Partners in one of British Columbia’s planned LNG export projects have announced details of the project. Shell, Korea Gas Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., and PetroChina Co. Ltd. said they are developing the proposed LNG export plant near Kitimat, BC.

Oil prices fell May 15 in the New York market as benchmark US crude came under heavy selling pressure from the economic and political turmoil in Europe that also undermined the equity market.

An Eni SPA-led group said a gas discovery offshore northern Mozambique has opened a new play in Eocene sand and hiked the overall potential of the Mamba complex to 47-52 tcf of gas in place.

Engine durability tests by the Coordinating Research Council, which studies the interaction of engines and petroleum products, found leaks from uneven valve seat wear and pittage in two of eight 2001-09 vehicle engines run for 500 hr on a 15% ethanol-85% gasoline fuel blend, the organization supported by the American Petroleum Institute and automobile manufacturers said.

Statoil is transferring operatorship of Vilje oil field offshore Norway to Marathon Oil Norge, effective Sept. 1 if approved by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

Laricina Energy Ltd., Calgary, reported “encouraging” production test results at its Saleski pilot in the Athabasca region of Alberta, the first steam-assisted gravity drainage project in the Upper Devonian Grosmont carbonate.

Excelerate Energy LP, Houston, will develop the first US floating natural gas liquefaction plant for Port Lavaca, between Galveston and Corpus Christi, Tex. The Lavaca Bay LNG project will be designed to export LNG by 2017.

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change and the British Geological Survey have authorized TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. to release on line new and historical data for all land and offshore wells in the UK.

Total UK Ltd. reported a well intervention operation stopped the G4 well natural gas leak on the Elgin complex in the UK North Sea within 12 hr of when workers started pumping heavy mud into the well.

CBM Asia Development Corp., Vancouver, BC, and Continental Energy Corp., Jakarta, formed a joint study and bid group to investigate coalbed methane opportunities in Indonesia.