Russia receives
conflicting signals from Europe on gas import
18-11-08 Source: http://capital.trendaz.com
Russia receives extremely conflicting signals from the
European partners concerning whether Europe needs the Russian gas,
Alexander Medvedev, general director of Gazpromeksport Open Joint Stock
Company (OJSC), said at the sixth international forum Russian Gaz-2008
in Moscow on 18 November.
"The European Union's (EU) action plan on energy security and
solidarity… is one more evidence of such uncertainty, said Medvedev.
"Russia is one of major gas and coal providers of the EU ad the second
oil provider after OPEC. We are surprised that import of energy
resources are not regarded important at priority system of new energy
policy," the general director of Gazpromeksport said.
In accordance with forecasts of the European Commission, the whole gas
import of the EU will drop by 14 bn cm to 284 bn cm in 2020 as compared
to 298 bn cm in 2005 with nominal oil price at $ 100 per barrel (under
forecasts of the International Energy Agency, this price will be in
power at least in two years).
The European Commission forecasts that need in additional import will
slightly rise by 39 bn cm a year with nominal cost at $ 51 per barrel
and the whole import will amount to 337 bn cm a year in 2020.
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Turks want new energy
routes outside Russia's influence
19-20-08 Source: http://www.energia.gr
Turkish President Abdullah Gul joined east European
leaders at a summit in Azerbaijan aimed at promoting energy routes to
Europe outside Russia's influence. Amid concerns in the region that US
president-elect Barack Obama will see the Caucasus and Eastern Europe
as less of a priority, a senior US official told the summit that he
expected Washington to stay engaged in the area.
The Turkish president joined the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine for an energy meeting three months after
Russia dropped bombs close to crucial energy routes through the
Caucasus state of Georgia in a brief war.
Amid renewed criticism of Russia by Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili, Gul steered clear of inflammatory rhetoric toward Turkey's
historical rival Moscow. However, Gul emphasized NATO member Turkey's
desire for a greater diplomatic role in the region, after his
government earlier proposed a new forum for cooperation in the South
Caucasus.
"The crisis which broke out last August in Georgia confirmed that
unsolved conflicts in the region constitute a major threat from the
perspective of security and stability," he said. "Our idea is to
transform the South Caucasus from a region that is known for its
conflicts to a region that would set an example for cooperation," Gul
said.
Turkey, a close US ally, has become a growing player in the Middle East
and Caucasus energy trade. It has a long history of involvement in the
Caucasus as well as close linguistic and cultural links with Azerbaijan.
The leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine have long met to discuss
plans to strengthen the corridor of energy routes that passes from the
energy-rich Caspian toward Europe, but the meeting was the first time
they were joined by Turkey. Backed by Western governments,
international energy firms have invested heavily in building a corridor
of oil and gas pipelines from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey and
then on to hungry Western markets.
The European Union is hoping to connect the network to its flagship
Nabucco gas pipeline and both the EU and US are backing efforts to link
Central Asian countries to the network through a trans-Caspian pipeline.
The summit follows the unveiling by the European Commission of a plan
to boost energy supply security and cut back dependency on Russia.
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EU countries to
increase gas demand more than 40 %
19-11-08 Source: http://capital.trendaz.com
www.gasandoil.com
Eurogas forecast the increase in gas demand of the EU
countries by 43 % -- to 625 mm tons of the oil equivalent in 2030 from
438 mm tons of the oil equivalent in 2005.
The report designed by the "Long-term perspective of gas demand and
supply to 2030" organization says the share of the natural gas demand
in Europe will increase to 30 % in 2030 compared to 245 in 2005.
To 2030, Eurogas expects the increase of gas sale in the communal and
commercial sectors totally by 0.4 % -- to 194 mm tons of oil
equivalent. The gas sale in the industrial sector, according to
expectations of Eurogas, will increase by 1 % -- to 156 mm tons of oil
equivalent to 2030.
The largest increase in the gas consumption will occur through the
production of electricity, which will increase to 239 mm tons of oil
equivalent in 2030 to 123 mm barrels of oil equivalent in 2005. Annual
growth in this sector for the period amounted to 2.7 %, which means
that electricity production will increase its share from 28 % in 2005
to 38 % in 2030.
While gas demand will increase by 43 % in Europe by 2030, domestic
production will decline. Today, gas production in the Old World
(including Norway) represents 59 % of supplies to EU markets. By 2020,
according to the expectations of Eurogas, the production of the "blue
fuel" reduced by one third, but by 2030 -- by 4/1.
