LNG

Singapore wealth fund Temasek is close to completing a seven-month long sale process for the Asian island nation’s Pavilion Energy set up by Temasek in 2013 to develop liquefied natural gas assets.

The French port of Le Havre has again become a liquefied natural gas importation point for the first time since the 1980s as commissioning activities were starting for the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Cape Ann” after its safe arrival in the face of protests.

Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal, the UK’s Isle of Grain facility on the Medway River in Kent, has launched an auction for 9 million tonnes per annum of existing capacity.

Feb 16 (LNGJ) - Shell said in a liquefied natural gas sector outlook that Europe’s increased need for LNG looks set to intensify competition with Asia for limited new supplies over the next two years. Total global trade in LNG reached 397 million tonnes in 2022. Shell added that European countries, including the UK, imported 121MT of LNG in 2022, an increase of 60 percent compared with 2021, which enabled them to withstand a slump in Russian pipeline gas imports following the invasion of Ukraine.

   “With reduced Russian pipeline gas, LNG is becoming an increasingly important pillar of European energy security, supported by the rapid development of new regasification terminals in northwest Europe. In contrast, China is evolving from being a rapidly growing import market to playing a more flexible role with an increased ability to balance the global LNG market,” stated the Shell report.

Wood Mackenzie, the UK energy consultants, said colder temperatures across Europe had increased month-on-month heating demand by 20 percent in December and forecast a softening of LNG prices in 2023.

The US Department of Energy published its latest LNG monthly export data with European nations solidifying their places in the top six while Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant shipped the most expensive cargoes and Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass plant ramped up supplies to an array of countries.

Greece, the leading nation in liquefied natural gas shipping, has held a ceremony attended by the Greek and Bulgarian prime ministers marking the advancement of the Alexandroupolis floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and revealing that a second FSRU was planned.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of trading platforms and clearing, said December and fourth-quarter average daily volumes of traded derivatives contracts surged for the European natural gas and LNG benchmark, the Dutch Title Transfer facility.

European natural gas futures have jumped to record highs over supply concerns as the new German Left-Green coalition is expected to put energy politics over energy security and is seen as ignoring the supply of adequate natural gas for the Germany-led European Union.

Leading European LNG and pipeline natural gas nation Norway plans to subsidize the electricity bills of Norwegian households to alleviate the impact from soaring power prices in new measures announced by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Government said the cost of the proposal, which is subject to approval by Norway’s Parliament, could amount to some 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($560 million) combined for the four months from December 2021 to March 2022.

The government said the four months of subsidies would be administered by the Transmission System Operators (TSOs).

Norway’s power grid is divided into five different pricing zones. The spot price for electricity in the pricing zone that a household is located in will be used as the basis for calculating any support due.

The average wholesale electricity price in Norway recently stood at the equivalent of around €97.6 per megawatt hour. In natural gas terms this is about $32.35 per million British thermal units.

The Norwegian wholesale sale price is in line with the benchmark European Union Dutch Title Transfer Facility price and the UK National Balancing Point gas price.

Extraordinary situation

“An extraordinary situation like this requires extraordinary measures in response,” said PM Støre, who leads a Left-Centre administration.

“I am happy that we are now in a position to announce positive, targeted action that will help ordinary people to weather this electricity bill crisis,” he added.

 “It is a forceful response to what we are aware many people are finding to be a difficult and serious situation,” stated Støre.

Norway is the leading pipeline natural gas supplier to Western Europe after Gazprom and state-controlled oil and gas company Equinor also owns the region's largest baseload liquefaction and LNG export plant at Hammerfest, set to re-open in 2022 after repairs following a fire.

The Norwegian power subsidy plan will provide support to households for up to 5,000 kilowatt hours of monthly electricity use.

The government said it would present the scheme as a proposition to the Storting (parliament) as quickly as possible. The proposal is in addition to previously announced measures including housing assistance and support for students.

Norwegian Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said the proposal would see the money spent directly on paying the most expensive component of the bills of citizens.

“This will be in addition to reductions in the electrical power tax and increased housing assistance. We have focused on helping as many people as possible - when spending this much money, it is important for everyone to feel the benefit,” explained the Finance Minister.

“We hope that these measures will provide a little more breathing space for many people as we enter the Christmas period, regardless of whether you live in a draughty house, a flat or a farm,” he stated.