World sees construction
boom in LNG terminals
04-09-07 Source: www.euractiv.com
Surging global demand for gas has spurred investment in LNG terminals
in areas that are not covered by pipelines, fuelling what analysts are
now describing as a "construction boom".
"As competition between Europe, the US and Asia for natural gas
supplies heats up, gas producers without the ability to export gas via
pipelines are taking advantage of the demand and shipping liquid
natural gas (LNG) to gas-hungry markets," says a new report by
Datamonitor, a London-based market analysis firm. "Despite its niche
position, market players are wagering that LNG will eventually become a
major fuel for primary energy consumption (…). With this in mind, there
is currently a construction boom in LNG terminals," it adds in the
report published on 31 August.
In Europe, the drive for building more LNG terminals was fuelled by the
desire to diversify gas supplies following a dispute between Russia and
Ukraine that saw Moscow briefly shutting up a major transit pipeline in
January 2006. The row highlighted the EU's dependency on Russian gas
for more than 25 % of its needs with 80 % of it transited through
Ukraine.
As a response, the EU had taken measures to diversify its supplies,
including finalising the Nabucco pipeline bringing gas from the Caspian
region and increasing the EU’s LNG capacity fivefold. For Europe and
the US, the major LNG producers are Algeria, Nigeria, and Trinidad and
Tobago, according to Datamonitor, with Belgium, France and Spain the
major European consumers.
But according to Datamonitor, the LNG construction boom in Europe and
the United States is now outpacing demand.
"Twenty-two terminals have been approved for construction," said
Datamonitor energy analyst David Niles, up from five currently in the
Atlantic Basin region. "Already there are two import terminals in the
UK, and two more are being constructed in Wales," he added.
"Given the forecasted growth in LNG, even if 10 % (3.4 bn cm) of the
terminals that have been approved for construction are actually built,
there would still be a glaring under-utilisation of capacity."
"The construction and under-utilisation of so many terminals can
potentially increase the risk of volatility in the industry if its
growth rates are not maintained or increased," he warned.
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Oil and gas discovered in
Zambia
07-09-07 Source: www.miningweekly.co.za
Oil and gas had been discovered in Zambia and tenders were being
prepared for further exploration, the Zambian Mines Minister Kalombo
Mwansa announced in Perth.
Mwansa told the Africa Downunder conference that initial exploration
undertaken by Zambia’s mining ministry in the North Western Province
had revealed the presence of oil and gas.
The samples extracted had been found to contain oil and gas and these
had then been sent to Germany for confirmation using special technology.
“I can inform the audience that this particular technology has
confirmed our initial finding of oil and gas in the country,” Mwansa
said. “At the moment, we are doing the right things first before we can
start exploiting this resource. What we are doing first is to look at
legislation that is available in terms of this resource and updating
this legislation,” he said.
Thereafter the country would also examine the legal and institutional
mechanism and base it on international practiced and experience.
“But I am happy to say that tender documents are being prepared and we
hope that we will be able to invite applications for companies to do
further exploration work to determine the depth of the material and the
size of the wells,” he said.
Mwansa said that there was room for greater minerals discovery in
Zambia because only 55 % of the country had been geologically mapped
and 45 % of the country had still to be surveyed. The ministry was
carrying out further exploration in areas of further potential where
there was potential for large-scale mining based on the initial finding
reported.
“My ministry has also despatched a team to the western and eastern
parts of Zambia to assess the presence of oil and gas in those two
areas,” he said. A new computerised cadastra was also being established
and would be operational at the start of 2008.
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Alaskan North
Slope gas project receives international interest
05-09-07 www.gasandoil.com
A Chinese oil company is one of several foreign companies expressing an
interest in building a major Alaska natural gas transportation project,
a US federal government official said.
The multi-billion-dollar Alaska natural gas pipeline project is
intended to transport trillions of cf of gas from the Alaskan North
Slope to the lower 48 states, but some of the expected license
application proposals could allow gas to be exported to Asia, the
official said.
Drue Pearce, recently appointed US Federal Coordinator for the Alaska
Natural Gas Transportation Projects, said Spain's Repsol-YPF, BG Group
and a Chinese company had joined TransCanada, the Alaskan Gasline Port
Authority and Mid-America Pipeline Co. in expressing an interest in
submitting an application to the Alaskan state government.
She said several of the proposals plan for a pipeline from the North
Slope to a gasification terminal in Valdez, Alaska. From there, gas
could be transported to any regasification terminal in the world, but
the primary focus would be on the Pacific rim.
Approval to build LNG terminals on the West Coast of the US has faced
tough opposition. As oil and gas supplies in the lower 48 states wane
and the country increasingly seeks to wean itself form its dependence
on imports from politically unstable areas of the world, natural gas
from northern Alaska and Canada is being offered as a "clean energy"
alternative.
