Gazprom to launch commercial gas production from Kirinskoye field in 2014

The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Alexander Khoroshavin, Governor of the Sakhalin Region.

The meeting noted a significant amount of Gazprom's investments in the Sakhalin Region –the Company's capital investment in the Region exceeded RUB 250 billion over five years (between 2009 and 2013). The funds were mainly allocated to the following strategic projects of Gazprom: the construction of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system (GTS), pre-development of the Kirinskoye gas and condensate field (Sakhalin III) and construction of a gas pipeline from the onshore processing facility of the Kirinskoye field to the Sakhalin main compressor station of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS. This year the capital investments will make up RUB 10 billion. The Kirinskoye field pre-development will continue, including the drilling of production wells. In 2014 Gazprom is going to launch commercial gas production from the Kirinskoye field.

Alexey Miller and Alexander Khoroshavin addressed the issues of gas supply to the Sakhalin Region. Between 2008 and 2013 the Company channeled over RUB 3 billion for these purposes. In particular, a General Scheme for Gas Supply to and Gasification of the Region was elaborated, three inter-settlement gas pipelines were built connecting the Dalneye gas distribution station (GDS) and the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk CHPP-1, the Dalneye GDS and the Novo-Alexandrovsk settlement as well as the Novo-Alexandrovsk gas distribution point (GDP), the Klyuchi population center and the Sanatornoye population center. The Region's Government, in its turn, fulfilled its obligations to prepare the consumers for gas supplies. As a result, the gasification level of the Sakhalin Region (taking into consideration the consumers, who received thermal energy from gas-powered TPPs) increased by 24.5 per cent to 33.6 per cent.

In 2014 the Company will carry on the construction of the gas branch and the Nogliki GDS, as well as the inter-settlement gas pipelines connecting the Nogliki GDS with the Nogliki GDP and the Nogliki GDS with the Nysh settlement.

The meeting addressed the plans to create an NGV fuel market in the Sakhalin Region. It was noted that in 2014 Gazprom would build a CNG filling station in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the first one in the region.

The parties touched upon the issues related to Gazprom's participation in social projects in the region. It was highlighted that the Company was running the Gazprom for Children project in the Sakhalin Region. Besides, in April 2013 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk saw the inauguration of an ice palace constructed with Gazprom's assistance.

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Time Inc. Eyeing Move to Downtown Manhattan

Current corporate parent Time Warner will spin off Time Inc. and move to a new Manhattan building.

Time Inc., the magazine giant that Time Warner is planning to spin off later this year, is looking at leaving its headquarters at the Time & Life Building in midtown Manhattan to take advantage of lower rents in lower Manhattan, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

The largest U.S. magazine publisher, whose brands include Time, Sports Illustrated, People and Entertainment Weekly, has talked to real estate companies managing locations in the new World Trade Center complex and other downtown locations, as new CEO Joseph Ripp is looking to reduce costs, it said.

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Time Inc. has been in its Avenue of the Americas headquarters near Rockefeller Center since the 1950s. Its lease expires in 2017. Time Warner itself recently unveiled a deal to move from its current headquarters in the Time Warner Center at Manhattan's Columbus Circle to a new Hudson Yards development slightly south of its current location.

Top office space in the current neighborhood of the Time Inc. headquarters costs an average of $82.35 per square foot late in 2013, compared with $53.79 for downtown areas, Bloomberg News said, citing data from real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield.

"We are currently exploring a number of real estate options," a Time Inc. spokeswoman confirmed.

Time Warner’s spinoff of Time Inc. will allow the entertainment conglomerate, led by CEO Jeff Bewkes, to focus on its cable networks and film businesses as the publishing arm has struggled amid changing consumer habits and lower advertising revenue in the digital age.

Conde Nast Publications has also agreed to leave midtown for lower Manhattan.

E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai

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Senators ask EIA to study crude exports’ gasoline price effect

US Sens. Maria E. Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ronald L. Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the US Energy Information Administration for more information on possible domestic gasoline price impacts from allowing more US crude oil to be exported.

“We would like to understand how allowing unlimited export of American crude oil might affect US oil production and consumption, nationally and regionally; domestic supplies and prices, nationally and regionally, for both crude oil (paid by refiners) and refined products (paid by consumers); and exports of refined products,” they said in a Feb. 3 letter to Adam Sieminski.

Cantwell, who is a senior Energy and Natural Resources Committee member, and Wyden, who chairs the committee, said they also would like EIA to identify transit modes and routes that exported crude might be expected to travel.

