelines Akshay Kumar Singh as its new Chief Executive as the nation expands its LNG and natural gas pipeline infrastructure.

The northeast Caribbean island of Barbuda, one of two making up the tiny nation of Antigua and Barbuda, has signed an agreement with Florida-based Eagle LNG Partners for long-term supplies.

Eagle LNG said its agreement was with Barbuda Ocean Club in Barbuda to help the island to slowly rebuild after the Category 5 Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, while protecting its fragile natural environment and preserving its distinctive culture.

The population of Barbuda of around 1,500 people live in and around the village of Codrington.

“By transitioning to US natural gas for power generation, Barbuda Ocean Club is committing to low-carbon technology while also reducing local air emissions on the island of Barbuda, and will save millions of dollars in fuel relative to existing petroleum-based power generation,” said Eagle LNG.

“Transitioning to flexible natural gas driven generation also enables Barbuda Ocean Club to work with Eagle LNG to introduce further low carbon solutions including renewable generation to enable sustainable growth of development in Barbuda,” the Florida company added.

Eagle LNG said it would provide significant on-island storage and regasification to ensure supplies for extended periods should weather inhibit deliveries in ISO containers.

Since early 2018, Eagle LNG has loaded hundreds of ISO and trailers loads from its Maxville liquefaction facility for Crowley Maritime, the US shipping line which also has LNG-powered vessels,  and other clients.

“The turn-key, US natural gas powered solution for Barbuda is ideal for many areas for both industrial clients and island utilities,” Eagle LNG added.

Eagle LNG's Maxville  plant near Jacksonville in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 200,000 gallons per day.

The plant is located west of the port of Jacksonville and features a 1-million gallon storage tank and an LNG truck-loading system. The facility is also designed to load LNG ISO containers for transport to the Caribbean island markets.

Eagle LNG explained that it was enabling a fully turn-key solution for Barbuda inclusive of US natural gas, storm-resilient equipment and investment in power generation.

“We are pleased to partner with Barbuda Ocean Club on this important project,” said Sean Lalani, President of Eagle LNG.

“This project demonstrates our commitment to provide low-cost energy which enables economic growth and recovery in Barbuda and similar places,” added Lalani.

“Eagle LNG is committed to a low-carbon future, spurring economic recovery for the region as the world works to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and fostering closer ties between Florida and the US and our neighbors throughout the region,” he stated.

Eagle LNG said it was pleased to be a leading energy developer in the region and looked forward to providing low-cost, flexible energy solutions to numerous other clients.

“Partnering with Eagle LNG is the best solution for our members as well as Barbuda as a whole,” said Michael S. Meldman, Chairman and Chief Executive of US real estate firm Discovery Land Company, which offers family-oriented, adventure-style holidays on the island.

“We have made a major commitment to help the people of Barbuda preserve the health and integrity of the island’s natural environment,” explained Meldman.

“It’s a huge part of who we are and what Barbuda Ocean Club represents. Eagle LNG will allow us to provide dependable, sustainable electricity throughout our community while minimizing the impact upon the native environment,” he added.

“It’s a safe, clean source of power that will serve our community for many years,” stated Meldman.

President Donald Trump concluded his two-day visit to India by issuing a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a variety of issues, including future cooperation on liquefied natural gas as both leaders noted that the US-Indian energy relationship over the last four years had been worth $20 billion.

They said they welcomed growing links between the United States and India in trade and investment in hydrocarbons. 

“Through their Strategic Energy Partnership, the United States and India are seeking to enhance energy security, expand energy and innovation linkages across respective energy sectors, bolster strategic alignment, and facilitate increased engagement between industry and other stakeholders,” they said.

Trump and Modi noted the potential for the US to meet India’s goal to diversify its import base for coking and metallurgical coal and natural gas.

“We welcome recent commercial arrangements intended to accelerate access to LNG in the Indian market,” they added, in reference to the accord between US company Tellurian and state-owned Petronet LNG, the nation’s largest importer.

They also referenced moves by ExxonMobil and others to advance with the provision of more LNG fuel use for transportation and small-scale distribution.

“The US has indeed become a very important oil and gas source for India,” they said.

“Over the last four years, our total energy trade volume is about $20 billion,” added the statement.

They also noted that they encouraged the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and US company Westinghouse Electric to finalize the techno-commercial offer for the construction of six civil nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date.

Westinghouse and the Indian nuclear power operator plan to build the 1,100 megawatts reactors in the southeast Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. 

However, there was no statement on the firming up of Petronet’s  supply agreement with Driftwood LNG developer Tellurian, nor on its accord on a possible equity stake.

The initial agreement between Tellurian and Petronet for up to 5 million tonnes per annum of US LNG was signed during a visit to Houston in September 2019 by Modi, who also held a Texas rally for Indians living in the US.

Petronet and Tellurian will continue their talks on the Indians investing $2.5 billion in the Driftwood plans proposed for the west bank of the Calcasieu River, south of Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Petronet currently operates India’s busiest regasification facility at Dahej, north of Mumbai, with 15 million tonnes per annum of capacity and six storage tanks. The terminal is being expanded to handle 17.5 MTPA.

The company was formed by the Government of India in 1998 specifically to import LNG and will be expanding its interests in the years ahead into LNG fuel distribution.

Shareholders in Petronet, which began operations in 2004, include the other big Indian energy players, Gas Authority of India, Indian Oil Corp., Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Qatar Petroleum has signed a long-term supply agreement with Arab Gulf neighbour Kuwait for the supply of liquefied natural gas cargoes for a period of 15 years at a new larger Kuwaiti onshore regasification terminal currently under construction.

US utility Exelon Generation has signed an agreement to purchase the Everett LNG import terminal, located near Boston in Massachusetts and the oldest such facility operating in the US, from the North American subsidiary of French utility Engie.