Gas reserves -- the North Slope is estimated to hold around 35 tcf of
discovered resources and 170 tcf of undiscovered natural gas -- have
been stranded in the region because of the long distance to the market
and the cost of transportation.
The Alaska pipeline project, originally started in the early 1970s, has
faced a mountain of regulatory, regional, environmental and
bureaucratic hurdles. Approval for the project would require filing
permits with several dozen federal and state agencies, not to mention
obtaining cross-border agreements with Canada.
Earlier this year, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin pulled a proposal approved
by her predecessor that would have piped gas along the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline route to Fairbanks and then to the Alaska-Canada Highway on to
Midwestern markets. In February 2006, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, BP,
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips had agreed on a $ 25 bn gas pipeline
project that would have delivered 4.5 bn cf of natural gas a day --
roughly 7 % of US demand -- and would take about a decade to complete.
Instead, Palin proposed an incentive program called the Alaska Gasline
Inducement Act, or AGIA, that offers around $ 500 mm to help pay for
regulatory filing costs, if the companies agreed to a set of principles
outlined by her government.
Bids are due by Nov. 30. Pearce said the state hopes to select the most
competitive bid by February. The legislature would still need to
approve the winning application before a company could start the filing
process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which could take
several years.
Producers, such as BP, Exxon and ConocoPhillips, don't support the AGIA
program, and Pearce said she had heard that they wouldn't submit an
application for a license. The federal coordinator said that the "All
Alaska" line -- which would ship volumes in the form of liquefied
natural gas -- would transport only around 1 bn cfpd.
In 2004, Congress passed the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act to spur
development of the project.
Pearce said that although Congress intended the gas for US markets to
ease expected energy shortfalls, nothing in the act would prohibit the
natural gas from being exported.
The project isn't expected to be online until 2018, at the earliest,
though some oil company executives believe the start-up could be
delayed into the early 2020s.
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Colombia eyes LNG
exports as offshore drilling is set to begin
06-09-07 Source: www.rigzone.com / FWN Financial News
Colombia could eventually become a liquefied natural gas exporter if
offshore drilling due to begin is successful, said the head of the
South American country's hydrocarbons agency.
Armando Zamora, Director General of Colombia's Agencia Nacional de
Hidrocarburos, said there could be up to 30 tcf of natural gas in two
large offshore exploration areas.
The first offshore gas-exploration well will be drilled in the Tayrona
block off the Caribbean coast, which is held by ExxonMobil, Petroleo
Brasileiro and Colombia's state-owned Ecopetrol. Tayrona could contain
up to 10 tcf of gas, and ExxonMobil is very enthusiastic about the
field, Zamora said.
Commodities conglomerate BHP Billiton will explore the Fuerte Norte and
Fuerte Sur Caribbean offshore blocks, which could contain up to 20 tcf
of gas, he said.
If these reserves yield a minimum of 5 tcf-6 tcf of gas, this would be
sufficient for Colombia to develop gas liquefaction facilities to
enable the export of gas via tanker to the US Gulf Coast, Zamora said.
Venezuela is also a potential market for Colombian gas, where it could
be injected into oil fields to enhance their production, he added.
Colombia will award 13 onshore and offshore exploration licenses on
Sept. 18. The Colombian government has pre-selected Ecopetrol, US-based
Chevron, Japan-based Teikoku Oil, Petroleo Brasileiro, BP,
Spanish-Argentine Repsol-YPF, BHP Billiton, Hess Corp., Seep, ONGC
Videsh and Vinccler Oil & Gas to participate in license bidding.
Onshore resources include a minimum of 2 bn barrels of heavy oil,
Zamora said. Royal Dutch Shell has recently re-entered Colombia to
partner Ecopetrol in the billion-barrel Cano Sur heavy oil project, he
said. Total heavy oil resources could be as much as 8 bn barrels, he
said.
If Colombia can develop new resources up to 4 bn barrels of oil
equivalent between now and 2025, it will be able to maintain production
at the current level of around 500,000 boe per day. Production could
increase to 1 mm boepd by 2025, but onlyin the most optimistic case
where 8 bn boe of new reserves are developed, he said.
Zamora said recent security improvements in Colombia, which has been
troubled by a decades long guerrilla insurgency, have made it much
safer for oil and gas developments.
In the past five years kidnappings and terrorist attacks against energy
infrastructure have fallen by more than 80 %, he said.
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Angola LNG plant sets
date to start building Soyo
24-08-07 Source: www.upstreamonline.com
Angola will start building its flagship multi-billion-dollar Soyo
liquefied natural gas plant in the fourth quarter of this year and
exports are due in late 2011, a state energy official said. The
southern African country is banking on the project to bring in billions
more dollars as it diversifies its energy industry.
