Energy Roundup: Gazprom Taps U.S. Gas Market, Solar-Powered City, and More

Gazprom, Shell pen deal that will bring liquefied natural gas to California — Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer, is accessing a long-sought after piece of the U.S. gas market in a deal with Royal Dutch Shell. Russia’s state-controlled company will ship gas from the new Sakhalin-2 project to a LNG regasification facility in Baja California, Mexico and then transport it to southern California via pipeline. The deal will increase competition for Canadian producers, which have suffered recently from weak prices due to rising supply from new shale projects in the U.S. [Source: Financial Post]

Florida developer, utility to build nation’s first solar-powered city — Kitson & Partners, a real estate developer unveiled plans today to build a $2 billion community with homes, offices and factories all powered by a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant. Florida Power & Light Co., which signed an agreement with Kitson, plans to begin construction on the $350 million solar facility late this year, pending approval. The partners, seemingly unfettered by the country’s recession, say the solar facility is the largest of its kind in the world. [Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal, Greenwire]

Chevron under pressure from public pension funds over Ecuador lawsuit – Some of the country’s largest public pension funds, which altogether hold $1 billion shares of Chevron stock, are concerned the energy giant could end up paying as much as $27 billion in damages in a class-action suit filed more than a decade ago. The suit filed against Texaco, which was later bought by Chevron, alleges the company polluted wells and other water sources across Ecuador by dumping oil waste into leaky pits. Chevron, which maintains the lawsuit is baseless, warned today in anticipation of its May 1 earnings report its first-quarter profits have plunged because of shrinking refining margins and low oil and gas prices. [Source: WSJ]

Marine energy projects handed $12 million in funding from DOE — An array of marine energy research projects, which have suffered from a lack of funding, got a shot in the financial arm from the U.S. Department of Energy. Some of the more interesting projects to receive funding include microhydro, which are small hydroelectric power stations that harvest electricity from pressure inside municipal water systems. [Source: Greentech Media]

Obama backs off auction stance on cap-and-trade system — The Obama administration signaled its approach to auctioning 100 percent of the emission allowances under a cap-and-trade system may be softening. White House science adviser John Holdren said the administration might agree to auction only a portion of the emission allowances, a move that will likely anger environmentalists and benefit manufacturers. Holdren also said he has discussed radical geoengineering methods to cool the earth with the president. [Source: Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor]