Encana Corp. plans to acquire a 30% interest in the proposed Kitimat LNG export terminal on the west coast of central British Columbia.

Valero Energy Corp. plans to expand the crude unit capacity of its McKee refinery in Sunray, Tex., by 25,000 b/cd to increase total capacity to 195,000 b/cd.

ExxonMobil Corp. and Mitsui OSK Lines have selected Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp., to build four LNG carriers in China.

Chevron Australia is planning to enter front-end engineering and design studies for a fourth train at its Gorgon-Jansz LNG project in Western Australia next year.

Dangerous radiation leaks from four stricken reactors after a tsunami hit Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last week may be “the death knell” for a pending “nuclear renaissance,” increasing demand for natural gas, residual oil, and coal to fuel electric power generation, said several industry analysts.

Canada’s National Energy Board has issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the 1,196-km Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, part of the Mackenzie Gas Project.

Partners in Canada’s Kitimat LNG project let a contract to KBR for front-end engineering and design of the planned LNG export facility on British Columbia’s west coast. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Enterprise Products Partners LP purchased a 39-mile carbon dioxide pipeline from Trinity Pipeline LP that Enterprise will convert to crude oil service.

The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America anticipates congressional passage of a comprehensive federal pipeline safety bill in 2011, laying out a number of aggressive goals and delegating the details to the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration, an INGAA official said.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP is investing $25 million for a 50% interest in a tank farm at Cushing, Okla., to which a related joint venture will add storage capacity.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP, Denver, plans to build a third plant at its Arapaho gas processing complex in western Oklahoma to handle production from the expanding Granite Wash play.

Murphy Oil Corp. Ltd. has started up a gas processing plant with capacity of 180 MMcfd in the Tupper West area 20 km west of Dawson Creek, BC.

Energy Transfer Partners LP will build a new 160-mile, 30-in. OD natural gas pipeline in the Eagle Ford shale.