LNG

Aug 19 (LNGJ) - Brazilian energy company HRT is in talks with Russia's Rosneft and Brazil's state-owned Petrobas about a work plan for the monetization of for the monetization of gas in the Solimoes basin in the Amazonian jungle through LNG.

"In the coming months, [we] will establish the steps and responsibilities, prioritizing the options in the scope of natural gas converted to LNG and the electric power generation, both of which are critical inputs for the development of the region and the country," HRT said in a report.

Partners in the Papua New Guinea LNG project are in talks with customers Sinopec, Tecpco, Osaka Gas and CPC to shift from selling spot-priced cargoes to exporting via long-term contracts before the end of 2014, PNG LNG partner Oil Search said.

Though start-up of the $5.2 billion Panama Canal expansion is scheduled for January, it may be difficult to accommodate 30 mtpa of LNG from the US Gulf Coast and Trinidad and Tobago - equivalent to 1 LNG ship per day, each way - to reach Pacific via the shortest route, Wood Mackenzie warns.

Aug 19 (LNGJ) - Surging gas demand for power generation has made India emerge as the fourth-largest LNG importer following Japan, South Korea, and China in 2013, figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show.

LNG imports now account for about 29% of India's 2.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas consumption, mostly sourced from Qatar through long-term contracts.

New Orleans-based Harvey Gulf International Marine has contracted Wärtsilä to supply a control system for shore-based LNG fuelling facility in Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

China National Oil Corporation's (CNOOC) will use Qatargas' first delivered LNG cargo to commission its new regasification terminal in Hainan province in the coming days.

Aug 18 (LNGJ) - Rising shale oil and gas production in the U.S. has pushed back Nigerian LNG exports, according to state oil firm Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Nigeria exported just 2.3 Tcf, or 1% of total LNG export to the U.S. in 2011, compared to about 12% (95 Tcf) in 2007, NNPC figures show.

Aug 18 (LNGJ) - James Salmon, Calvert County circuit court judge, has ruled that zoning exemptions granted by county commissioners for the Dominion Cove Point LNG terminal are invalid.

"The exemptions violate the uniformity provision in the Land Use article and constitute [...] a special law that violates the Maryland Constitution," he concluded.

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom has urged the Kremlin to block changes to the gas export law that would allow Rosneft to export gas from the Pechora LNG project in northern Russia, claiming the bill "will strengthen the bargaining position of potential foreign buyers of Russian gas."

A flurry of LNG regas terminals has sprung up in China, mostly used for importing spot cargoes, but analysts see a trend towards medium-term contracts as "buyers need to sign new LNG contracts for delivery in the early 2020s, if not sooner."