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Brouillette replaces Perry as Energy Secretary
US
Former US Secretary
of Energy Rick Perry officially left his post on December 1.
THE US Senate has confirmed Dan Brouillette as the new federal Secretary of Energy in a biparti- san vote of 70-15. Brouillette replaces Rick Perry, who officially left his post on December 1 after announcing his resignation in October.
Perry, a former Governor of Texas, resigned after becoming tangled up in the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump. In early October, Trump reportedly told House of Representatives Republicans that he had made his controversial phone call to Ukrainian Pres- ident Volodymyr Zelenskiy at Perry’s urging. During the phone call, in which Trump pressed Zelenskiy to investigate his potential political rival former US Vice-President Joe Biden, as well as his son Hunter Biden.
Perry has insisted that any call he may have urged Trump to make concerned exclusively regulatory matters and economic development. He has denied any mention of the Bidens in any official conversations with Ukraine that he was involved in.
In a statement posted on social media site Twitter this week, Perry described serving in
Trump’s administration as “the honour and priv- ilege of a lifetime”.
Brouillette previously worked as the senior vice-president and head of public policy for USAA, a provider of financial services to the military community, and as a vice-president of Ford Motor. He has also held various positions in government, including that of US Deputy Secre- tary of Energy. He has pledged to further Perry’s legacy of promoting US energy independence, innovation and security.
Perry’s departure is not expected to affect the agenda set by the US Department of Energy (DoE) during his tenure as Energy Secretary. Perry focused mostly on promoting the produc- tion and export of fossil fuels, as well as support- ing nuclear power generation.
Some of Perry’s efforts were scuppered by low commodity prices, which acted to disin- centivise new production to an extent, par- ticularly offshore and frontier regions that are more costly to develop, despite the Trump government trying to encourage exploration of such areas.™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Energy Transfer, Shell release Lake Charles LNG tender
LOUISIANA
ENERGY Transfer announced on December 3 that a commercial tender package had been released for the Lake Charles LNG project, which it is proposing to build in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell. The package has been issued to engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors, asking them to submit final commercial bids for the proposed liquefaction project.
The scheme involves converting the existing Lake Charles import terminal in Louisiana and building 16.45mn tonnes per year (tpy) of liq- uefaction capacity. Energy Transfer and Shell expect to receive bids in the second quarter of 2020.
The commercial tender invites EPC contrac- tors to develop a comprehensive commercial bid for the lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) contract. The bid would be based on a fully developed scope related to design, engineering, technical and safety specifications for the construction, com- missioning and start-up of the project, Energy Transfer said in a statement. It also requires the contractors to submit a fully developed execu- tion plan and completion schedule.
The release of the commercial tender follows an invitation to tender (ITT) that was announced
in May, Energy Transfer added. The ITT focused on the technical scope of project – the contrac- tors’ verification of the engineering and design of the proposed liquefaction plant.
“This is an important step in the continued development of this LNG project with Shell,” said Energy Transfer LNG’s president, Tom Mason. “This project capitalises on repurposing existing brownfield regas assets to achieve cost savings in the construction of the liquefaction facility. The project will also benefit from the unique strength of Energy Transfer as a leading natural gas pipe- line operator with extensive connectivity to the Lake Charles facility,” he added.
“The commercial tender represents another important milestone in our phased approach to developing a credible and safe LNG pro- ject for Shell and Energy Transfer,” added Shell’s vice-president of Lake Charles, Frederic Phipps.
Shell will act as the project lead on Lake Charles LNG prior to a final investment deci- sion (FID) being taken on the facility. If it is sanctioned, Shell will also be the construction manager and operator of the facility. Energy Transfer will act as site manager and project co-ordinator prior to an FID being taken.™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 48 04•December•2019