Australia has ambitions to dethrone Qatar as the world’s largest LNG producer by the end of the next decade. The Australian government’s current goal is the production of 60 million tons of LNG per year for export. The Australian government is looking to achieve their goal largely through the Gorgon LNG Project. In Greek mythology, a gorgon is a hideous monster, but this Gorgon is a ‘monster’ of liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia.

Gorgon’s network of fields is believed to hold as much as 50,000 billion cubic feet of gas and the 40-year project is expected to produce 15 million tons a year, which is equal to 8 percent of current global capacity.

The Gorgon project has already attracted ready and eager buyers for the LNG that will be produced. PetroChina, China’s largest energy company, agreed to buy $41 billion worth of Gorgon LNG over a 20 year time period.

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A subsidiary of Sempra Energy (SRE) recently became an equal partner of a BP Plc. (BP) unit for developing a 200MW Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana. 

The Fowler Ridge joint venture is currently under construction on a 17,000-acre site, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The 200MW facility will produce enough electricity for nearly 60,000 homes.

The project's entire power output has already been sold under four, long-term 50-MW contracts. Three of these deals were signed with units of American Electric Power (AEP) and one with Vectren Energy Delivery (VVC) of Indiana for 20-year terms each. The project will use 133 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5 MW.

The Fowler Ridge II development is an expansion of Fowler Ridge I, a 400-MW wind farm that commenced operations

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LNG Makes It A Really G’Day, Mate

by Tony Daltorio, Investment U Research

They don’t call Australia the lucky country for nothing.

It must be luck to have such abundant amounts of energy, metals, minerals and agricultural commodities, not to mention residing so close to China and India, two countries with large populations and a seemingly insatiable appetite for such natural resources.

And that luck shows again in the recently approved, multi-billion dollar, Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which is spreading good fortune to the foreign companies involved in the venture and the investors who know that Australia is where it’s at…

Australia currently has the 14th largest known gas reserve in the world, and many expect it to make the world’s top ten list in that category sooner than later. Dr. Graeme Behtune, the director of research firm Energy Quest, estimates the

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Recent deals such as this one seem to paint a clear picture: China isnt as trapped into USD as the financial talking heads would like you to believe. A China that is not trapped into the USD is very bearish for the dollar. Why? I have heard many who simply refuse to accept the truth, that China has been loaning the US Government (by buying US paper) over $18 billion a day just to keep the lights on. When China refuses to buy US paper, then the Federal Reserve has to step to the plate and do so (by buying through their pet banks, JP Morgan and Government Sachs etc…or is it the Fed is the pet of the banks?) The problem with this is that any government that buys its own debt because ...

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) declared that the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo has arrived at the Adriatic LNG regasification terminal located offshore of Porto Levante, Italy. The terminal is the first offshore gravity based structure in the world for unloading, storage and regasification of LNG.   The terminal is owned by Qatar Terminal Limited (a Qatar Petroleum subsidiary owning 45%), Exxon Mobil Italiana Gas (45%) and Edison (10%).   The regasification terminal utilizes Exxon Mobil proprietary technology. Designed around a large concrete structure, the terminal houses two LNG storage tanks, a regasification plant and facilities for mooring and unloading LNG vessels.   Once it reaches full operational capacity later in 2009, the terminal will be able to deliver 775 million cubic feet of natural gas per day or approximately 10% of Italy’s current natural gas requirements.   Notably, Exxon Mobil has also recently started another LNG regasification terminal

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Sempra Energy (SRE) posted strong second-quarter results with earnings of $1.06 per share that topped the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate by 11.6% or 11 cents. This is commendable since GAAP EPS fell to eighty cents lower than the year-ago EPS of ninety-eight cents due to an asset write-off charge of twenty-six cents per share.   Sempra Energy is an energy services holding company involved in the sale, distribution, storage and transportation of natural gas. The company operates through two segments – Sempra Utilities and Sempra Global.   Quarterly Results

The Southern California-based company’s revenue, however, declined by a third year-over-year to $1.7 billion due to lower demand in the quarter. The downside came from both Sempra Utilities and Sempra Global.

This, coupled with the asset write-off from the Liberty gas storage project, brought net earnings down by 19%. However, year-ago earnings had included a $37 million gain from the Sempra Commodities

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Sempra Energy Reports Higher EPS on Lower RevenueSempra Energy (SRE) announced improved financial results for its 1st quarter ended March 31, 2009.Amazingly, the company's mixed results for the quarter yielded significantly improved earnings from a nearly comparable decline in revenues.Revenues for the reported quarter decreased 35.5% to $2.1 billion from $3.3 billion recorded in the earlier-year quarter.Net income for the reported quarter increased 40% to $316 million, or $1.29 per diluted share ($1.31 basic), compared to $242 million, or $0.92 per diluted share ($0.94 basic), in the prior-year quarter.Operating cash flow in the 1st quarter of 2009 increased primarily due to higher net income and positive changes in other working capital components, partially offset by higher equity earnings. Previously, impressive operating and financial results in 2007 and 2008, driven by strong cash flow from non-core asset sales at ...