LNG

Royal Vopak, the Dutch company with global energy storage assets worldwide including stakes in LNG terminals, posted an annual loss including exceptional items linked to  the Europoort Terminal in Rotterdam and a floating LNG venture in Colombia in South America.

Royal Vopak, the Dutch global energy storage company, has joined with US major ExxonMobil, a leading LNG exporter, to study the liquefied natural gas import possibilities for South Africa to become an LNG importer to boost gas-fired power and clean energy availability.

Vopak and ExxonMobil have signed a memorandum of understanding on studying the development of a South African regasification facility.

So far no third-parties are involved in the process to make South African an LNG importing nation in the next couple of years.

“The two companies will evaluate what infrastructure South Africa needs to access LNG. A shift to this resource would allow the country to take advantage of a reliable cost-effective fuel source, while also reducing emissions,” said a joint statement.

Kees van Seventer, President of Vopak LNG, said teaming up with ExxonMobil would allow the development of resilient and efficient LNG infrastructure for South Africa.

“With our presence of nearly 25 years in South Africa, we are committed to enhance Vopak's terminal network in the country with sustainable infrastructure solutions,” added Seventer.

Vopak is an experienced LNG terminal operator and has a 50 percent stake in the Dutch Gate LNG facility in Rotterdam with 540,000 cubic metres capacity of storage.

It additionally has a 60 percent shareholding in the Mexican LNG terminal at Altamira in the Gulf of Mexico with 300,000 of tank capacity.

ExxonMobil is a global partner of Qatar Petroleum and has volumes of LNG for export in the three leading supply nations, Australia, Qatar and the United States.

“ExxonMobil is excited to work with Vopak to evaluate innovative approaches to bring competitive LNG projects to South Africa,” said ExxonMobil LNG Market Development President Irtiza Sayyed.

Affiliates of ExxonMobil and Vopak signed the accord to work together on a feasibility study to assess the commercial, technical and regulatory aspects of an LNG terminal in South Africa.

ExxonMobil and Vopak plan to evaluate the infrastructure critical for South Africa’s needs and to take advantage of the benefits that LNG can bring to the country, including providing a reliable, cost-effective fuel source, as well as an option for reducing emissions.

“These benefits can be achieved by repurposing older coal power plants, converting peaking power plants and securing supply for South Africa’s industrial sector,” they added.

UK maritime security consultants, Dryad Global, have reported a growing number of attacks by armed groups against shipping and oil and gas platforms in Mexican waters south of LNG shipping routes in the Gulf of Mexico, a problem previously associated with nations like Somalia.

The latest report from Mexican waters of the GoM said the Mexican-flagged Offshore Supply Vessel “Natalie” was boarded while conducting normal operations in the vicinity of the Odin offshore platform, located 12 nautical miles northeast of Coatzacoalcos, a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Coatzacoalcos is also a port where future deliveries of US LNG and ethane, derived from shale gas, will be delivered under agreements between US and Mexican companies.

“It is understood that the vessel was boarded early morning within hours of darkness. A channel 16 broadcast received from the vessel stated: ‘we would like to inform you that at this moment pirates are getting on board the ship which is near the Odin’ platform,” said the message monitored by Dryad.

Reports reaching Dryad indicate that the crew was subjected to violent armed boarding and robbery of personal belongings.

Dryad said that in 2020 there has been a “significant increase” in maritime crime and piracy in the waters offshore the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz.

The Mexican LNG import terminal at Altamira is just north of the troubled areas where the incidents have taken place.

“Armed criminal groups have been reported to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms and offshore supply vessels in the Bay of Campeche area in the southern Gulf of Mexico,” said Dryad.

Such activities were commonplace offshore Somalia in northeast Africa in the 1990s, though on a much larger scale and required the deployment of western naval forces to counter the pirates.

The Somalian piracy problem was depicted in a movie based on the true experiences in 2009 of “Captain Phillips”, master of the US-flagged cargo vessel “Maersk Alabama”, which was hijacked.

The US Maritime Administration recently issued an advisory about possible attacks in the southern GoM, called 2020-008-Southern Gulf of Mexico-Vessel Attacks.

The US report details such events and actions to be taken when faced with threats of piracy and armed robbery.

“The pirates-robbers targeting offshore infrastructure and vessels in this area typically operate in small groups of between 5 and 15 individuals aboard several boats,” said the MARAD advisory.

“The attackers are reportedly armed with an assortment of weapons including assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, machetes, knives and tools,” it added.

“They are known to use violence to ensure compliance and prevent resistance,” it stated.

Around 20 fishing vessels and 35 oil platforms and offshore supply vessels have been targeted since January 2018 in the Bay of Campeche area alone of the southern GoM.

“Attacks recorded to date have involved the discharge of firearms, crew injuries, hostage taking and theft. At least five of these attacks occurred in April 2020,” said the UK report.

The last LNG carrier to come under attack was off West Africa on 28th of December 2019 and that incident was reported by Dryad.

A single speedboat with 10 armed men on-board fired on the “LNG Lokoja”, while the vessel was heading for the Bonny Island export plant in Nigeria.

However, the vessel conducted evasive manoeuvres causing the attack to fail some 70 nautical miles northwest of Sao Tomé and Príncipe, the island nation and former Portuguese colony.

The 148,300 cubic metres capacity vessel was met by the Nigerian Patrol vessel “Defender VI” and the Portuguese Navy vessel “Zaire” and was taken to port under escort.

The cancellation of LNG cargoes from Gulf Coast export plants amid over-supply and a price collapse is set to be offset by an increase in pipeline exports to Mexico, the largest component of US natural gas trade and a key take-away portion of still high production levels.