Page 14 - NorthAmOil Week 29 2021
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NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil
CFE, WhiteWater Midstream spar
over three gas contracts
US-MEXICO THE Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), interest, noting that CFEi’s former CEO Guill-
Mexico’s national power provider, has been ermo Turrent had long-standing ties to White-
sparring publicly with Whitewater Midstream, a Water’s founder Matthew Calhoun.
US-based natural gas trader and pipeline opera- The state-run power company went on to
tor, over three contracts signed in 2016 and 2017. say that it intended to take legal action against
The dispute burst into the open last week, WhiteWater. Additionally, it stated that sev-
when CFE said it was looking into allegations eral former company representatives were
of corruption related to the deals. According being investigated for their involvement in the
to a company statement, the government-run contracts.
utility is investigating WhiteWater Midstream For its part, WhiteWater denied the accu-
for “the delivery of contracts under suspicion sations of corruption and levelled its own alle-
of corruption, abuse of trust and influence ped- gations against CFE. A spokesperson for the
dling.” These three deals raise concern because company told Natural Gas Intelligence ear-
WhiteWater was at the time “a recently created lier this week that the state-owned company’s
company [that] did not have assets, experience charges were false and reported that CFEi was
in the sector or financial solvency,” it explained. currently in violation of its contracts because of
Two of the contracts under scrutiny are gas non-payment.
supply deals signed between WhiteWater and “CFE’s repeated false statements to the media
CFE’s private subsidiary CFE Internacional about WhiteWater follow our initiation of arbi-
(CFEi), while the third is a gas transport deal. tration against CFEi for unpaid amounts owed,”
CFE put the value of the third contract at “bil- the spokesperson said. “Particularly disturbing
lions of dollars” and reported that the deal was are the explicit threats from the state-owned
also under investigation in the US for failure to enterprise to pursue criminal action on contracts
meet competitive bidding requirements. It also that it sought to renegotiate for months, leverag-
described the other two as “unfavourable and ing its non-payment. WhiteWater will vigorously
unequal” and pointed to possible conflicts of pursue its contractual rights in arbitration.”
ENERGY TRANSITION
Kinder Morgan to buy Kinetrex for $310mn
US PIPELINE operator Kinder Morgan announced produced from the decomposition of organic
last week that it had struck a deal to buy Kine- waste, the RNG production process reduces
trex Energy from an affiliate of Parallel49 Equity or eliminates greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-
for $310mn. Indianapolis-based Kinetrex is the sions. Thus this acquisition is in line with the
leading supplier of LNG in the US Midwest and broader trend of pipeline operators in the US
is also rapidly expanding in the renewable natu- and elsewhere taking steps to decarbonise their
ral gas (RNG) industry, Kinder Morgan stated. operations.
Kinetrex has a 50% interest in the largest Kinder Morgan formed an Energy Transition
RNG facility in Indiana and has signed com- Ventures (ETV) unit in March 2021 to identify
mercial agreements to begin construction on and pursue commercial opportunities emerging
three additional landfill-based RNG facilities, from the energy transition. It is this unit that is
according to the statement. Once these facili- involved in the Kinetrex acquisition.
ties are operational next year, Kinetrex’s total “This is a great day in the young history of
RNG production from the four sites is expected Kinder Morgan Energy Transition Ventures
to amount to more than 4bn cubic feet (113mn (ETV),” said ETV’s president, Jesse Arenivas.
cubic metres) per year. “We have been focused on RNG due to its poten-
The transaction will also include two small- tial to grow rapidly in the near term and deliver
scale LNG production and fuelling facilities. It is attractive returns, with landfills providing a low-
anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2021. cost, predictable and long-term feedstock. The
RNG is derived from renewable sources, team at Kinetrex has developed an outstanding
including organic waste in landfills, wastewater business model and platform for future growth
treatment plants and agricultural operations, in a fragmented market, and we are excited to
Kinder Morgan noted. By capturing methane welcome them to Kinder Morgan.”
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 22•July•2021
