Kinder Morgan Freedom Pipeline LLC, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, is holding a binding open season to determine industry interest in the development of an oil pipeline to transport crude oil from the Permian basin of West Texas to the refining complexes of northern and southern California.

China National Petroleum Corp. and KazMunayGas have signed an agreement on principles of an expansion of the pipeline that carries crude oil from Atasu in western Kazakhstan to a PetroChina Co. Ltd. refinery at Dushanzi, China.

Jordan’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (MEMR) earlier this month launched a tender for supply of LNG to the country.

Gazprom and EuRoPol Gaz have signed a memorandum of understanding stipulating that the proposed Yamal-Europe 2 natural gas pipeline would transit Poland en route to Slovakia and Hungary.

JSC Yamal LNG has let a contract for engineering, procurement, supply, construction, and commissioning on its planned 16.5-million tonne/year natural gas liquefaction plant to a consortium of France’s Technip and Japan’s JGC.

Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom’s management committee, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss pipeline exports of Russian natural gas. Miller updated Putin on the Nord Stream and South Stream lines, while Putin tasked Miller with developing the Yamal II pipeline and a gas branch to the Kaliningrad region.

A 1,300-mile pipeline that would transport Azerbaijan offshore natural gas to Turkey and Europe, effectively expanding a southern corridor for Caspian Basin gas, is moving forward, a BP PLC official said.

An alliance of US and Canadian chemical companies oppose increased natural gas exports and are lobbying against export permitting. Fitch Ratings believes operating margins for these companies might see compression from current robust levels if significant gas exports materialize.

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order on Apr. 2 preventing ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. (EMP) from restarting operations on a leaking Arkansas crude oil pipeline until satisfactory repairs have been made and immediate safety concerns have been addressed.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s staff has prepared a supplemental draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Downeast LNG project in Maine. Comments will be accepted until May 20, FERC said.