The liquefied natural gas in the long term, according to Eurogas, could
amount to 25 % of total EU gas supplies. During this period, the
European gas sector, including exploration and development, the
transfer, infrastructure and liquefied natural gas storage capacity
would require investment of EUR 221 bn.
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Australian Western coast Inpex gears up for FEED
December 24th, 2008
INPEX is expected to soon take another important step towards building
a gas plant in Darwin. It will start it's FEED, front-end
engineering and design. This will involve designing the whole
project - extracting the gas from the Ichthys field off the Western
Australian coast, piping the gas more than 850km to Darwin and building
an LNG plant at Blaydin Point. FEED will take 12-18 months. A
final investment decision will be taken in early 2010, even if FEED is
not finished.
The Inpex project will cost about $25 billion. The Territory part will
cost nearly half that. The Ichthys field, which lies in the
Browse Basin, holds an estimated 12.8 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas and 527 million barrels of condensate. Inpex said the project
would at first produce eight million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million
tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per year, and and 100,000 barrels of
condensate per day.
Flow lines will be attached to at least 20 drill holes.
Condensate, a light crude oil, will be exported directly from the
offshore field.
The gas will be piped to Darwin. It will still contain some condensate,
which will extracted at the Blaydin Point plant. Two liquid
natural gas trains will be built, which will give it twice the capacity
of the present ConocoPhillips LNG plant at Wickham Point. But
Inpex said that did not mean its plant will be twice the size. Up
to 2000 workers will be employed during the construction of the
plant. There will be about 300 permanent jobs once the plant is
in operation.
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Offshore Oil /Gas
Industry Russia /CIS: to 2020
Offshore fields at present account for 30% of global oil and gas
production and their share is expected to increase to 40% by 2015 with
the development of key upstream projects in all parts of the world. Of
the total global reserves of oil and gas 65% lie under seas (35% under
the continental shelf, 30% in deepwater areas). In the recent years the
development of offshore fields has emerged as an increasingly important
factor for the petroleum industries of Russia and the CIS countries.
Will this factor stand firm under the pressure of the crisis currently
experienced globally in the recent months? Latest offshore
developments reflect different approaches to offshore projects on the
part of oil and gas companies:
• Late November Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s
management board, stated that the Shtokman project would not be in the
risk zone even with prices falling below $50 per barrel. Gazprom, Total
and StatoilHydro through Shtokman Development AG jointly develop the
project, with the final investment decision expected in 2009. Project
tenders are scheduled for the second half of 2009 and drilling program
(total of 16 wells) to be completed by 2013.
• On December 18 LUKOIL’s Vice-President, Leonid Fedun, confirmed that
despite the official announcement in early November of a 50% cut in its
2009 investment program from $8 billion to $4 billion, LUKOIL’s
position towards its Caspian offshore operations, mainly in Russia’s
sea section, remained unchanged and would be financed in full. In 2009
LUKOIL will be launching its top priority project in the northern part
of the Caspian Sea - the Korchagin field. The field is estimated to
have enough reserves to maintain production level at 38.8 billion cubic
feet of gas and 122 million barrels of oil per year for 15 to 20 years.
• On September 4, France’s GDF Suez energy group acquired a 15% stake
in a D-222 offshore exploration project in Azerbaijan's sector of the
Caspian Sea (Yalama prospect). Exploration at D-222 (65%-owned by
LUKOIL and 20%-owned by Azerbaijan’s SOCAR) will continue until late
2011 and if successful will enable GDF SUEZ group to increase its
reserves by approximately 35 million barrels of oil equivalent.
• On November 19, ExxonMobil and TPAO, Turkey’s state-owned petroleum
company, signed an agreement to invest between $400-450 million in the
first stage of oil exploration in the Black Sea. If oil found, drilling
in the region with estimated reserves of 10 billion barrels is expected
to begin by the end of 2009.
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China Railway
Construction contracts worth RMB 24.965 bln
Dec. 23, 2008 China Knowledge
China Railway Construction
Corp Ltd (CRCC), the second largest state-owned construction company in
the country, Tuesday announced its subsidiaries have secured six
construction contracts worth a combined RMB 24.965 billion, accounting
for 14.07% of its total income in 2007 under Chinese accounting
standards.
The company, through units China Railway No. 18 Engineering
Group Co Ltd, China Railway No. 12 Engineering Group Ltd, China Railway
No. 23 Engineering Group Co Ltd, China Railway No. 13 Engineering Group
Co Ltd, China Railway No. 14 Engineering Group Co Ltd, and China
Railway No. 16 Engineering Group Co Ltd, has won the construction
projects for GGTJ-4, GGTJ-6, GGTJ-7, GGTJ-8, GGTJ-9, and GGTJ-11
segments of the Guiyang-Guangzhou Railway, according to CRCC's
statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
A-shares of CRCC rose 0.40%
to open at RMB 10.01 on Tuesday, while its H-shares opened 0.17% higher
at HK$11.90.
