LNG

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant and developer of the delayed Arctic LNG II venture, has reported positive operating data for the second quarter of 2024 amid continued Western sanctions.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has received design approval from two European classification societies for the latest containment system.

TotalEnergies, the French major with a world-class LNG portfolio of 44 million tonnes per annum, is increasing its natural gas infrastructure investments by paying £450 million ($575M) for a gas-fired power plant in the UK to help mitigate its large holdings of intermittent renewables in the British energy markets.

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with the North American institutional investor EIG for the acquisition of all the shares of West Burton Energy in the UK Midlands.

West Burton Energy owns and operates the West Burton B gas-fired power plant in the English county of Nottinghamshire.

West Burton B comprises three combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) with total output of 1.3 gigawatts.

Commissioned in 2013, it is one of the UK’s most advanced power plants and supplies some 1.8 million homes. A 49 MW battery storage system was added in 2018.

“This acquisition rounds out TotalEnergies’ renewable power generation capacity in the UK with a flexible asset that mitigates intermittency to enable the supply of firm power to customers,” explained the French company.

Capacity needs

“Given the size of the company’s renewable portfolio in the country, which currently stands at 1.1 GW of gross installed capacity and 4.5 GW under development, TotalEnergies assesses its need for gas-based power generation capacity at 700 MW, so the company therefore plans to divest 50 percent of the acquired assets,” TotalEnergies added.

“The deal will also allow TotalEnergies to strengthen its trading capabilities in the country’s electricity and gas markets,” said the company.

TotalEnergies plans to supply the gas-fired power plant from its natural gas production in the UK where it operates 30 percent of the projects.

Earlier in June, TotalEnergies also signed two new LNG medium-term and long-term LNG accords in Asia.

These comprised a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) with Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL) for the delivery to India of up to 800,000 tonnes per annum of LNG for 10 years from 2026.

Korean LNG

The second accord was a heads of agreement with Korea South-East Power for the delivery to South Korea of up to around 500,000 tonnes per annum of LNG for five years from 2027.

The company said that these agreements allow TotalEnergies to secure medium-term outlets for its global LNG supply portfolio.

They also strengthen the company's footprint in Asian markets, where it is particularly committed to supporting its customers with their decarbonization strategies.

June 4 (LNGJ) - The Qatari Q-Flex LNG vessel “Al Gharrafa” with 216,200 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to berth on June 5 at the French Fos Cavaou LNG import terminal located west of the Mediterranean port of Marseille.

The shipment was loaded on May 3 at the Ras Laffan export plant in the Arabian Gulf and the carrier voyage was around the southern tip of Africa because of continued insecurity for shipping in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The delivery came as the French day-ahead Point d’Echange de Gaz (PEG) price in the virtual trading market was at the equivalent of $11.450 per million British thermal units.

Ascenz Marorka, the smart-shipping arm of French LNG maritime storage technology company GTT, has been granted an approval for cybersecurity for its digital solutions by France’s classification society Bureau Veritas.

“The technological evolution in the maritime sector has brought to the forefront significant risks associated with cyber-attacks, affecting the safety of individuals, the marine environment or everyone’s personal data,” said Ascenz Marorka.

“Faced with this reality, maritime companies need to adopt proactive protection measures and robust defence strategies to ensure the continuity and the safety of their operations,” stated the firm.

Resilience

GTT group said that the approval for cyber-security granted by Bureau Veritas highlighted the ability of the Ascenz Marorka solutions to meet the cyber-security challenges of the maritime sector with “resilience and reliability” after testing.

GTT said the smart-shipping unit benefited from the robust protection for its computer systems, encrypting the data used and was able to isolate the networks for the approved functionalities.

The Paris-based firm said that the approval demonstrated Ascenz Marorka’s commitment to helping build a sustainable future, while ensuring maximum cyber protection for its customers.

“The safety of our customers’ data is at the heart of our strategy. We are very proud of this approval, which reflects our commitment to protecting our customers’ operations,” said Anouar Kiassi, Managing Director of Ascenz Marorka.

“Having a trusted third party like Bureau Veritas certify our solution is the best proof we can offer our customers to show them how seriously we monitor and mitigate evolving cyber-risks,” declared Kiassi.

Bureau Veritas

Paul Delouche, the Advanced Services Director of Bureau Veritas, said that as a class society, Bureau Veritas was very pleased to find that key players in the maritime industry, such as Ascenz Marorka, were seeking certification to demonstrate their level of cybersecurity maturity.

The certification covers the Ascenz Marorka applications’ related requirements included in “NR467 Bureau Veritas Rules for the Classification of Steel Ships”, “NR659 Bureau Veritas Rules on Cyber Security or the Classification of marine units” and “IACS UR E27 Rev.1 (Sep 2023) Cyber resilience of on-board systems and equipment”.

Ascenz Marorka noted that with IACS UR E27 entering into force on July 1, 2024, the smart-shipping unit has successfully anticipated what many vendors would need to accomplish in the coming months.

