Clean Natural Gas News

On March 3, the Coast Guard published a notice that Martin Midstream Partners (MMP), a petrochemical transport and storage company, was seeking approval to modify terminal operations in Beaumont, Texas, along the Sabine-Neches Waterway. If approved, MMP would expand its liquefied hazardous gas (LHG) operations, both in volume and products. Instead of just handling ammonia the change would allow shipments of butane, propane, ethane, ethylene and propylene.Critically, MMP’s expansion would increase LHG vessel transit from 24 ships to as many as 350 per year.

North American energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy and Saudi Aramco's Aramco Services Company, signed an Interim Project Participation Agreement for the Port Arthur LNG export project under development in Jefferson County, Texas.According to a press release, the IPPA represents another milestone for both companies after having signed a heads of agreement in May last year for the purchase of 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a 25% equity investment in the Port Arthur LNG project.Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy said:"Today's announcement is a reflection of the growing alignment between our companies' interest in the overall success of the Port Arthur LNG project.

North American energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy and Japanese trader Mitsui & Co. have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which the latter would take part in the Cameron LNG Phase 2 project in Louisiana.The MoU also encompasses a future expansion of the Energía Costa Azul (ECA) LNG project in Baja California, Mexico."This agreement signals continued momentum in the growing U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market, while reinforcing the unique competitive advantage that Sempra offers customers seeking LNG export capabilities from the Gulf Coast, as well as the West Coast of North America," said Justin Bird, president of Sempra LNG.

North American energy infrastructure company Sempra Energy said that the first train of the Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction export project in Louisiana has started commercial operations under Cameron's tolling agreements.Train 1 is part of Phase 1 of the Cameron LNG liquefaction export project which includes a projected export capacity of 12M metric tons/year of liquefied natural gas, or 1.7B cf/day of natural gas."This is an exciting moment for Cameron LNG and for Sempra Energy," said Carlos Ruiz Sacristan, chairman and CEO of Sempra North American Infrastructure. "Cameron LNG is exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to customers in the largest world markets, helping to support economic growth in the U.S.

Saudi Arabia’s state owned oil company Saudi Aramco will buy 5 million tons of liquid natural gas per year(LNG) from the U.S. company Sempra Energy, based in San Diego under a 20 year agreement.The heads of agreement (HOA) between the companies anticipates the negotiation and finalization of a definitive 20-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale-and-purchase agreement (SPA) for five million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG offtake from Phase 1 of the Port Arthur LNG export-project under development. It also includes the negotiation and finalization of a 25% equity investment in Phase 1 of Port Arthur LNG.Amin Nasser, Saudi Aramco’s CEO & President, said,“The agreement with Sempra LNG is a major step forward in Saudi Aramco’s long term strategy to become a leading global LNG player.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the signing of a long-term order authorizing the export of domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur LNG export project to be built in Port Arthur, Texas. The U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry signed the authorization allowing Port Arthur LNG to export approximately 13.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. during the first U.S.-EU Energy Council High-Level Energy Forum in Brussels, Belgium."I am pleased to announce the order signed today authorizing Port Arthur LNG to export up to 1.91 billion cubic feet per day of LNG, to any country that does not have an FTA with the United States," said Perry.

US LNG export project developer NextDecade Corporation signed a lease agreement with the Brownsville Navigation District (BND) for its Rio Grande LNG project.The proposed $15 billion Rio Grande LNG export terminal and pipeline at the Port of Brownsville, Texas, was considered and approved during a meeting of the BND Board of Commissioners.The lease agreement, which covers an approximately 984-acre parcel of land in Cameron County, Texas, carries an initial term of thirty years, with two options to renew and extend the term of the lease for periods of ten years each. The lease agreement supersedes exclusive site option agreements.On the site in the Port of Brownsville…

The world’s first container feeder vessel refit to use natural gas was commissioned in late August in Bremerhaven, ushering in a new era in the use of alternative fuels across the global maritime sector. The container vessel Wes Amelie, owned by Wessels Reederei, Haren/Ems, was converted for the use of methane as a standard fuel at the German Dry Docks Shipyard in Bremerhaven, making it the world’s first of its kind vessel which consumes environmentally friendly methane. This conversion is more than simply another environmentally advanced ship…

Foster Wheeler AG announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has entered into a Collaboration Agreement with ZeoGas LLC. In the first instance, Foster Wheeler will support ZeoGas’ final site selection and project planning towards the development of ZeoGas’ first fuels manufacturing plant, to be located on the US Gulf Coast. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the contract value for an initial release of work related to the development of a cost estimate and assistance in final site selection and due diligence will be included in the company’s third-quarter 2014 bookings. Further bookings will be made as work is released by ZeoGas.