Contact Nick Snow at nicks@pennwell.com.

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Consol Energy natural gas production up 44 percent in 2013

Consol Energy announced it produced an increase of 1.63 trillion cubic feet of gas equivalent (Tcfe) of reserves to reach 5.731 Tcfe by the end of 2013, up 44 percent year-over-year.

Consol Energy said it invested $679.7 million in extensions and discoveries in 2013. The company claims its drill bit finding and development cost of $0.42 per million cubic feet of gas equivalent (Mcfe) is one of the lowest in the industry. This is the fifth year Consol reported drill bit finding and development costs were lower than $0.50 per Mcfe.

"Much of the increase in reserves, through the category extensions and discoveries, was due to the company's highly successful Marcellus Shale program," Consol Energy said in a statement. "As of December 31, 2013, the Marcellus Shale consisted of 3,373 Bcfe of proved reserves."

Consol Energy said it will invest $1.5 billion in natural gas production in 2014 to meet its growth target of 30 percent and produce between 215 and 235 Bcfe. The company plans to focus these investments in Marcellus and Utica shale projects.

More information on the Marcellus shale and gas shale market can be found on PennEnergy's research area.

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L.A. Reid's Hamptons Estate Pipes Freeze in Polar Vortex

Dropping records may heat up the charts, but they flooded the Hamptons mansion of L.A. Reid.

The Sagaponack property of the Grammy-winning record executive and former X Factor judge, currently on the market for nearly $19 million, suffered some polar vortex damage last Saturday.

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According to Patch, the Bridgehampton fire department responded to an automatic fire alarm, arriving at the property as 911 dispatchers relayed that they had received a call from a housekeeper, reporting a fire in the finished basement. Engines were called off minutes later, as the fire chief concluded that the smoke was actually steam coming from the furnace room. The water was shut off, preventing further flooding due to the home's frozen pipes.

The 7,000-square-foot house has 8 bedrooms, 9.5 baths, a tennis court and saltwater swimming pool, reports The Real Deal. The finished basement level includes a gym and a temperature-controlled wine cellar, lined floor-to-ceiling with built-in bottle racks. The property was listed this past summer.

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In other L.A. Reid real estate news, The Real Deal also reports that the Epic Records chairman has sold his Park Avenue apartment  to Broadway producer Harold Prince for $16.5 million. The 5,000 square-foot condo at the corner of East 60th St. was listed in May 2013 for $18.9 million. Reid bought the unit in 2000 for $9.43 million.

The Hollywood Reporter photographed Reid -- and his impressive closet -- at the Manhattan apartment in May 2012. See the pictures here.

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Oil and gas: CLS Offshore opens new office in Hull

Business is already brisk at the new Hull base for energy sector services company CLS Offshore, which was officially opened by city councillor Martin Mancey today.

Guests at the official unveiling and open day at the Marfleet Environmental Industries Park, were told that since CLS moved in on January 2nd there had been several serious enquiries from major existing and potential clients.

"We've had many messages of welcome along with potential business opportunities, which could be worth around £20m over the next five years," said Scott McMillan, managing director of CLS Offshore.

"The next stage is that from July we hope to progress plans for a fabrication workshop on an adjacent site, which will mirror our head office facility in Great Yarmouth, and employ up to 75 onshore and offshore personnel, mainly recruited locally. We're happy to be in Hull, delighted by what is has to offer and excited by the prospects ahead."

The company is keen to work with local educational facilities regarding future prospects for students and has already been in discussion with the University of Hull and HETA (Humberside Engineering Training Association) on working together.

Cllr Mancey, cabinet portfolio holder for Hull City Council, said: "The decision by CLS to come to the area represents a significant investment locally and clearly demonstrates the potential of the area to secure new highly skilled employment opportunities.

"As such I would like to officially welcome CLS to the city and wish them every success in the future."

Hull East MP Karl Turner MP said he was delighted to hear that CLS had extended its successful operation in Great Yarmouth to Hull.

“It has a solid track record in the energy sector and this move will strengthen the region's energy credentials. This is exactly the type of company we need to attract to Hull, a developing company with confidence. This extension will help to stimulate the local economy and create jobs.”

More than 90 business, education and political guests visited the new premises during the open day and reception which was highlighted by councillor Mancey unveiling a commemorative plaque.

CLS staff were on hand to meet visitors and discuss the wide and varied services of CLS within the oil, gas, marine and renewable energy sectors.

Steady expansion has been the CLS brief over the last two years; seven new employees have started since the beginning of 2014, boosting the company workforce to more than 160.

