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Despite falling raw material costs, stagnating labor rates, and a strengthening U.S. dollar, construction costs remain high. In its latest quarterly report, CBI reported the highest gross profits and operating incomes in four years. KBR reported a rise of 27% in its backlog of orders.

Earlier this decade, as construction costs rose, contractors and equipment suppliers cited raw material price inflation, rising labor rates and the weakening U.S. dollar as culprits. Now, with those indexes turning the other way, owners are wondering when construction costs will fall backward as well.More...

1) Clock Ticking on Brass LNG, Says Former Nigerian Minister

According to the Nigerian periodical Vanguard, Chief Edwin Clark, who is a former minister for information and chief spokesman for the Niger Delta, has called upon the Nigerian federal government to speed up the process on the final investment decision at Brass LNG.More...

1) Qatargas 3 Delayed to 2010

On November 3, Ryan Lance, the head of exploration and production for Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East for ConocoPhillips, said that Qatargas 3 would be delayed a year, to 2010. ConocoPhillips has a 30% interest in the plant.More...

1) RCR Awarded $60 Million Pluto LNG Services Contract

RCR Tomlinson, a Perth-based engineering company, has won a $60 million mechanical works and warehouse services contract for the $12 billion Pluto LNG project. The contract will be satisfied through a joint venture between RCR and Freo Machinery, an Australian construction services company. More...

1) Ratnagiri LNG’s Uncertain Future

The Indian government is considering selling off the Ratnagiri LNG terminal from the overall Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project, Ltd., which was previously called the Dabhol Power Project. The sale proposal has already been making its way through senior levels of government, including a committee of secretaries.More...

1) Researchers Report Bradwood Landing LNG May Disrupt Salmon Population

After protesting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) conditional approval for Bradwood Landing LNG, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries division has released a report detailing potentially serious threats to Chinook salmon in the area.More...

1) Trinidad and Tobago Looks to Increase Role in LNG Industry

The energy minister of Trinidad and Tobago has recently suggested that the Caribbean country may be looking to take an increased role in the LNG industry. Conrad Enill said that despite Trinidad’s importance in LNG supplies, the country itself has little ownership in the trains and the product.More...

1) Centrica Secures its First LNG Delivery for Grain LNG

Centrica has announced that it will receive its first LNG import cargo early this month, which will be used to begin commissioning Grain LNG, a 780 million cubic feet per day terminal near London. The Q-Flex carrier named Al Khuwair, which is operated by Teekay, is expected to deliver 4.8 bcf of gas from RasGas in Qatar.More...