LNG

Temasek, the Singapore wealth fund that recently sold all liquefied natural gas interests to Shell, plans to focus on investing in Chinese companies with large domestic sales sales rather than those that depend on foreign markets.

Jan 18 (LNGJ) - The Singapore-flagged “BW Pavilion Aranda” with 173,400 cubic metres of capacity was discharging a cargo on January 18 at the UK Isle of Grain LNG import terminal. The facility is located on the Medway River southeast of London and is operated by National Grid plc. The cargo was lifted on January 6 from the US Cove Point export plant at Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

UK maritime security firm, Dryad Global, has reported that an LNG carrier, the 138,160 cubic metres capacity “Methane Princess”, was attacked and boarded while at anchor off Malabo near the Equatorial Guinea LNG export plant in West Africa.

“The vessel was attacked shortly after breaking off loading operations,” said Dryad, citing the Channel 16 VHF international radio distress frequency.

“The alarm was sounded and all on deck were able to retreat to citadel,” said Dryad.

“Two Filipino nationals were on the jetty and both were taken hostage. One of the hostages, jumped off the pirate vessel and was rescued. One person entering the citadel was also injured and a total of one hostage was taken,” said the Dryad report..

Dryad added that no gun shots were fired and an Equatorial Guinea Navy vessel was at the scene within 40 minutes and a Navy patrol vessel arrived in 45 minutes.

“Navy and Ministry personnel conducted post-event inquiries. The tanker departed on time and was en route to its next port,” said the report.

“The pirate vessel’s direction of travel remains unverified. Further details regarding the incident are unclear,” it added.

The “Methane Princess”, owned by Golar LNG, had declared its arrival at the Punta Europa export plant 24 hours prior to the boarding incident.

“This latest incident is understood to be the 20th recorded kidnapping event in the Gulf of Guinea within 2020,” stated Dryad.

The Equatorial Guinea LNG plant began production in May 2007 and its single processing Train currently produces 3.7 million tonnes per annum.

The shareholders of EG LNG’s holding company have contracted volumes to Royal Dutch Shell under a 17-year agreement inherited from BG Group of the UK after a takeover.

BG originally signed that deal to ship the LNG cargoes to the Lake Charles import terminal in the US state of Louisiana before the shale-gas expansion turned the US into an exporter.

Dryad Global reported the previous attack on an LNG carrier off West Africa in December 2019 when a single speedboat with 10 armed men on board approached the “LNG Lokoja”, while the vessel was heading for the Bonny Island export plant in Nigeria.

Those pirates were reported to have opened fire on the vessel. However, the ship conducted evasive manoeuvres causing the attack to fail.

That incident took place some 70 nautical miles northwest of Sao Tomé and Príncipe, the former Portuguese colony.

The 148,300 cubic metres capacity “LNG Lokoja” , under the management of BW Gas of Singapore, was met by the Nigerian Patrol vessel “Defender VI” and the Portuguese Navy vessel “Zaire” and continued to port under escort.

First Gen Corp., the largest provider of gas-fired power in the Philippines, has chosen Australia-based McConnell Dowell as its engineering contractor for an interim floating import terminal at Batangas City to help guarantee the Asian nation's energy security as a major domestic gas field depletes.

First Gen Corp., the largest provider of gas-fired power in the Philippines, has received the go-ahead from the Filipino Department of Energy to develop its proposed interim floating LNG facility in the port area of Batangas City as it awaits construction of a permanent onshore terminal.

First Gen said its wholly-owned subsidiary FGEN LNG was given final clearance by the regulators for an application filed in March 2020.

The Filipino utility said it would now start work in the fourth quarter of 2020 on modifying an existing jetty and building onshore gas receiving capability at its complex in Batangas City.

In parallel with the construction phase, FGEN LNG is preparing to issue a binding invitation to tender for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) upon completion of its ongoing non-binding process.

Three FSRU providers, Singapore-based BW Gas, Greek-owned shipping company GasLog LNG and Norway’s Hoegh LNG have expressed interest in concluding a charter agreement for the FSRU that will provide storage and regasification services to the interim project.

FGEN LNG said the deployment of an FSRU would allow the introduction of LNG to the Philippines as early as the third quarter of 2022 to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of FGEN LNG affiliates as well as third parties.

The company said it believed the project would play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the northern Philippines and the capital Manila on Luzon island, particularly as the nation’s domestic Malampaya natural gas resources run down just as the gas-fired power plant network begins to expand.

The company has a joint venture with Tokyo Gas in jointly developing the LNG hub in Batangas province to meet the nation’s growing gas-fired power needs.

First Gen and Tokyo Gas held a ground-breaking ceremony 18 months ago for the onshore terminal that has been designated an “Energy Project of National Significance,” in recognition of its importance to national grid security.

The only other completed regasification facility in the Philippines is at Pagbilao in Quezon province where Australia-listed Energy World Corp. has a facility linked to its 100-percent owned 650MW gas-fired power project. LNG imports will only begin when the power plant is built.

“We are thankful to Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, and to the Downstream Natural Gas Review and Evaluation Committee of the DoE, for the support and guidance that they have provided during the evaluation process,” said First Gen Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan C. Russell.

FGEN LNG believes the project will play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Luzon Grid and the Philippines, particularly as the Malampaya gas field is expected to be less reliable in the future.

The company already operates four gas-fired power plants with an aggregate capacity of about 2,000 megawatts.

These are the 1,000-MW Santa Rita plant, the 500-MW San Lorenzo facility and the 414-MW San Gabriel and 97-MW Avion plants.

First Gen said the arrival of LNG in the Philippines would encourage new power plant developments and more industrial and transport users seeking a cleaner replacement for polluting fuels.

The company concluded that it expected the continuing reduction in supply from the Malampaya gas field up to the expiration of contracts in 2024.

Keppel Offshore and Marine, the Singapore shipbuilding and conversions company, has signed a contract for the first LNG floating regasification and storage unit that will be deployed in the Latin American country of El Salvador and will also build the largest US hopper-dredger for the Gulf of Mexico.

Pavilion Energy, the Singapore LNG and natural gas market participant, has completed the transaction to acquire the portfolio of LNG and gas assets of Spanish utility Iberdrola as it also launches European trading operations.

UK maritime security consultants, Dryad Global, reported an attack by a single speedboat with 10 armed men on-board on the liquefied natural gas carrier, “LNG Lokoja”, while the vessel was heading for the Bonny Island export plant in Nigeria.

April 10 (LNGJ) - TMC Compressors of Norway was awarded a contract by South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to supply a compressed air system to a newbuild floating storage and regasification unit (FRSU). TMC’s scope of work includes engineering, manufacturing and supply of a complete compressed air system for the 134,400 cubic metres capacity FRSU, ordered by Singapore-based shipping company BW LNG and due for delivery in 2019. “Any FRSU is a vital component in the LNG value chain,” said Per Kjellin, Managing Director of TMC. “That is why DMSE and BW LNG have opted for compressors that are built especially for marine application, as continuous uptime is crucial for both the on board compressor system and the vessel as a whole,” added Kjellin.