-The Port of Galveston will set aside 185 acres on Pelican Island for NextDecade — a firm that is considering building a $6 billion LNG export terminal on the property. Via FuelFix, NextDecade will pay the port $100,000 to reserve the land for six months while it conducts feasibility studies and begins applying for federal permits. NextDecade can extend the agreement by six months or two years or sign a long-term lease.
-Enhanced oil recovery technology could increase U.S. tight oil recovery rates by 100% by 2030, according to Wood Mackenzie. If those increases do occur and the U.S. retains its ban on crude oil exports, the differential between WTI and Brent crude could reach approximately $30 per barrel. But such a large gap might spur the government to lift the ban, Wood Mackenzie said.
-Four companies are proposing an $8 billion green energy plan that would generate 9.2 million megawatt-hours for the Los Angeles area per year. The plan — conceived by Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy, Magnum Energy, Dresser-Rand and Duke-American Transmission — would include a $4 billion wind farm in Wyoming and a $1.5 billion compressed air energy storage facility in Utah. Duke Energy subsidiary Duke-American Transmission would build a $2.6 billion transmission line from the wind farm to the storage facility.
-Houston-based Southwestern Energy is one of six international energy companies that have signed on to a voluntary U.N. methane emissions reduction program. Via the Wall Street Journal, the firms will monitor and report their methane emissions, but they did not commit to specific emissions reduction targets. The Obama Administration is weighing to what extent it will attempt to regulate methane emissions in the U.S. The American Petroleum Institute noted today that methane emissions from natural gas systems have fallen 17% in the past two decades.
-Total hired Kevin McLachlan as its new head of exploration. McLachlan, who previously worked at Murphy Oil, will be charged with reversing Total’s fortunes in exploration, where a lack of significant finds has forced the company to re-think its strategy.
