Freeport Mcmoran News

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) elected 14 industry leaders to its Board of Directors on April 21, 2016 during its Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Gary Luquette, President and Chief Executive Officer, Franks International, N.V. Kirk Meche, President and Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc. Richard Morrison, Regional President Gulf of Mexico, BP America, Inc. W. Matt Ralls, Executive Chairman, Rowan Companies, Inc. Jeff Platt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tidewater, Inc.

China has agreed to scrap export subsidies on a range of products from metals to agriculture and textiles, the United States said on Thursday, in a step by Beijing to reduce trade frictions with Washington. China is to end a program known as its "demonstration bases-common service platform," which provides export subsidies to Chinese companies in seven economic sectors, the U.S. trade representative's office said. Some industry figures were skeptical about the deal's impact, especially regarding steel, which has been a flashpoint with Chinese overcapacity pressuring U.S. suppliers. One source knowledgeable about the agreement said it was not comprehensive enough to do much to help the U.S. steel industry, given its focus was only on specialty products.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc co-founder James Moffett will step down as chairman and quit its board, months after the miner added two new directors under pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Freeport said Moffett, who had been appointed chairman emeritus, would be a consultant to its board and advise the company on its Indonesia operations, including Grasberg. Moffett was instrumental in the discovery and development of Grasberg, one of the world's biggest gold and copper deposits. The company's shares fell 7.5 percent to $7.00 in morning trading. Moffett stepping down probably has more to do with a health problem rather than pressure from Icahn, Bradford Research analyst Charles Bradford told Reuters. Icahn, who owned 8.8 percent stake in Freeport as of Sept.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Wednesday it expects to "imminently" sign an agreement with Indonesia that would enable it to immediately resume copper concentrate exports which have been halted for more than six months. Freeport said on July 8 it had agreed on a draft memorandum of understanding but had not signed it. At the time, it gave no time frame on when it would resume exports. Indonesia introduced a mineral ore export ban and a steep export tax in January. The gold and copper miner also reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that were little changed from a year-ago. "It is a compromise to create a bridge for us so that we can return to normal operations," Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said of the MoU on a call with analysts and investors.

United LNG, LP and Petronet LNG Limited, India's largest LNG importer, agree to supply LNG from the Main Pass Energy Hub™ project in the Gulf of Mexico. The (conditional) agreement was signed by Petronet LNG Managing Director & CEO, Dr. A.K. Balyan and Stephen Payne, Chairman & General Partner of United LNG, of the United States, at the LNG 17 Conference held in Houston, Texas. The parties said they would continue working toward a final Sales Purchase Agreement to conclude the purchase and sale by the year's end.

Industry consortium wants to utilize McMoRan’s Main Pass Energy Hub™ (MPEH™) as a potential deepwater port facility. United LNG, LP, and Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC (FME), a subsidiary of McMoRan Exploration Co, are engaged in efforts to utilize McMoRan’s Main Pass Energy Hub™ (MPEH™) as a potential Deepwater Port facility to receive, store, condition, and liquefy domestic natural gas for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas would be received by pipeline at MPEH™, processed, and then transferred to on-site floating vessels for liquefaction and offloading to LNG transport vessels for export to foreign locations. On January 4…

Hornbeck-Leevac Marine Services, Inc., announced that it has taken delivery of its first 265-ft. class deepwater offshore supply vessel, the BJ Blue Ray, which immediate commenced service under a 5-year time charter with BJ services to support well stimulation services, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico. Three additional 265-ft. class offshore vessels are under construction for delivery in 2002. Hornbeck-Leevac also announces the purchase of the M/V W.K. McWilliams, Jr. from Freeport-McMoRan Sulphur LLC for an undisclosed amount. The vessel, to be renamed the “Energy Service 9001,” is a 402-ft. self-propelled unit built in 1992 and historically used by Freeport-McMoRan in the transportation of molten sulphur.

The LNG industry is beginning to move offshore, in part as a defensive tactic to avoid the safety and security concerns of local citizens to shore-based terminals and, in part, as an offensive move to access more gas reserves and possibly gain manufacturing and scale efficiencies. Project developers and the engineering contractors and equipment manufacturers that support them are working out the technical challenges of marinizing liquefaction, storage, loading, unloading and regas systems. "Moves to offshore facilities will change the economics of LNG project development," said Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus Development Corporation.

