LNG

The Panama Canal Authority has further reduced ship transits because of drought blamed on the “El Niño” weather effects to 24 vessels in November and booking slots will be cut to 22 ships in December, hitting LNG, oil and containership traffic on the Atlantic-Pacific Basin crossings and sending bidding for slots up to $2 million or more as waiting times grow to more than a week.

Swan Energy Ltd, part of the Indian conglomerate the Swan Group with interests in oil and gas, textiles and infrastructure has given details of its lease-out deal to Turkey’s state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corp. (BOTAS) of a floating storage and regasification unit.

The charter for the “Vasant 1” floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), which is controlled by Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, is held by Swan Energy subsidiary Triumph Offshore Private Limited (TOPL) and has now moved to Saros Bay offshore northern Turkey.

The FSRU “Vasant 1” has capacity of 180,000 cubic metres and was completed by Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea at the end of 2020 for Swan‘s planned LNG import terminal at Jafrabad in India’s Gujarat state.

Swan was the lead promoter of the delayed Jafrabad LNG import terminal with a 63 percent equity stake.

The other shareholders are the Government of Gujarat with a 26 percent interest and the remaining 11 percent is owned by FSRU Venture India One Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Japanese shipping line Mitsui OSK Lines.

MOL acted as technical partner for the Jafrabad project by supervising the construction of the FSRU.

Charter rates

“The lease arrangement is generating daily rental of $250,000, or about 2 crore Indian rupees (as per the present exchange rate), for Swan Energy,” said the Indian firm of the BOTAS deal.

“The duration of the lease agreement is for 12 months and is extendable on this basis of mutual agreement,” Swan added.

Based on the bare boat charter, TOPL has leased out only the bare FSRU vessel to BOTAS and BOTAS will manage the operational expenses including fuel, crew, insurance, maintenance, and repair.

“As a result, TOPL does not incur any operational expenses during the lease tenure,” Swan said.

BOTAS also runs the Marmara Eregesli LNG import terminal and cargoes have been received there since 1994, first from Algeria and later from countries like Qatar and Nigeria and then over the last five years from the US as well.

Commenting on the lease arrangement with BOTAS, Rishi Chopra, an executive of Swan, said the lease agreement based on bare-boat charter would enhance the rental earning capabilities of the FSRU.

“The net revenue from the annual rental will strengthen the profitability position of the company,” explained Chopra.

“By renting out the FSRU to BOTAS, we aim to play an enabling role to boost the LNG initiatives of the Turkish government to build clean energy preparedness amid a growing demand for FSRUs in that market,” he added.

March 2 (LNGJ) – European wholesale gas and LNG prices based on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility benchmark were at the very high level on March 2 of the equivalent of $39.30 million British thermal units as LNG carriers headed for fixed terminal destinations or awaited instructions.

   The Hong Kong-flagged LNG carrier “Vladimir Viz” was making its way through the English Channel on March 2 heading for southwest Europe after lifting a cargo from the Yamal LNG plant in Arctic Russia, according to shipping data. The laden 172,600 cubic metres capacity vessel lifted its cargo at Sabetta Port on February 23. The unladen 170,000 cubic metres capacity Greek-flagged carrier “Maran Gas Andros” is also making its way through the Channel heading southwest from the French LNG import terminal at Dunkirk.

The France-based International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) has issued its annual report with key export and import statistics showing surges in spot LNG deals and in deliveries on short-term contracts.

French energy major Total and Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines have attended a naming ceremony in the Dutch port of Rotterdam for the “Gas Agility”, the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel.

The first Gastech Virtual Summit gets underway on Monday, September 7, under the title “Connecting the Gas, LNG and Energy Industry” and will run through September 11 as a replacement event for the postponed Conference & Exhibition scheduled for Singapore.

Venture Global has shown the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it is making steady progress with its Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana, expected to come on stream in 2022 along with the TransCameron Pipeline.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), based in Qatar and known as the OPEC of natural gas, and the the International Gas Union were among the participants in a wide-ranging online discussion held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on future LNG and pipeline gas use.

