If Exxon Mobil gets its way, liquid natural gas could be flowing out of Texas to countries around the world within five years.

Exxon oil and gas giant announced a partnership with Golden Pass Products and state-owned Qatar Petroleum International for a $10 billion expansion of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal along the Texas Gulf Coast near Port Arthur.

With the need for imports dwindling, "it makes sense to turn the thing around and add liquefying capability and take this abundant resource and connect it with world markets," said Bill Davis, project executive for Golden Pass Products.

The natural gas would be frozen to -263 degree Fahrenheit so it shrinks to 1/600 the size, making it practical for shipping to world markets.

There are political hurdles to cross before natural gas can go out to most countries in the world.

Golden Pass has applied for a permit to export natural gas to a short list of free trade countries and a longer list of non free-trade countries. The Department of Energy granted the permit for sale to free trade countries but the other permit is still pending, Davis said.

The idea of exporting LNG has become a hot political item lately, as energy giants like T. Boone Pickens and others weigh in.

Pickens argues that natural gas should be used to power vehicle fleets so the country doesn't need to import foreign oil from politically unstable countries.

source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2013/05/13/exxon-wants-to-invest-10-billion-in.html

The US shale gas boom has increased the supply of natural gas, which in turn has brought gas prices way down. Since gas is a fuel that runs power plants, its price affects your electric bill – depending on your utility.

We've all been hearing about the controversy over natural gas extraction from shale via hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - it creates jobs, it pollutes ground water, it's good for the environment because gas is cleaner than coal, it's bad for the environment because gas is still a fossil fuel...

But, no matter what side of the controversey you're on, the increase in domestic supply brought natural gas prices to record lows last year: while gas cost $4 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU) in spring 2011, it cost only half as much last spring. It's now on the rise again as low prices put a damper on supply, to right around $4 per MMBTU recently.

But how does this affect you? Most power generators own plants that burn natural gas – what they have to pay for that gas affects what you pay them for your electricity, but it’s of course not that simple. How much you actually “feel” the impact of gas price fluctuations on your electric bill depends on your utility: different electric companies have different ways of incorporating the fuel cost into their pricing.

he US’ newfound fracking boom may, or may not, take you on a wild ride in the short-term depending on your utility’s procurement pattern. New Yorkers and Texans can claim more than others that they feel the effects of the fracking controversy: with gas prices up and down, so are their electric rates. In the longer term, we’re of course all in for the same ride!

Of course it’s not just natural gas prices that determine overall electricity rates – transmission bottlenecks and seasonal demand changes also affect them, as does the cost of other fuels.

That said, consumers in States with retail choice can lock in an electric rate at any point to get the best of both worlds: low prices and no variability!

President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday for a visit he hopes will draw attention to Mexico's emerging economic might, even as worries about containing drug-trafficking...

South Texas is all ears as both Obama and Pena Nieto have said they want the visit to focus on economic issues rather than just security.

Pena Nieto is eager to underscore Mexico's recent run of solid economic growth, fueled in part by its increasing attractiveness as a manufacturing hub.

"The new government wants to change the narrative," said former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow. "It doesn't want the headlines to be about murders and decapitations."

The Mexican president has launched an ambitious reform agenda, aiming to overhaul the tax system and energy sector, among other areas, in a bid to boost economic growth.

"The way the agenda is laid out is to emphasize the economic side of things, to show that the relationship is about more than just security," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "The signal that's being sent is that the United States fully supports the reform agenda."

Obama, for his part, would like to highlight Mexico's progress in moving up the economic ladder, in part to emphasize that his own goal of reforming U.S. immigration laws will not promote an exodus of Mexicans into the United States.

The two presidents are also likely to discuss the fate of a much-ballyhooed agreement that would remove obstacles to expanding deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The United States has yet to finalize the deal, know as the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, which provide guidelines for drilling in an area of the Gulf that straddles the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

The deal is seen as the key to opening a new era of cooperation on oil production between the two countries. Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex needs technology and investment to boost its stagnant production, and U.S. companies are eager to help.

