LNG

Hit by plunging gas demand for power generation, a $400 million floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), built by Hoegh, has been sitting idle off the coast of Indonesia for almost six months despite only being commissioned last summer.

Eying a construction start in Q1 2016, Excelerate Energy is forging ahead with its Aguirre Offshore GasPort Project in Puerto Rico after FERC has just granted approval to site, construct, and operate the project together with Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). An in-service date is set for early summer 2017.

Prudhoe Bay field owners BP and ExxonMobil have filed to the Alaska regulator for approval to boost the volume of natural gas that can be produced from the North Slope field for liquefaction and export from the Alaska LNG project.

Australia Pacific LNG has started loading refrigerants to its Curtis Island facility, located near Gladstone, Queensland, as it is getting close to commissioning the 9 mtpa facility.

John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado, has written a letter of support for the Jordan Cove Energy Project and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline in a bid to convince FERC to move the project forward more quickly.

July 28 - Sinopec's 2.2 mtpa Tianjin LNG project will not start operations by the end of 2016 as previously scheduled, according to China's National Audit Office.

NorthWest LNG, Petronas' much-contested $36 billion LNG export terminal in British Columbia, is expected to commence this September. "Construction will begin soon... this fall," said B.C. finance minister Michael de Jong.

Analysis by Eclipse Energy suggests that European gas prices are likely to fall in the 2016-20 period to a level where U.S. LNG developers no longer can make a profit. Though the U.S. will be able to export close to 100 bcm/y of LNG by the end of the current decade, it may well struggle to find a home for all of the gas.

July 29 - Though Iran has the largest natural gas reserves in the world, notably 18% of global resources, due to the embargo it currently only has a 4.9% share of production. Analysts expect that once the embargo is lifted in line with the nuclear deal, Iran will export more energy which will help reduce Europe's dependence on Russia's Gazprom.

Lee Seung-hoon, the newly appointed KOGAS president, is spearheading a move to reorganize the company's corporate structure in a bit to boost efficiency of overseas gas exploration, strengthen its technology and increase sales.