-The vast majority of the LNG projects proposed in the U.S. and Canada will be cancelled amid low oil prices and oversupply, according to a new report by Moody’s. The oil price plunge has eliminated the price advantage once held by U.S. projects, which drove demand for U.S. LNG from Asian buyers, Moody’s said. Projects already under construction, however, will continue as planned. Moody’s said Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction project is the likeliest to move forward this year.
-Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the expansion of Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal by two trains. Via Natural Gas Intelligence, the trains would increase the terminal’s export capacity from 20 million tons per year to 29 million tons per year. FERC also approved Cheniere’s plan to expand the Creole Trail Pipeline.
-ConocoPhillips will boost its capital budget by 50% over the next three years,, spending primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Via Bloomberg, the company is betting big on the future of North American production even as some question domestic shale's viability amid low oil prices. Analysts have pointed out that ConocoPhillips’ operating costs are among the lowest in North America.
-A new report by the Center for Offshore Safety (COS) shows no fatalities, loss of well control incidents or oil spills of 10,000 gallons or more were reported in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico by COS members in 2013.
-Halliburton is putting three business units up for sale to help clear its $34.6 billion deal to buy Baker Hughes with antitrust regulators. Via FuelFix, Halliburton will attempt to sell its fixed cutter bits and roller cone drill bits, directional drilling and logging-while-drilling and measurement-while-drilling businesses in separate deals.
