LNG

US energy infrastructure company ONEOK Inc. has signed a definitive merger agreement with Magellan Midstream Partners in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at around $18.8 billion to combine the two Oklahoma-based energy groups.

Ovintiv Inc., the shale oil and gas company with assets in key basins in North America, has signed an agreement to sell its Eagle Ford resources in south Texas to Validus Energy for $880 million to reduce debts as exploration and production companies in the LNG-exporting region of the US Gulf Coast have been badly hit by the combined oil price and Covid-19 slump since early 2020.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French technology firm and designer of liquefied natural gas storage tanks, said it received two orders for the tank designs for four Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), which will benefit from the “LNG cargo ready” notation.

Due to become the world’s third largest gas producer by 2027, China’s imports will still continue to grow in the long term. 

Devon Energy Corp. said it had agreed to sell a portion of its Barnett Shale position in North Texas for $553 million with a transaction expected to close in the second quarter.

Nov 10 (LNGJ) - Tennessee Zone 4 Marcellus shale-gas spot prices increased $1.71 from $0.52 per million British thermal unit to $2.23 per MMBtu in the week. “Marcellus prices likely increased this week as a result of a combination of cold weather in the Northeast and the commencement of service of the Access South and Adair Southwest pipelines,” said the Energy Information Administration. “These pipelines add approximately 0.6 billion cubic feet per day of takeaway capacity for the region and should help mitigate the regional discount,” said the EIA.

The US state of Maryland, where the first East Coast LNG export plant is scheduled to come on stream by late 2017 or early 2018, is caught up in a fierce political debate on energy after the state legislature banned hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.

Oct 21 (LNG) - Royal Dutch Shell, whose LNG Canada export project in British Columbia is currently on hold, has agreed to sell around 206,000 net acres of non-core oil and gas properties in Western Canada to Tourmaline Oil Corp. for US$1.03 billion. The transaction is comprised of US$758M in cash and Tourmaline shares valued at US$279M. The acreage includes 61,000 net acres in the Gundy area of Northeast British Columbia and 145,000 net acres in the Deep Basin area of West Central in the province of Alberta. “Shell retains a significant shale position in Canada and we are actively working to mature our attractive core asset base in the Montney and Duvernay,” said Andy Brown, Shell Upstream Director.

March 18 (LNGJ) - Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., the builder of feed-gas pipelines for LNG projects in British Columbia, said it agreed to pay $13 billion to buy Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. in a deal that would connect some of the most prolific natural gas supply basins in North America and give the Canadian company access to US shale gas. “The acquisition represents a rare opportunity to invest in an extensive, competitively-positioned, growing network of regulated natural gas pipeline and storage assets in the Marcellus and Utica shale gas regions,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada's President and Chief Executive. “The assets complement our existing North American footprint which together will create a 91,000-kilometre (57,000-mile) natural gas pipeline system connecting the most prolific supply basins to premium markets across the continent,” Girling stated.

March 10 (LNGJ) - The multigas carrier “INEOS Intrepid” left  the Markus Hook terminal near Philadelphia bound for Rafnes in Norway carrying 27,500 cubic metres of US shale-gas ethane. “This is the first time that US shale gas has ever been shipped to Europe and represents the culmination of a long-term investment,” said Swiss-based chemicals company INEOS. Danish shipping company Evergas is the main operator of multigas shipping for INEOS and the ships sometimes carry small-scale LNG shipments. Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, said: “This is an important day for INEOS and Europe. We know that shale-gas economics revitalised US manufacturing and for the first time Europe can access this important energy and raw material source too.”