It is currently recruiting experienced offshore personnel from riggers through to technicians and an onshore team ranging from pipefitters to welders.

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Survey Confirms Earthquake Fault Line Runs Through Planned Millennium Hollywood Project

Millennium Hollywood project rendering (right)

The California Geographical Survey on Wednesday released an earthquake map charting the course of the Hollywood Fault at City Hall. The map shows that major planned developments -- including an apartment complex on Yucca Street and, most notably, the controversial two-tower Millennium Hollywood skyscraper project -- are much closer to an active fault than previously claimed.

The $664 million Millennium Hollywood project -- a pair of proposed 35- and 39-story towers that would include one million square feet of hotel, office and retail space -- got an OK from the Los Angeles City Council on July 24, despite a huge opposition campaign claiming city reports far underplay traffic increases and a serious seismic situation.

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In November 2012, city officials acknowledged that they had used outdated fault maps when the Millennium project was approved. The newly released state geographical maps show a fault line much closer to many proposed projects, including the Millennium Hollywood towers. State law requires that any new development within a zone of approximately 500 feet around a fault line be subject to extensive seismic testing. The law also prohibits building directly on top of faults.

“The California Geological Survey map today confirms what my clients have been saying -- that the Hollywood Earthquake Fault runs right through the Millennium property,” said attorney Robert P. Silverstein in a statement. Representing a citywide coalition of community groups that is suing to overturn the City Council’s approval of the Millennium Hollywood project, Silverstein added that “this map will now become ‘Exhibit 1’ in our lawsuit.”

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Time Warner Sells Manhattan Headquarters for $1.3 Billion, Unveils Relocation Plans

Time Warner has agreed to sell its midtown Manhattan headquarters for $1.3 billion and plans to move its operations in the Big Apple under one roof in a new building on the far West Side of Manhattan, the entertainment conglomerate said Thursday.

The sale agreement with real estate firm Related Companies and partners for the Time Warner Center, on whose construction the entertainment conglomerate spent around $520 million about a decade ago, is the result of TW's exploration of its real estate options for the past two and a half years.

Time Warner, led by chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes, has been looking to save money and consolidate the staff of its various operations. It currently has seven office locations in New York. Most of the leases are believed to be up in 2017.

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TW will lease office space in the Time Warner Center until early 2019, the firm said Thursday.

TW said it has sold the 1.1 million square feet of office space it owns in Time Warner Center to a venture of Related Companies, an entity owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and GIC.

Additionally, TW, Related and Oxford Properties Group said they plan to relocate the company’s corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to Hudson Yards, on the West Side of Manhattan. TW has made an initial financial commitment, they said, without providing further details.
Related has been developing a new commercial tower in the Hudson Yards neighborhood, south of Times Square. It is a skyscraper set to be built at the corner of 10th Avenue and 33rd Street.

The far West of Manhattan has offered cheaper real estate prices in an effort to revitalize the area and attract people and companies. Previous chatter suggested that TW could save $100 million or more by moving office space.

Said Bewkes: "The sale of our office space in Time Warner Center to Related Companies and its partners is an important step toward moving our New York City-based employees into a dynamic new complex that will foster even more collaboration, creativity and efficiency across our businesses."

He added: "By consolidating our space to Hudson Yards, New York’s next great neighborhood, we will be able to reallocate substantial savings to our primary business of creating and sharing great storytelling in television, film and journalism with audiences around the world."

Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai

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Comcast Unveils $1.2 Billion Philadelphia Skyscraper Proposal

Comcast has unveiled a $1.2 billion proposal for a new 59-story skyscraper to house its corporate headquarters in Philadelphia.

Construction on the 1,121-foot-high building, designed by Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, is expected to begin this summer and be completed by late 2017.

"This is yet another historic moment for Comcast," said Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts in a statement. "We continue to be proud to call Philadelphia our home, and are thrilled to build a world-class media, technology and innovation center right in the heart of the city, to bring NBC 10 and Telemundo 62 downtown, and to create thousands of jobs and further drive economic activity in the region."

Once completed the skyscraper, titled The Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, will rank among the tallest buildings in the United States. In addition to housing Comcast, the building will house a 200-room Four Seasons hotel.

"If you want a city behind your project, a hotel is a great way to get through the entitlement process," Paul Habibi, a real estate developer and professor at the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Cities want the tax revenue. And attaching an architect like Norman Foster to the project is another way to win hearts and minds during approvals processes."

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