LNG

Project partners in North America rush to bring LNG to market before the Pacific Basin will be awash with Australian cargoes. However, scope for a second wave of projects is limited down under once the ongoing dozen projects are completed, the Economist Intelligence Units' lead energy analyst, Peter Kiernan, told LNG Journal. 

As Asian utility buyers have covered their summer LNG demand, Qatargas is diverting more cargoes to the UK, adding length to an oversupplied market which is likely to exacerbate the 28% drop in gas prices at the NBP since April.

Regulatory findings that Kysuhu Electric Power could safely restart two Japanese nuclear reactors are expected to have merely a marginal effect on the price paid for LNG imports, analysts said. For prices to fall significantly, more of the country's 46 reactors would have to resume operations.

July 16 - South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has teamed up with classification service provider ABS to jointly develop and build a LNG fuelled drillship.

"We are targeting the Gulf of Mexico as a key market for an LNG fuelled drillship where, given the abundance of affordable shale gas resources in the US, LNG as a marine fuel makes good economic sense," said ABS Vice President, Dr. Hoseong Lee.

British Columbia supports LNG export projects as a "once in a generation" opportunity, according to Rose Klukas, Kitimat's economic development officer; but the clock is ticking as falling gas prices in Asia could close that window of opportunity.

Qatar National Bank analysts expect the Emirate's hydrocarbon production and export capacity to "continue plateauing in the medium term", amid rising domestic demand. There's little room for more Qatari volumes beyond the current 77 mtpa, as cargoes have to compete against an upswing in Australian exports and new ventures in North America and east Africa.

Plans of Egypt's state-run energy firms EGAS and EGPC to get a for a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) up and running this summer have faltered, as a deal with Norway's Höegh LNG faces serious hurdles. Competitor Excelerate Energy is back on the cards as the government seeks to avert looming gas and power shortages.

A steady downward trend of European and Asian gas prices is squeezing the economics of liquefaction and export projects as anticipated RoI is revised down along with prices.

An order for four LNG tankers to serve BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG project has been placed with China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group. All four vessels will be on 20-year time charters to Methane Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BG Group.