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.
This week even Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow couldn’t boost gas markets. At the writing of this report, front-month NYMEX futures were down 3.3 percent to US$2.47 per million Btu, following last week when prices fell 7.7 percent, the biggest drop since April 2010. Some Houston traders are anticipating prices this summer to dip below US$1/MMBtu as production runs smack into full storage. Traders at Morgan Stanley, for example, believe storage could set a record of 2.3 trillion cubic feet by the end of March. On Feb. 1, the firm cut its 2012 price forecast for the NYMEX Henry Hub by 30 percent to an average US$2.70/MMBtu...Full Article
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