The Web gathering was entitled “99 minutes of LNG - trends, developments and innovative” and examined the need for a more vibrant natural gas industry due to the long-term benefits it brings and its key role in the energy transition.

The session was organised by the UNECE’s Group of Experts on Gas and featured speakers from the GECF and the IGU in addition to several UN member states and for leading gas companies from 10 nations, including Germany, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Russia and the US.

The GECF was represented by Hussein Moghaddam, Senior Energy Forecast Analyst at the Secretariat in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Moghaddam presented the latest data on Covid-19's impact on LNG markets and outlined the long-term prospects for the fuel.

The GECF has 12 members: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

The seven observer-status countries are Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Norway, Oman and Peru.

The current Secretary-General of the GECF is Yury Sentyurin from Russia.

During the UNECE’s event Moghaddam spoke in relation to one of the key messages which was that despite the current market environment due to COVID-19 and the oil price slump, the LNG industry was better placed than ever because of its massive contribution to decarbonising the world.

“While coal is still considered a critical source for energy security and affordability, particularly in Asia, coal development plans are being revised downward compared to previous years amidst low electricity demand and rising availability of alternative sources,” said Moghaddam .

“There is, therefore, a real opportunity for coal-to-gas switching,” he added.

“Further, gas and LNG can benefit from the climate policies being pushed out now due to their competitiveness and alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” stated Moghaddam.

The GECF is a regular contributor to the discussions of the UNECE Group of Experts on Gas and took part in the UN body's summit in Geneva in 2019.

The GECF’s “Global Gas Outlook 2050” published earlier in 2020 said that gas production in GECF countries, including Qatar, would grow by almost 50 percent through 2050 to more than 2.5 trillion cubic metres, underlining the continued importance of the group.

The sixth GECF summit of heads of states is scheduled to take place in Doha in 2021.

Chart Industries, the US liquefied natural gas and industrial gases equipment supplier with a widening international presence in Europe and Asia, has authorized the repurchase of up to $75 million of its common stock over the next 12 months. 

Under the stock repurchase program, Chart may purchase shares of its common stock through various means, including open market transactions, block purchases and privately negotiated transactions in accordance with  federal securities laws.

“This stock buyback program reflects our confidence in our business going forward, and we believe our shares are an attractive investment opportunity,” said Chart’s Chief Executive Jill Evanko.

“Our strong cash flow simultaneously enables us to return value to shareholders, pay down debt, and deploy capital for productivity and growth opportunities,” explained the CEO.

Analysts say that companies usually buy back their shares because management considers them undervalued. 

The company buys shares directly from the market or can offer its shareholders the option of tendering their shares.

A share buyback reduces the number of outstanding shares, which can increase both the demand for the shares and the price.

Chart said that the timing and amount of any repurchases under this program will be determined by Chart’s management at its discretion based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, trading volume and market price.

The company, whose headquarters are in the suburbs of Atlantic in Georgia, was been building its business in North America during the LNG plant buildout as well as in Europe with trucking fuel equipment and in Asia with proposed joint ventures.

Chart signed a letter of cooperation in February 2020 with ExxonMobil India LNG Ltd, an affiliate of the US  major, and Indian Oil Corp. to focus on delivering LNG by Indian roads, railroads and waterways to spread gas use in the absence of physical pipelines.

The accord upgrades a previous Memorandum of Understanding between Chart in Indian Oil to promote the development of the LNG market in India.

It stated that the companies would focus on modular liquefaction, regasification applications, LNG bunkering, fueling stations and alternative LNG mobile transportation including ISO containers.  

Chart said the new Letter of Cooperation expanded the reach and potential scale within a significantly growing country that has committed to clean energy options.

The Freeport LNG export plant on Quintana Island in Texas was given permission by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to brings a second loading jetty into service to meet increasing cargo numbers.