LNG

Sluggish demand has made prices for spot LNG delivery to northeast Asia drop 2.7% to an average of $7.395/MMBtu for August, according to Platts Japan/Korea Marker (JKM). End-user demand for gas is "extremely slow", despite the fact that August is traditionally the peak month of the summer buying season due to increased power generation.

National oil companies in China are desperately trying to renegotiate LNG purchase commitments from Australia after domestic demand continues to slump. Sinopec reportedly seeks new terms for deliveries from APLNG which will come onsteam shortly.

Bermuda-based Golar LNG Ltd. has received an underwritten financing commitment for its first GoFLNG project from CSSC Shipping Co. of Hong Kong. The funding will allow Golar to move forward with the conversion, sale and leaseback transaction for its GoFLNG Hilli vessel.

July 23 - UK classification society Lloyd's Register has teamed up with Penn Oak Energy to help companies raise capital and mitigate the technical risks associated with retrofitting ships fuelled with LNG. Penn Oak Energy, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a developer of LNG fuel solutions for industrial clients.

July 22 - Construction works have started on a 700-km pipeline that will enable Pakistan to import LNG from China. Gwadar port will be the central hub for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will allow western China to gain access to warm waters, Pakistan's minister for petroleum and natural resources said. The project will be funded jointly by Pakistan and China.

July 22 - South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co has won an order to build an LNG carrier for the Greek ship-owner Chandris. Daewoo will deliver an LNG tanker capable of carrying 173,400 cbm of natural gas to Greece by the latter half of 2018. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Gas Sayago, Uruguay's state-owned gas utility, announced that works for a $1.1 billion LNG regasification terminal are to restart after five month of delays. New subcontractors were hired to replace Brazil's Constructora OAS, which pulled out of a contract in February.

Christy Clarke, Premier of British Columbia, is facing fierce opposition from the New Democratic Party (NDP), the Green Party and even some Liberals against her unprecedented give-away to the LNG industry. Clarke had promised locked-in, rock-bottom tax and royalty rates, guaranteed for 25 years.

July 21 - An election campaign of Canada's federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq is likely to see any ruling on the controversial Pacific NorthWest LNG being pushed back until after the vote has been cast. The Petronas-led project on Lelu Island envisages to build a 1.6-km suspension bridge to carry a pipeline from the island extending over the northwest flank of Flora Bank, an area that contains eelgrass used by juvenile salmon. Canada's First Nations are fiercely opposing such plans.

July 21 - GE Oil & Gas has announced the shipment of two LNG compressor trains for the development of Dominion's Cove Point LNG export facility, currently under construction by IHI E&C International Corp. and Kiewit Energy Company. Located on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Maryland, the liquefaction facility will produce approximately 5.25 mtpa of LNG when completed in late 2017. It will also be the first LNG terminal capable of exporting LNG on the US East Coast.