The floating production business continues to be very strong, particularly in the LNG gas processing sector. Last month saw a speculatively ordered floating liquefaction plant – a $1.2 billion contract – as well as several regasification vessel contracts. Here’s a snapshot of what’s happening in the business. In total, 320 oil/gas floating production units are now in service, on order or available for reuse on another field. FPSOs account for 65% of the existing systems, 78% of systems on order. Production semis, barges, spars and TLPs comprise the balance.

D'Arcinoff Group, Inc. and its consortium partners will deploy the first phase of the $4.6 billion D’Arcinoff Group Energy Program (DGE), an integrated synthetic fuel, power generation and distribution project. D’Arcinoff Group expects to install its first phase 40,000 barrel-per-day alternative fuel facility in Hudspeth County, Texas, to be operational by the end of 2016. DGE is an environmentally clean, natural gas and biomass to liquid fuel and power generation initiative. The project will harness the carbon emissions from electric power generation and integrate them with renewable energy resources to produce drop-in, low emissions transportation fuels. “Our project will enhance domestic fuel supplies, produce clean affordable energy and support significant U.S.

Wärtsilä has now sold more than 2000 of its gas fuelled engines, which together have accumulated more than 7 million operational running hours in both land-based and marine applications. These milestone achievements emphasise the global position that Wärtsilä has achieved in gas and dual-fuel (DF) engine technology. "Wärtsilä's gas and dual-fuel engine technology can be used in all vessel types, and installed both in newbuilds and as conversion projects in existing ships. With…

Wärtsilä, the marine industry’s leading gas solutions provider, will deliver an integrated propulsion system based on the use of LNG for two offshore support vessels for operation in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first time U.S. flagged offshore supply vessels will run on clean and efficient LNG, which offers operational savings and environmental benefits. Wärtsilä has been awarded a contract in October 2011 to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion equipment for two advanced offshore supply vessels owned by Harvey Gulf International Marine.

Wärtsilä and Shell Oil Company have signed a Joint Co-operation Agreement aimed at promoting and accelerating the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel. The agreement was signed in August 2011 and will run for several years. Supplies of low cost, low emissions LNG fuel will be made available to Wärtsilä natural gas powered vessel operators, and other customers by Shell. The Joint Cooperation Agreement will focus first on supplies from the US Gulf Coast, and then later expand their efforts to cover a broader geographical range. Gas fuelled marine engines are seen as being a logical means for ship owners and operators to comply with increasingly stringent environmental legislation.

The Mississippi River and other inland rivers of the United States are home to several thousand towboats. They are vital carriers of goods and materials, and an important element within the country's overall transportation system. Current and future environmental restrictions on emissions are creating the need for a new “greener” design for these vessels. Wärtsilä and Ship Architects, Inc., USA, are cooperating to develop a new environmentally sound towboat concept. Ship Architects, Inc. is a company that specializes in providing shipyards and owners with technical solutions in conceptual and detailed vessel design, project management, and other associated services.

ConocoPhillips announced the finalization of its transaction with Freeport LNG Development, L.P. to participate in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Quintana, Brazoria County, Texas. ConocoPhillips has acquired 1 billion cubic feet (BCF) per day of regasification capacity in the terminal, has obtained a 50 percent interest in the general partner managing the venture and will provide substantial construction funding to the venture. The terminal is designed with storage capacity of nearly 7 BCF and send-out capacity of 1.5 BCF per day. Natural gas will be transported through a 9.4-mile pipeline to Stratton Ridge, Texas, which is a major point of interconnection with the Texas intrastate gas pipeline system.