"Construction of the factory is scheduled to take four years and the
first exports of LNG should start in the fourth quarter of 2011," said
Antonio Orfao, president of state-owned Sonangol Gas Natural, which is
overseeing the project.
He told that the first LNG
exports were targeted for the North American market.
Angola, which gained international clout by joining the OPEC group of
top oil producers in January, also hopes to become a global LNG player
once output from the plant, which will cost an estimated $ 7 bn to
build, hits the market.
"Without a doubt this is the single biggest project in any industry
ever implemented in Angola until now," he said. "Angola is already
known as an oil-producing country but the LNG project will put Angola
on the map of the world's gas producing countries," he added.
Angola, the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, after
Nigeria, is currently pumping around 1.8 mm bpd, according to October
loading programmes. Orfao estimated the project's 30-year lifespan
would bring the state an estimated $ 10 bn in taxes alone, apart from
sales revenues and indirect benefits such as higher employment.
"This project marks the start of a gas industry in Angola. We will
transform a product which was in the past considered of no value into a
source of revenues, employment and regional development," he said. "It
will facilitate other gas-based projects such as power generation, a
petrochemical industry and a gas-related industrial base in Soyo. LNG
isn't an end in itself, but it's a good start," he said, adding that
the country would seek further gas exploration.
Orfao said US company Bechtel had been awarded the project's
engineering and procurement contract in January 2007 and would be
awarded the construction contract this year. Sonangol took over US
supermajor ExxonMobil’s 13.6 % stake in the project in March.
With the transaction, Sonangol's stake is equal to that of Chevron's
36.4 % share. Other shareholders include Total and BP, each with 13.6 %.
Italian energy group ENI announced in April that it also planned to
acquire 13.6 % of the project. It said the 28-year project involved the
development of 220 bn cm of gas and the production of 128 mm tons of
LNG, 104 mm barrels of condensate and 257 mm barrels of liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG).
ENI said the LNG and would be earmarked for the US market and would be
delivered to a re-gasification plant at Pascagoula, on the Gulf of
Mexico.
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Shaanxi province Gas
field starts operation
31-08-07 Source: www.zoomchina.com.cn
According to PetroChina Changqing Oil Field Co., Zizhou-Mizhu Gas Field
in Changqing Oil Field with daily capacity of 850,000 cm was put into
operation on Aug. 28.
Zizhou-Mizhi Gas Field Developing Project mainly includes the
collection and transmission of gas in the field, natural gas processing
plant, natural gas transmission pipelines.
Now Zizhou-Mizhi gas field has finished constructing 61 natural gas
production well, 13 gas collection stations and has annual production
capacity of 480 mm cm.
Moreover, the natural gas processing plant with annual capacity of 1.5
bn cm has starts operation and will supply Beijing through Shaan-Jing
No. 2 Gas Pipeline.
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Shtokman gas project
stakes US and Norwegian firms to get
06-09-07 Source: AFP www.gasandoil.com
US energy major ConocoPhillips and Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro are
to become shareholders in the Shtokman gas field project.
ConocoPhillips is to get 14 % and the two Norwegian firms are to share
a 10-% stake, two sources at the Gazprom energy giant said.
Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom has a 51 % stake in
Shtokman, a massive gas field off northern Russia, while France's Total
has been awarded 25 %.
The sources are an official close to a board member at Gazprom and
another official close to Sevmorneftegaz, the Gazprom subsidiary that
owns the licence for Shtokman.
Located in the Barents Sea, Shtokman is believed to hold 3.7 tcm of gas
and the cost of the project is estimated at around $ 20 bn (EUR 14.7
bn).
Gazprom expects production at Shtokman to start in 2013.
Gazprom and Total signed a deal earlier year to develop the Shtokman
field jointly, following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
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Chile able to export
LNG to Argentina after plants come on line
03-09-07 www.gasandoil.com
Once Chile's planned liquefied natural gas regasification plants come
on line, it would be viable for the nation to export LNG to Argentina,
according to Argentine Economic Planning Undersecretary Oscar Tangelson.
To diversify its fuel sources after Argentina began cutting off its
natural gas exports across the Andes, the Chilean government is backing
two LNG regasification plants scheduled to come on line in 2009.
Some analysts have said surplus LNG could eventually be exported
through existing gas lines to Argentina.
"I think it's totally viable, especially in the provinces were no
supply is available today," Tangelson told.
Since 2004, Argentina has been reducing natural gas exports to Chile to
ensure it can meet domestic demand. Although Argentina has plentiful
supplies of gas, caps on prices have dissuaded companies from ramping
up production.
Analysts say they believe power generators and industries will continue
to operate on diesel fuel as long as gas supplies are tight.
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Xinjiang invests yuan
9.4 mm on flare gas utilization project
04-09-07 Source: www.zoomchina.com.cn
Xinjiang Shanshan County spent yuan 9.4 mm endorsed by Chengdu Tieren
Co. on a torch gas utilization project to generate power with gas-fired
turbines.
