FortisBC has completed construction of the Mount Hayes Natural Gas Storage Facility on Vancouver Island, Canada. The facility holds 1.5 Bcf of LNG and cost approximately $A186.6 million. Construction at the site began three years ago, and the facility is now set to commence operations.

BP purchases exploration and production blocks in Brazil

BP has received final approval to complete the purchase of ten exploration and production blocks in offshore Brazil from Devon Energy. The regulatory approvals from the Brazilian National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency were the last required to conclude the agreement announced in March last year. It is expected formal completion of the acquisition will take place shortly.

Mitsui buys into Poland’s shale gas

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Mitsui & Co. has entered into a definitive agreement with United States oil and gas development company Marathon Oil Corporation to acquire a 9 per cent working interest in ten of Marathon’s shale gas exploration concessions in Poland. Mitsui is the first Japanese company to enter into a European shale gas project. The ten concessions, encompassing 2.1 million acres, are located onshore Poland from northeast to southeast.

First gas for Angostura project

First gas has commenced from BHP Billiton’s Angostura Gas Project, located offshore Trinidad and Tobago. The new gas export platform has a design capacity of 280 MMcf/d of gas and is located alongside the company’s existing facilities within the Greater Angostura Field.

New exploration licences offshore Israel

ATP Oil and Gas Corporation has acquired a 40 per cent working interest in the Shimshon, Daniel East and Daniel West licences, offshore Israel for $A29 million. The Israeli Government has approved these licences.

Saipem wins EPI contract in Russia

Saipem has been awarded a contract for the expansion of the structures associated with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium marine export terminal, near Yuhznaya Ozereyevka on the Black Sea shores in Russia. The Caspian Pipeline measures 1,768 km in length and has a diameter of 1,066.8 mm. The development includes the engineering, procurement and installation (EPI) of a new offshore export pipeline for hydrocarbon transportation and for the installation of a new offshore mooring system for hydrocarbon export. Offshore activities will be carried out during the second half of 2012 by the S355 vessel.

New gas-fired power station for China

Huaneng Power International has received approval from the Jiangsu Provincial Development and Reform Commission to construct the Huaneng Jinling combined-cycle cogeneration project, to be located in Jiangsu Province, China. The project will build two 200 MW combined-cycle gas turbine co-generation units and corresponding support facilities, and the investment amount is estimated to be approximately $A250 million.

Nabucco Pipeline framework finalised

The legal framework for the Nabucco Pipeline, designed to deliver natural gas to Europe via Turkey, has been finalised with the signing of the Project Support Agreements between NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International and the responsible ministries of the five transit countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey). Construction will begin in 2013, rather than the original proposed date of 2012.