Welcome! Houston-based Zeus Development Corp is a 20-year-old research firm that offers comprehensive market intelligence in four areas: 1) LNG world trade, 2) LNG fuels, 3) upstream gas fields, and 4) gasification. This website provides current news, reports, statistics and forecasts of infrastructure investment, costs, prices, project and gas-field profiles, competitor experience lists, among other information.
If LNG ultimately can capture 20% of these five markets in North America, annual fuel consumption would approach 80 million tonnes (50 billion gallons). Thus far, LNG fuel proponents have captured the greatest amount of share in the upstream oil and gas market. Meanwhile, LNG suppliers like Pivotal Energy and Prometheus Energy are increasingly targeting LPG consumers while Clean Energy Fuels has a plan in place to build major networks of fuel stations for LNG-fueled truck fleets. Enlarge Chart
Robust demand for specialty chemicals is driving investment in syngas-based technologies. Much of the gasification involves coal to chemicals in China, which has led capacity growth for several years. In late 2010, the country successfully started the world’s largest coal-to-olefins project in Inner Mongolia. Sinopec aims to set the record again through an agreement with China’s Henan province to build a US$3.3 billion coal-to-olefins project. It will convert coal into 1.8 million tonnes of methanol annually, which will then be converted into olefins. China’s demand for methanol is increasing rapidly. Hebei province intends...Full Article
In this issue, we see China and India working to reduce the growth of gas imports by advancing domestic production. Finding and developing low-risk domestic reserves are a high priority, which may prove a worrisome trend for project developers in Australia, Africa, and the Americas that are hoping to enjoy continued high Asian prices. In China, where international shale-gas producers are praised for quintupling U.S. reserves, emphasis is on unconventional production. CNOOC Ltd., which intends to join China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. on some unconventional gas developments, began drilling its first shale-gas project in Anhui Province in Eastern China late last year. The company has gained shale-gas exploration expertise from U.S. assets acquired from Chesapeake Energy...Full Article
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) knew before Jan. 19 when it released its assessment of how LNG exports will affect U.S. gas prices that the conclusions would be controversial. In December, Deloitte issued a preemptive assessment of its own, which predicted LNG exports would have virtually no effect (1.7 percent) on domestic gas prices. Project developers, like Cheniere Energy, have reached similar conclusions as part of studies for regulatory applications. They note that EIA did not consider the economic benefits of building and operating the export infrastructure. Since then, President Barack Obama has added heat to the mix by killing the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. "People are pissed," one labor official told the online website, Politico. "The emotions are really, really raw right now. This is...Full Article
