LNG

June 11 (LNGJ) - Enagás, the Spanish natural gas grid and LNG terminals operator, recorded a drop of 18.6 percent in May natural gas imports compared with May 2023 with Russian and Nigerian LNG imports declining. Data from Enagás showed that Spain imported the equivalent of 28,264 gigawatt hours in May, the equivalent of 2.89 billion cubic metres of natural gas. This included regasified LNG as well as pipeline gas from Algeria and France, compared with 34,709 GWh, or 3.55 Bcm of gas, in the same month last year.

   Russia was the largest LNG supplier to Spain with 6,416 GWh, or 511,450 tonnes of LNG, down from 9,663 GWh in May 2023. The US was the second-largest LNG supplier with 3,893 GWh followed by Nigeria with 2,932 GWh, down from 6,813 GWh in 2023. Qatar supplied 1,742 GWh of the LNG total and Algeria delivered 1,477 GWh of LNG and 8,791 GWh of pipeline gas.

June 7 (LNGJ) - The Med-class LNG carrier “Cheikh Bouamama” with capacity of 74,245 cubic metres was scheduled to deliver a cargo to the Spanish import terminal in Barcelona. The volumes were lifted on June 6 from the Skikda liquefaction plant on the Algerian Mediterranean coast.

   Another carrier, the “Adamastos” with 174,100 cubic metres of capacity, is planning to lie off Gibraltar to await orders, according to shipping data, concerning the cargo it lifted on May 28 from the Corpus Christi LNG plant in Texas.

May 29 (LNG) – Long-standing LNG exporter Algeria has held talks with one of the newest LNG nations Mozambique on future cooperation. Mozambique’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Ernesto Max Tonela, met in Algiers with Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab and both countries have agreed to cooperate on natural gas exploration and production issues and on LNG markets.

   “Algeria offered to share its experience in terms of the natural gas sector in addition to the development of gas fields and the production and transportation of LNG,” said Arkab. “Algeria also wishes to provide support to Mozambique from state energy company Sonatrach through training in the hydrocarbon professions as well as the transfer of Sonatrach’s know-how in international energy trading markets,” the Algerian minister added.

April 18 (LNGJ) - The UK is scheduled to receive two LNG cargoes in the next week, one from Algeria at the Isle of Grain terminal on the Medway River in Kent and a second from the US at the South Hook terminal at the Port of Milford Haven.

   The carrier “Ougarta” with 171,800 cubic metres capacity is scheduled to discharge a shipment on April 19 at the Isle of Grain facility, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted from Algeria’s Arzew plant on April 15. The UK’s second cargo will be delivered on April 23 by the “GasLog Westminster”, which has 180,000 cubic metre of capacity, from the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana. That shipment was loaded on April 11 at the Sabine facility owned by Cheniere Energy.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is awarding 27 new oil and gas licences aimed at strengthening domestic energy security as a necessary back-up for renewables and to help reduce the mounting import bill for pipeline natural gas, LNG and oil.

A total of 27 licences have been offered in quicker-to-production areas with more to follow subject to additional environmental checks.

According to Offshore Energy UK (OEUK), the trade body for the sector, around 220,000 jobs are supported by the current offshore industry fields.

UK energy data

OEUK has also provided valuable data on the state of the North Sea oil and gas industry and to fill the gap in educated-understanding among sections of the public about the necessity of hydrocarbon energy and its benefits.

Licensing is the first step taken by energy production companies with the regulator to find and produce domestic supplies.

However, each licence does not represent a new oil field. It’s simply that energy companies require licences for a range of activity in so-called “blocks” which are carefully mapped sections of the seabed in UK waters.

These start from seismic and initial exploratory work through to production, either near existing infrastructure in previously known fields or in new fields.

“Licencing is a normal part of most energy production regimes and is used in the UK to manage the development of oil and gas, wind and most recently, carbon capture projects,” said OEUK.

“It is part of a bigger process which companies must undertake to explore, analyse, produce and then eventually decommission energy production,” the group added.

Around 75 percent of the UK’s current energy needs are provided by oil and gas.

The UK is a net importer of oil and natural gas, meaning it consumes more than it produces domestically.

Field numbers

“There are currently 284 active oil and gas fields in the North Sea and by 2030 around 180 of those will have ceased production due to natural decline,” OEUK explained.

The industry, thus, needs the churn of new licences to ensure no cliff-edge is reached in domestic production.

“We all recognise that our energy system must change and our industry includes companies that are expanding into renewables while using their expertise to pioneer ever cleaner energy production,” said OEUK Chief Executive David Whitehouse.

“The reality of the energy transition is that we need both oil and gas and renewables in an integrated system to protect the UK’s energy needs over the coming years,” Whitehouse added.

“Last year filling the fuel import gap cost the UK £117 billion ($142Bln). That’s a lot of money spent supporting the economic growth of other producing countries. With careful management and collaboration, the UK can become the gold standard of energy transitions. We can drive economic growth, reach our climate goals and avoid a future where we increasingly import our energy and export our jobs,” he explained.

Sept 14 (LNGJ) - The Med-class LNG carrier “Cheikh El Mokrani” with 73,990 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to deliver an Algerian cargo on September 18 to the UK Isle of Grain LNG import terminal on the Medway River in Kent, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on September 11 from the Skikda liquefaction plant on Algeria’s Mediterranean coast.

Sept 4 (LNG) – Three cargoes are heading for Northwest European LNG import terminals in the days ahead. The “Berge Arzew” with 138,100 of capacity is due to deliver a cargo from Algeria on September 6 to the UK Isle of Grain terminal on the Medway River in Kent, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on August 29 from the Algerian plant at Arzew.

   The carrier “BW Lilac” with 174,300 cubic metres capacity is scheduled to discharge a US cargo on September 6 at the Dutch Gate terminal in Rotterdam. The cargo was lifted on August 24 from the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana. Belgium will receive a shipment from Qatar on September 7 at the Zeebrugge terminal onboard the “Al Marrouna” with 149,540 cubic metres capacity. The cargo was loaded on August 20 at the Ras Laffan plant in the Arabian Gulf.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya, a former LNG exporter, has announced that the Mellitah Oil and Gas Company, among whose shareholders is Italy’s Eni, had succeeded in returning a Mediterranean offshore natural gas well to production.

The second foreign trip of the premiership of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken place to Libya and has resulted in a major natural gas deal with the Libyans who were former LNG exporters from a plant destroyed during years of conflict.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has visited Algeria on her first foreign trip since taking office, signed four accords with the North African nation, including one on a new natural gas pipeline between Algeria and Italy.