“This certification rewards the exemplary commitment of Ascenz Marorka teams in strengthening their digital solutions and demonstrates Bureau Veritas’ readiness to promote cybersecurity as a catalyst for digitalization,” the company concluded.

March 5 (LNGJ) – Russian cargoes are heading for Belgium while France is receiving a US shipment. A cargo was being discharged on March 5 by the “LNGships Empress” vessel with 174,250 cubic metres capacity at the Montoir-de-Bretagne import terminal in Western France, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on February 19 from the Sabine Pass export plant in Louisiana operated by Cheniere Energy.

   Two Russian cargoes are scheduled to arrive this week at the Belgian terminal at Zeebrugge. The “Nikolay Zubov” with 173,000 cubic metres of capacity loaded a cargo at the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula on February 29. Another delivery for Zeebrugge is on the “Vladimir Vize” with 172,6000 cubic metres capacity. That cargo was lifted at Sabetta on March 2.

TotalEnergies has signed a liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement to supply Sembcorp Fuels, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Sembcorp Industries.

The deal entails the delivery of up to 800,000 tonnes of LNG for a duration of 16 years, commencing in 2027.

“The LNG will be sourced from TotalEnergies’ global portfolio. This new agreement adds to the companies’ current SPA, which runs until 2029,” the French major explained.

“By supplying this additional LNG supply to Singapore, TotalEnergies is contributing to the country’s energy security and to its decarbonization goals,” said TotalEnergies.

“This deal also reflects TotalEnergies’ commitment to supporting its customers in their transition to greater sustainability,” it added.

TotalEnergies is the world’s third-largest LNG player with a market share of around 12 percent and a global portfolio of about 50 MTPA with interests in export facilities from Africa to Australia.

Qatar deals

QatarEnergy is also a key supplier to TotalEnergies and in 2023 two long-term LNG SPAs were signed to supply of up to 3.5 MTPA of LNG from Qatar to France.

Under the Qatar agreements, LNG will be delivered ex-ship to the Fos Cavaou LNG receiving terminal located west of Marseilles.

Those deliveries are expected to start in 2026 for a term of 27 years.

TotalEnergies has gas interests in two of Qatar’s expansion joint ventures, the North Field East (NFE) and the North Field South (NFS) projects.

TotalEnergies recently reported declines in annual and quarterly net profits as commodity prices plummeted compared with the previous year while the French major sold over 44 million tonnes of LNG and opened the Le Havre floating LNG regasification terminal in France while being further boosted by progress in other oil and gas projects.

TotalEnergies posted a 35 percent drop in adjusted net operating income for all of 2023 to $25.10 billion from $38.47Bln in 2022.

For full-year 2023, hydrocarbon production for LNG was up 9 percent compared with 2022 due to increased supply to Nigeria LNG in West Africa, higher availability of Ichthys LNG in the Northern Territory of Australia and from the Hammerfest LNG plant in Norway.

Elengy, the operator of three terminals in Western and Southern France at Montoir-de-Bretagne, Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou has increased the LNG trucking capabilities at the Fos Cavaou facility located west of the Mediterranean port of Marseille.

The Managing Director of Elengy, Nelly Nicoli, inaugurated the two new tank-truck loading bays at the Fos Cavaou terminal.

The LNG fuel expansion event was also attended by René Raimondi, Mayor of the town of Fos, Hervé Martel, President of the Grand Port Maritime de Marseilles, and Régis Passerieux, Sub-Prefect of the district of Istres.

The new loading bays at Fos Cavaou now give the West Med terminal four bays with the capacity to offer 22,000 slots a year.

“LNG constitutes an immediate and effective response to the challenges of the energy transition in the road transport sector by reducing carbon-dioxide emissions,” stated Nicoli.

Commissioning

“With this commissioning, Elengy will continue with the development of its infrastructure to provide reliable and sustainable access to LNG for road transport,” added Nicoli.

“The two new bays of Fos Cavaou represented an investment of €10 million ($10.8M),” she stated.

Elengy has been expanding LNG truck-loading bays since 2013 at the Montoir-de-Bretagne and the Fos Tokin and Fos Cavaou terminals.

Over the past 10 years around 70,000 trucks have been loaded with LNG for the gradually expanding fuel market in the European Union.

Ship movements

Elengy’s three regulated terminals offer market flexibility for the unloading or loading of any type of LNG carriers as well as trans-shipment services.

The company’s LNG carrier traffic amounts to around 330 ships per annum at the three facilities.

Elengy added that during 2023 LNG had also been loaded into ISO containers at the Fos terminals for transportation by rail.

The company said it was also developing its services by investing in the development of bio-LNG made from waste to reduce the environmental footprint of the fuel.

Höegh LNG Ltd, the owner and operator of 13 LNG vessels including floating storage and regasification (FSRU) units, returned to a third-quarter profit after suffering losses in the same three months of 2022 as the Norwegian operator deployed floating import terminals to France, Germany and Australia.

Denmark has become a benchmark nation for measuring pipeline natural gas and power needs in the European Union as a bridge supplier of gas to Poland on the Baltic Pipe and being outside the LNG supply loop unlike Germany.