Toho Gas Company announced that it has entered into an agreement with Mitsui to purchase over a 20-year period 300,000 tons/year of LNG from the proposed Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, La. at prices linked to Henry Hub gas prices.  According to the press release, LNG production at the terminal is expected to begin the second half of 2017.

Magnolia LNG has executed a legally binding Precedent Agreement with Kinder Morgan Louisiana Pipeline (KMLP) for firm transportation rights for the full 8 million tonnes/year capacity of the Magnolia LNG export terminal at Lake Charles, La.  According to the press release, KMLP will proceed to file its application with FERC to construct the required pipeline compression and interconnect facilities to provide the transportation service.  Importantly, FERC’s review of KMLP’s application will run parallel to its review of Magnolia LNG’s formal application to construct its LNG terminal, which is expected to be filed in March or April of this year.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved Sabine Pass Liquefaction’s (SPL) application to export to nations having a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States any surplus LNG volumes from trains 5 and 6 of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, La. not already committed to contract with Total Gas & Power North America or Centrica.  The authorization covers up to 314 Bcf/year over twenty years.  DOE will consider SPL’s request to export the same volumes to non-FTA nations separately.  DOE’s order can be found here, and the complete docket for SPL’s export application can be found here.

DOE also recently approved Goven Natural Gas Holdings’ application to export over a two-year period up to 2 Bcf of LNG via ISO containers shipped on vessels to FTA nations Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  DOE’s order can be found here, and Goven’s export application can be found here.

An article in The Chronicle Herald reports that the Nova Scotia environmental assessment office is in the process of reviewing Pieridae Energy (Canada) Ltd.’s proposed Goldboro LNG terminal project in Guysborough County.  The article states that Pieridae is due to submit responses to the office’s questions by the end of January, after which a review panel will prepare a report and recommendations to the environment minister, who will then have 21 days to make a decision on the proposed project.  According to the article, if approved, construction could begin in 2015, with operations starting in 2019.

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell introduced legislation to advance the state’s participation in the Alaska LNG project, which would consist of an LNG Terminal and a pipeline to access North Slope gas supplies for in-state use and for export as LNG.  The bill allows the commissioners of the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Revenue to negotiate terms, subject to legislative approval, for project services and provides authority to modify certain lease terms on property that commits gas to a natural gas project in order to facilitate commercialization.  The bill also includes provisions that relate to the oil and gas production tax that would change the tax from a net tax on production to a new lower rate applicable to gross production amounts.  Read more in the press release and Anchorage Daily News article.

The bill has been criticized by some Alaska lawmakers for tax reasons and the potential for secret contract negotiations.  Read more in the Anchorage Daily News article.

Sabine Pass LNG filed a report with FERC on construction activities at its LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, La.  The report, covering activities through December 2013, states that Stage 1 (trains 1 and 2) engineering is 90.7% complete, procurement is 82.9%, and subcontract and direct hire construction work are 30.5% and 12.9% complete, respectively.  Stage 1 overall project completion is 53.9% against the plan of 56.3%.

For Stage 2 (trains 3 and 4), engineering is now 37.6% complete, procurement is 35.2%, and subcontract and direct hire construction work are 7.8% and 0.0% complete, respectively.  Overall project completion for Stage 2 is 20.4% against the plan of 17.4%.

Sabine Pass LNG states that the report supports the achievement of the scheduled substantial completion dates for trains 1 and 2, which remain as February 2016 and June 2016, respectively.  Substantial completion dates for trains 3 and 4 are April 2017 and August 2017.

The report can be found here, and the complete docket for the Sabine Pass LNG export terminal can be found on eLibrary by searching Docket No. CP11-72.

The Globe and Mail reports that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company are looking favorably upon obtaining LNG from British Columbia (B.C.), Canada.  However, possible shortages of labor for terminal construction, details of the impending B.C. LNG tax, and the potential for a global LNG supply glut have raised concerns over whether a Japan-Canada LNG relationship will materialize.

An article in the Alaska Dispatch discusses royalty, taxes, and market issues associated with the State of Alaska’s recent signing of an agreement to participate in the proposed Alaska LNG project, a proposed pipeline and LNG export terminal intended to access North Slope gas supplies for export to Asian nations.  The article also states that Alaska Governor Parnell intends to ask the legislature for authority to enter into confidential negotiations with participant companies ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips, and TransCanada on the terms of the State’s participation in the project.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has released a White Paper calling for regulatory reforms to permit increased exports of U.S. energy supplies, including LNG.  Regarding LNG, the White Paper recommends that “DOE [] expedite its review process for applications to export LNG to non-[Free Trade Agreement] countries and that “[f]ederal environmental review of gas projects should not include potential climate change impacts.”  Read more in the press release.

The Globe and Mail reports that Australian company Woodside Petroleum has signed an agreement with the government of British Columbia (B.C.) to acquire land at Grassy Point, B.C. for the development of an LNG export terminal.  Aurora LNG, a joint venture led by CNOOC Ltd. of China, earlier entered a similar agreement for development of an LNG export terminal at Grassy Point.