Authorizing US LNG exports would send positive signals not just to producers, but also to capital markets that would in turn finance new transportation systems, experts suggested at a conference on American energy exports.

A group of US Midcontinent mayors and the American Petroleum Institute separately urged the US Department of Energy to authorize LNG exports.

The US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s new chairman raised questions about an independent study the US Department of Energy is using to determine whether applications to export LNG are in the national interest.

Policies that encourage responsible development of more US oil and gas could significantly help the nation address its serious federal budget deficit and unemployment problems, US Chamber of Commerce Pres. Thomas J. Donohue said.

A consortium of companies developing natural gas liquefaction to handle production off Mozambique has awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to a joint venture of Fluor Corp., Irving, Tex., and Japan’s JGC Corp.

Anticipated US natural gas exports are expected to provide economic benefits to gas importing countries but probably will not trigger a significant rise in US gas prices, said a report released by Deloitte’s Center for Energy Solutions.

A Maryland circuit court rejected the Sierra Club’s argument that a 2005 agreement allowing construction of a natural gas import terminal at Cove Point does not allow using it to export LNG.

Chevron Canada Ltd. plans to acquire a 50% state in the Kitimat LNG project and proposed Pacific Trail Pipeline (PTP) and a 50% interest in 644,000 acres in the Horn River and Liard basins in British Columbia.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with Eni SPA aimed at coordinating the two companies’ activities in connection with the Mozambique liquefied natural gas project.

BHP Billiton has sold all its interests in the Woodside Petroleum-led Browse LNG joint venture to PetroChina for $1.63 billion.