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China to invest RMB 5
trln in railway construction by 2020
Dec. 23, 2008 China Knowledge
China will invest RMB 5 trillion in railway construction by 2020 to
further ease the railway traffic woes in the country, sources reported.
The spending would extend the national railway network by 41,000 km by
2020, and at the same time, offer 6 million job opportunities in the
country, Lu Dongfu, vice minister of railways was cited as saying.
The massive spending will be used in the construction of new rail
lines, doubling exiting ones and the electrification of certain other
sections, according to earlier media reports.
The Ministry of Railways said earlier that RMB 600 billion will be
spent on the railway construction and RMB 100 billion on buying rolling
stock in 2009.
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CITIC Dameng starts
construction of Beihai plant
Dec. 23, 2008 China Knowledge
CITIC Dameng Mining Industries Ltd (CITIC Dameng), the biggest
manganese producer in China, has started construction of an alloy
materials and non-ferrous metals plant in Beihai, Guangxi Zhuang
Automous Region.
The project, involving a total investment of RMB 2.8 billion, is
designed to be constructed in two phases. RMB 1.3 billion will be
invested in the first phase, which is scheduled to be completed by 2011.
The first phase and second phase are expected to produce 240,000 tons
of alloy materials and 100,000 tons of nonferrous metals per year,
respectively.
CITIC Dameng Mining Industries' newly established unit CITIC Dameng New
Material Co Ltd will be responsible to operate the project.
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Xinjiang builds
world's largest potash fertilizer base
Dec. 23, 2008 China Knowledge
The State Development and Investment Corporation, a state-owned
investment holding company in China, has built a potash fertilizer
production base in Lop Nor, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, sources
reported.
The production base, the largest of its kind in the world, is expected
to ease the severe short supply of the fertilizer in the country.
The project is constructed in two phases, with annual capacities of 1.2
million tons and 1.7 million tons respectively.
The first phase of the project, which involves a total investment of
over RMB 4.8 billion, has become operational last week, and the second
phase is schedule to be put into operation in 2012.
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Yukon Pacific loses
right of way for trans-Alaska gas line
CONDITIONS: Company hasn't made progress on project, commissioner says.
By Petroleum News December 22nd, 2008
In the 1980s and 1990s, a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to
Valdez seemed the answer to getting Alaska's huge gas reserves to
market. Yukon Pacific Corp. was pushing the project, which called
for the gas to be super-chilled into a liquid after arriving in Valdez,
in preparation to being shipped on special tankers, most likely to
Asia. Yukon obtained a variety of permits for the project including, in
1988, a conditional right of way for that line from the state.
But now Tom Irwin, state natural resources commissioner, has denied
Yukon's request to renew that right of way, citing the company's lack
of progress on project plans or programs required in the conditional
lease. Irwin said the proposed pipeline route "is not delineated
sufficiently to determine if the project will unreasonably conflict
with existing uses of the land involving a superior public interest."
Yukon Pacific Corp. was founded in the 1980s after the original
proposal to take North Slope natural gas to market through Canada
collapsed due to rising costs and dropping Lower 48 natural gas prices.
Yukon became a subsidiary of CSX Corp., a big Lower 48 transportation
company, and in the 1990s it held permits for its project and
authorizations from the U.S. president and the U.S. Department of
Energy to market Alaska-produced liquefied natural gas to Asian buyers.
Jeff Lowenfels, then president of Yukon, said in 1998 that the state
right of way was the only one of the company's permits that needed to
be renewed.
Still, prices remained low and the project remained a dream.
In 2001 Yukon was downsized, with Lowenfels going to part-time
consulting status and then leaving the project entirely. The following
year the company downsized the project, going from a 36-inch pipeline
to a 30-inch line, and said it would look to either the natural gas
owners, pipeline companies or the state development authority to build
the project.
But in 2003 natural gas prices were rising sharply, and with it
interest in a North Slope gas pipeline project, particularly one that
would be routed through Canada toward the Midwest.
This summer two projects were launched to test the financial viability
of a pipeline project into Canada. One is backed by Conoco Phillips and
BP, both major oil and gas producers on the Slope, and the other a
state-sanctioned proposal of TransCanada Corp., a big Canadian pipeline
company.
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