LNG

Woodside Petroleum, the Australian LNG plant operator and international commodities company BHP, are advancing with their Scarborough gas field project to underpin the Burrup Gas Hub planned for Western Australia.

BHP, the Anglo-Australian global commodities company, has awarded the world’s first LNG-fuelled bulk carrier tender to a Singapore-based shipping line with the aim of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 30 percent per voyage while delivering iron ore from Western Australia to China.

Woodside Petroleum, the Australian liquefied natural gas operator, plans to make the proposed Burrup Hub in Western Australia a globally competitive LNG venture with measures such as debottlenecking the offshore Scarborough gas field.

“The debottlenecking we are looking at is aimed at increasing the capacity of the offshore part of the system for Scarborough and we can do that for a modest amount of anywhere between $100 million to $200 million of capital,” explained Chief Executive Peter Coleman in a recent briefing to analysts.

“It's mainly around increasing the pipeline size and so telescoping the pipeline,” said Coleman.

“Some parts of the pipeline are limited in diameter because of the water depth they are in, but as we get into the shallower waters, we have identified an opportunity to increase the diameter, therefore decreasing the backpressure on the platform,” the CEO added.

Coleman stated that this move has the potential to take the project from an offshore LNG equivalent of 6.5 million tonnes up to 8 million tonnes, plus the company’s domestic natural gas commitments.

The CEO added that minor modifications to the onshore plant would also be necessary.

“The assumption is that we've got two options that we are still optimising,” said Coleman.

“One is a closed loop option within the Pluto site itself where we would potentially back out Pluto Train 1 volumes,” he added.

“The other option there on that side is increasing the capacity of Train 2 and this type of design of Train has a history of being able to produce above nameplate capacity so we're looking to see if we can bring that opportunity forward,” stated Coleman.

He also explained that there was a second main option to side stream it across to the North West Shelf (field).

Coleman also noted that the foundation contract holders for Pluto LNG Train 1, the Japanese utilities Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electric, would face changes to their plant status.

Coleman said the company had chosen not to extend the contract of one of the buyers and was in negotiations with the second one.

Coleman also mentioned progress on the Sangomar field development offshore Senegal in West Africa for which a final investment decision was made at the start of the first half.

“We moved straight into project execution to support our targeted first oil in 2023,” said Coleman.

“A number of activities have progressed, although we've also been closely managing the risks of Covid-19 on the supply chain and project schedule,” he added.

He mentioned advances made on the Sangomar field’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.

“The oil tanker, which will be converted to the FPSO, was purchased by our contractor in February and will undergo tank inspection and cleaning this year, with modifications targeted to commence in the fourth quarter,” he added.

“Technical work is steaming ahead with detailed design engineering for the FPSO and the commencement of major topsides equipment fabrication,” said the CEO.

“Our contracting and procurement team has also been busy with purchase orders for long lead items being awarded in readiness for drilling operations targeted to commence in mid-2021,” he concluded.

Woodside has also given notice of exercising its pre-emption rights on the sale by UK oil and gas developer Cairn to Russian company Lukoil of its Sangomar assets.

Lukoil agreed to purchase the entire Cairns participating interest in Senegal’s Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture.

In accordance with the joint operating agreement, the terms of Woodside's acquisition of Cairn's entire stake will reflect those of the Cairn-Lukoil transaction.

These include the upfront purchase price of US$300 million plus working capital adjustments, including reimbursement of Cairn's development capital expenditure incurred since 1 January 2020.

Woodside's equity interest in the RSSD joint venture after completion of the acquisition will increase to approximately 68 percent and Woodside will remain operator.

Coleman said the acquisition represented an opportunity for Woodside to deepen its interest in a well understood, world-class asset with near-term production, while also protecting shareholder interests by removing the potential uncertainty of US sanctions applying to the Sangomar Field Development because of Russian involvement.

Anglo-Australian global commodities and energy company BHP with long-standing stakes in Western Australian LNG, natural gas and mining and with LNG-powered shipping plans said it planned to hire 1,500 additional people to support its workforce operating across Australia.

McDermott International, the US energy and LNG engineering company, was awarded a large contract by Anglo-Australian commodities and energy firm BHP for subsea work on the Ruby Project, offshore the LNG producing nation Trinidad and Tobago.

BHP, the Anglo-Australian global commodities, mining and energy company whose assets include Australian LNG and gas stakes, said it would award a contract in the first quarter of 2020 after receiving 17 bids for the provision of LNG-powered bulk carriers for transporting iron ore to Asia.

Australian LNG operator Woodside Petroleum said the resource estimates of the Scarborough gas field offshore Western Australia, set to underpin its Pluto LNG plant expansion and the Burrup Peninsula Hub, have been increased by more than 50 percent.

Oct 17 (LNGJ) - BHP, the giant Australian energy and commodities company, said in a quarterly update that all its major projects under development were on track with the Ruby oil and gas project in LNG-producer Trinidad and Tobago given government approval in September. The company also gave details of Australian natural gas plans.

   “The Australian Bass Strait West Barracouta project is tracking to plan and is expected to achieve first production in the 2021 calendar year,” said BHP of the natural gas project offshore the state of Victoria. BHP noted that Victoria’s Minerva gas field reached end-of-field in September and production ceased at the Minerva Gas Plant. BHP agreed to sell its 90 percent interest in the Minerva Gas Plant to the Casino Henry joint venture after the cessation of gas processing from the Minerva field.

Woodside, the Australian LNG plant operator, said it awarded a contract to the local subsidiary of Dutch dredging and heavy-lift company Boskalis to undertake seabed intervention and excavation works for the proposed Scarborough natural gas pipeline.

BHP, the Australian commodities and energy company whose assets include a stake in the North West shelf liquefied natural gas export plant in Western Australia, has issued the world’s first bulk carrier tender for LNG-fueled transport for up to 27 million tonnes of its iron ore.

“Through this tender, we are seeking potential partners who share our ambition of lowering emissions to the maritime supply chain,” said BHP.

The company said the tender was open to a select group of industry leaders, from ship owners, banks and LNG fuel network providers.

The apparent aim of the tender is to find a partner for an LNG-powered newbuild iron-ore carrier, or a shipping company willing to order one with a pre-booked charter from BHP.

BHP said that introducing LNG-fueled ships into its iron ore maritime supply chain would eliminate nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide emissions and significantly reduce carbon-dioxide emissions along the busiest bulk transport route globally from Western Australia to North Asia.

As well as LNG-fueled transport for up to 10 percent of its iron ore, the tender seeks other innovative solutions that can lower greenhouse gas emissions and increase productivity from BHP’s freight requirements.

“We are fully supportive of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) decision to impose lower limits on sulphur levels in marine fuels,” said Rashpal Bhatti, Vice President, Maritime and Supply Chain.

“While LNG may not be the sustainable homogenous fuel of choice for a zero carbon future, we are not prepared to wait for a 100 percent compliant solution if we know that, together with our partners, we can make significant progress now,” added Bhati.

“This new tender adds to the work BHP is doing with customers, suppliers and parties along our value chain to influence emissions reductions from the transport and use of our products,” stated the BHP executive.

“We recognize we have a stewardship role, working with our customers, suppliers and others to influence emissions reductions across the full life cycle of our products,” he explained.

BHP, whose main offices are in Melbourne, London and Singapore said that as well as making investments in emerging technologies, it sets GHG emissions reduction targets for its operations and works across sectors to strengthen its global policy.