After completion of Phase I, it can supply the oil field with
electricity of 23 mm kWh annually and recover non-regenerative natural
gas of 23.2 mm cm.
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Sakhalin-I to be
Russian Far East's only gas source
04-09-07
Gas produced during the Sakhalin-I project will be the only source of
natural gas to meet the demands of the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and
Sakhalin regions, as well as the Jewish Autonomous District in the mid
term until at least 2015, according to a Gazprom report released during
the Sakhalin Oil and Gas Conference 2007 held in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
The report also mentioned that the Far East's gas demand was likely to
rise until 2013 due to the recently launched government program of
social and economic development of the Far East and Transbaikalia.
In this connection, the report suggested measures for sustained
development of stable gas supply to the Russian Far East, considering
the potential of the Sakhalin-I project and emphasizing the pressing
need for the development of the general plan of gas supply and gas
service in the Sakhalin region.
Gazprom also noted in the report that development of Sakhalin's own
resources and construction of a gas pipeline system was one of the most
importantobjectives in the gas holding's activity. In order to
implement investment projects in the Far East, Gazprom established the
Gazprom Invest Vostok sponsoring company.
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Nakilat 4 LNG carriers
equipped with
onboard reliquefaction plants
Oil
& Gas Journal! Sept. 24, 2007
Nakilat, the joint venture
of Overseas Ship building Group Inc. and Qatar Gas Transport Co., will
soon
take delivery of four new generation, Q-Flex LNG carriers.
The first two carriers—the
Al Gattara built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. and the Tembek
built by
Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje Island, South Korea—are scheduled to
be
delivered at the end of October.
Deliveries for the
remaining vessels are expected in early 2008.
The Q-Flex LNG carriers can
transport 216,000 cu m of LNG each, about 40% more than the standard
LNG
vessels currently in service, They are equipped with an onboard
reliquefaction
plant.
In addition, the vessels
have lower energy requirements than conventional LNG vessels due to
economies
of scale created by their size and the efficiency of low-emission,
electronically controlled diesel engines. Safety features include dual
propellers and rudders. Nakilat
last year added six Q-Max LNG carriers to its
fleet, which is expected to comprise 61 carriers by 2010 (OGJ, June 5,
2006,
Newsletter). |
Korean Dual-Fuel
Propulsion System for LNG Carriers
Maritime Reporter September 2007
Hyundai
Heavy Industries Co.,
Ltd. (HHI) has developed the first Korean Dual-Fuel Diesel-Electric
(DEDE) propulsion system for LNG carriers. The DFDE propulsion system
uses either oil or gas, depending on the situation. It uses an electric
motor like large cruise ships and submarines, not a steam turbine,
which is the traditional propulsion system for LNG carriers. The DFDE
propulsion system is designed to improve fuel efficiency, react
quickly, and provide a smooth voyage.
HHI was guided by both environmental and economic requirements while
developing the Integrated Automation System, which includes the main
engine, the electric propulsion system, other control systems, and the
Ecobot. The Ecobot is the heart of the DFDE system, using any LNG gas
that evaporates during transit to fuel the main engine.
The DFDE propulsion system is expensive, costing roughly two to four
percent more than traditional steam-turbine propulsion systems; within
five years, however, the developer claims that savings in fuel costs
provides a nice return on investment, as the DFDE system’s fuel
efficiency is more than ten percent greater than traditional propulsion
systems.
HHI has built, and on July 2 delivered, a 155,000 cu. m. LNG carrier
with a DFDE propulsion system. BP ordered the ship, British Emerald.
British Emerald runs faster than traditional LNU carriers when using
the same amount of fuel, and when running at a speed of 20 knots, the
DEDE system reduces fuel consumption by 40 tons per day compared to a
steam-turbine propulsion ship, which uses 180 tons of fuel per day at
that speed.
“The biggest reason we chose the DEDE propulsion system was for the
environment. But it was a big adventure when we ordered it,” said
Adrian Howard, vice-chairman of technical management at BP.
“All LNG carriers had steam-turbine propulsion systems when we received
the order in 2004. It was exciting to get a chance to develop the first
alternative system with this order,” said an HHT representative
HHT received an order for six LNG carriers with DFDE propulsion systems
(including two ships for Hyundai Samho Heavy industries) in September
2004. British Emerald measures 944.8 x 145 (288 x 44.2 m), and a
service speed of 20 knots.
The development of the DFDL propulsion system is the result of 30 years
of LNG carrier R&D experience. HHI began its research and
development on LNG carriers at the end of the 1970s, building the
world’s sixth, and Korea’s first, LNG carrier in 1990. HHI plans to
produce the duel-fuel engine and most of the core equipment, including
the electric motor, switchboard, and generator, in Korea by 2008.
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