D.F. International logistics service provider D.F. Young, Inc. has announced the relocation of its headquarters office from New York City to Jersey City, N.J. in the first quarter of 2001. The company is leasing 14,000 sq. ft. at 1 Journal Square in Jersey City, after operating from downtown New York for most of its 97-year history. "When this company was started in 1903, all the shipping companies and banks were located in downtown Manhattan," said Thomas Mosimann, president of D.F. Young. "But the port has moved, and most of the other forwarders have followed it to New Jersey over the last 10 to 15 years. D.F.Young already has its Marine Department located in Port Elizabeth, N.J., as well as offices across the U.S. in Jamaica, N.Y.

Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Co. is one step closer to obtaining a deep port license to regasify one billion cu. ft. of natural gas per day at one of its former offshore sulfur mines. The U.S. Coast Guard all but approved the request, citing “sufficient information” to continue processing the application. Once approved, McMoRan’s former $1b offshore sulfur mines will receive a $450m facelift to convert the platforms to regasify liquefied natural gas and then ship it to onshore pipelines. McMoRan amended its license application with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration May 31 to obtain approval of its Main Pass Energy Hub project using closed loop technology.

According to The Daily Advertiser, ConocoPhillips has no intentions of altering its plans to build an open-loop liquefied natural gas terminal off the southwest Louisiana coast in light of the governor's decision last week to veto a similar project. A spokes-man for ConocoPhillips said the company is going forward with its already laid plans for Beacon Port, a proposed LNG terminal about 50 miles offshore from Cameron Parish. Gov. Kathleen Blanco on May 5 exercised her power to veto an LNG terminal proposed by Freeport McMoRan off the Plaquemines Parish coast. Blanco cited environmental concerns about the terminal's effect on Gulf fisheries - it would use 100 million to 200 million of gallons of seawater a day to re-heat the super-cooled gas…

Gov. Kathleen Blanco late on May 5 vetoed a proposed offshore natural gas port over concerns that fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico could be harmed. Blanco had until May 7 to file any objections to a proposed federal license for the Main Pass Energy Hub, a liquefied natural gas terminal being sought by Freeport McMoRan Energy LLC, a subsidiary of New Orleans-based McMoRan Exploration Co. "Until studies demonstrate that the operation of the open rack vaporizer will not have an unacceptable impact on the surrounding ecosystem, I will only support LNG terminals using a closed loop system having negligible impacts to marine life," Blanco said in a letter sent on May 5 to Julie A. Nelson, acting deputy maritime administrator and chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

1956: Elvis released his first album; the film debut of Invasion of the Body Snatchers was frightening American audiences; My Fair Lady opened on Broadway; and J. Ray McDermott began operations at the offshore industry's first dedicated steel fabrication yard near Morgan City, Louisiana. Among the major events of early 1956, many are now trivia, but the Morgan City "fab yard" continues to have a profound and lasting effect on the region and the world. Since its humble beginnings on April 1, 1956, J. Ray's Morgan City fabrication facility has built more offshore structures than any other fabrication facility and has served as the model for new offshore fabrication yards around the globe.

In the wake of announcements by the Federal Reserve about the need for more natural gas, Saipem Group, Single Buoy Moorings, Bluewater Offshore, Spectrum Energy Services, Hoegh LNG and Aker Kvaerner will discuss radically new concepts for receiving terminals at an industry meeting in Houston, June 19 and 20. "The LNG industry has typically required at least five years to put new supply chains into place. With local community opposition to onshore terminals running high, these lead-times may grow even longer," said Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus Development Corporation, a company that is conducting industry research to investigate new designs.

The operator of the world’s largest and most modern molten sulphur tanker has enjoyed four years of near-continuous service, thanks in part to the ship’s innovative thermal maintenance system. Sulphur Carriers, Inc., a subsidiary of International Shipholding Corporation, keeps M/V Sulphur Enterprise at sea hauling around 24,000 long tons of molten sulphur per trip. “We’ve had zero freeze-ups and zero maintenance associated with the bolt-on piping and valve heating system,” says Peter Johnston, Sulphur Carriers’ VP of operations. For reportedly the first time on any sulphur transport ship, a bolt-on heating system keeps the molten cargo flowing and the ship on schedule by preventing costly delays due to frozen pipes and valves.