If Exxon Mobil gets its way, liquid natural gas could be flowing out of Texas to countries around the world within five years.

Exxon oil and gas giant announced a partnership with Golden Pass Products and state-owned Qatar Petroleum International for a $10 billion expansion of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal along the Texas Gulf Coast near Port Arthur.

With the need for imports dwindling, "it makes sense to turn the thing around and add liquefying capability and take this abundant resource and connect it with world markets," said Bill Davis, project executive for Golden Pass Products.

The natural gas would be frozen to -263 degree Fahrenheit so it shrinks to 1/600 the size, making it practical for shipping to world markets.

There are political hurdles to cross before natural gas can go out to most countries in the world.

Golden Pass has applied for a permit to export natural gas to a short list of free trade countries and a longer list of non free-trade countries. The Department of Energy granted the permit for sale to free trade countries but the other permit is still pending, Davis said.

The idea of exporting LNG has become a hot political item lately, as energy giants like T. Boone Pickens and others weigh in.

Pickens argues that natural gas should be used to power vehicle fleets so the country doesn't need to import foreign oil from politically unstable countries.

source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2013/05/13/exxon-wants-to-invest-10-billion-in.html

The US shale gas boom has increased the supply of natural gas, which in turn has brought gas prices way down. Since gas is a fuel that runs power plants, its price affects your electric bill – depending on your utility.

We've all been hearing about the controversy over natural gas extraction from shale via hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - it creates jobs, it pollutes ground water, it's good for the environment because gas is cleaner than coal, it's bad for the environment because gas is still a fossil fuel...

But, no matter what side of the controversey you're on, the increase in domestic supply brought natural gas prices to record lows last year: while gas cost $4 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU) in spring 2011, it cost only half as much last spring. It's now on the rise again as low prices put a damper on supply, to right around $4 per MMBTU recently.

But how does this affect you? Most power generators own plants that burn natural gas – what they have to pay for that gas affects what you pay them for your electricity, but it’s of course not that simple. How much you actually “feel” the impact of gas price fluctuations on your electric bill depends on your utility: different electric companies have different ways of incorporating the fuel cost into their pricing.

he US’ newfound fracking boom may, or may not, take you on a wild ride in the short-term depending on your utility’s procurement pattern. New Yorkers and Texans can claim more than others that they feel the effects of the fracking controversy: with gas prices up and down, so are their electric rates. In the longer term, we’re of course all in for the same ride!

Of course it’s not just natural gas prices that determine overall electricity rates – transmission bottlenecks and seasonal demand changes also affect them, as does the cost of other fuels.

That said, consumers in States with retail choice can lock in an electric rate at any point to get the best of both worlds: low prices and no variability!

President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico on Thursday for a visit he hopes will draw attention to Mexico's emerging economic might, even as worries about containing drug-trafficking...

South Texas is all ears as both Obama and Pena Nieto have said they want the visit to focus on economic issues rather than just security.

Pena Nieto is eager to underscore Mexico's recent run of solid economic growth, fueled in part by its increasing attractiveness as a manufacturing hub.

"The new government wants to change the narrative," said former U.S. ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow. "It doesn't want the headlines to be about murders and decapitations."

The Mexican president has launched an ambitious reform agenda, aiming to overhaul the tax system and energy sector, among other areas, in a bid to boost economic growth.

"The way the agenda is laid out is to emphasize the economic side of things, to show that the relationship is about more than just security," said Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "The signal that's being sent is that the United States fully supports the reform agenda."

Obama, for his part, would like to highlight Mexico's progress in moving up the economic ladder, in part to emphasize that his own goal of reforming U.S. immigration laws will not promote an exodus of Mexicans into the United States.

The two presidents are also likely to discuss the fate of a much-ballyhooed agreement that would remove obstacles to expanding deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The United States has yet to finalize the deal, know as the Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement, which provide guidelines for drilling in an area of the Gulf that straddles the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

The deal is seen as the key to opening a new era of cooperation on oil production between the two countries. Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex needs technology and investment to boost its stagnant production, and U.S. companies are eager to help.