Chevron Corp. signed a 20-year sale and purchase agreement with Kyushu Electric Power Co. for the supply of as much as 700,000 tonnes/year of LNG from the Wheatstone LNG project offshore Western Australia.

The subsurface and well characteristics of the Sea Lion main complex, including the 450-m water depth and remote location 200 km north of the Falkland Islands, lend themselves to an FPSO development concept with subsea wells, said Rockhopper Exploration PLC.

Growing demand will push North American natural gas prices higher, spurring producers to increase activity and eventually make shale gas the dominant US supply component, a new analysis by Deloitte’s Center for Energy Solutions predicted.

Drilling offshore Cyprus Block 12 will begin later this month in an effort by Noble Energy Inc. to determine the extent of the natural gas resources, tentatively estimated at 10 tcf.

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service said it has approved the intention of Total SA unit Total Razvedka Razrabotka Yamal to join the shareholding structure of the Yamal LNG project.

Results of an appraisal well near the Barquentine discovery off Mozambique has added confidence to Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s plans for a liquefied natural gas plant fed by gas from Offshore Area 1 discoveries. The company has let contracts for pre-FEED studies.

Two companies are launching efforts to liquefy Alaska North Slope natural gas and truck it to the state’s interior while a Native regional corporation plans to press gas exploration in the nonproducing Nenana basin west of Fairbanks.

Arrow Energy Ltd., owned jointly by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and PetroChina, has let a front-end engineering and design contract for its coal seam gas-LNG project in Queensland to the CJV consortium headed by Chiyoda Corp. of Japan. The other partners are CB&I and Saipem.

GDF Suez has unveiled a “far-reaching alliance” with China Investment Corp. (CIC) that includes the acquisition of a 30% stake in GDF Suez’s oil and gas exploration and production business for €2.3 billion and purchase of a 10% stake in its LNG Atlantic liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago for €600 million.

The Ichthys LNG joint venture has awarded a $250 million (Aus.) offshore integrated project management support services contract to a JV of Clough and French firm Doris Engineering.

InterOil Corp. signed a Heads of Agreement with Noble Clean Fuels of Singapore, a subsidiary of commodities trading Noble Group, to supply 1 million tonnes/year of LNG from a proposed Gulf LNG project in Papua New Guinea.