LNG

A substantial 13 GW of nuclear capacity built by 2051 is meant to replace coal generation in Australia, if the Liberal National Party (LNP) wins the federal election in early May. The incumbent Labor government targets 82% renewable energy – though short-term grid stability hinges on dispatchable gas power plants, partly fuelled by imported LNG.

Egypt’s state energy company EGAS has reduced its LNG imports to the Ain Sokhna regas terminal, chartered from Hoegh LNG, by more than a third to 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d). Situated east of Cairo, the Hoegh Gallon FSRU is on an interim charter from the Norwegian shipping company Hoegh, and had been originally destined for Australia.

Front-month price at the TTF, Europe’s most liquid gas trading hub, is recalibrating after a bid from Egypt’s EGAS for 20 LNG cargoes for October-December delivery had tightened supply. With the EGAS tender fully awarded – at a premium to the TTF – the market is now less tense and October gas futures were last seen trading below $11.26/MMBtu.

Avenir LNG, the London-headquartered global energy supplier for small-scale projects and gas carriers, has signed a Time Charter Party with Vitol International Shipping, a unit of the global commodities company.

Höegh LNG suffered a net loss after tax of $7.5 mill for the second quarter of this year, down from a net profit of $2 mill in the preceding quarter. 

June 30 (LNGJ) - Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, the Oslo-listed shipping-to-terminals company and shareholder in the Avenir LNG joint venture for small-scale carriers and other assets, reported an increased second-quarter net profit of $58.6 million with revenue of $689.1M compared with a net profit of $52.3M with revenues of $606.2M in the first quarter.

   “The positive momentum is continuing to build in the chemical tanker market. Our tanker trading team is standing firm on contract renewals and spot fixtures to capitalise on the tightening market, and we are moving in the right direction,” said Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen, Chief Executive.

Lithuanian fuel company Klaipedos Nafta has invited market participants to book regasification and cargo capacities for the first three months of the coming winter season from October to the end of December 2022.

The Baltic nation’s operator of oil and gas and fuel storage at the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda said the floating LNG terminal would offer a total of 9.66 terawatt hours during the allocation procedure.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia have only one import terminal between them at the Lithuanian port in the form of the 170,000 cubic metres capacity floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Independence”, delivered in 2014 by Norway’s Höegh LNG Holdings.

Höegh LNG has since expressed its intention to sell the FSRU “Independence” to a suitable buyer as Höegh itself was subjected to a corporate overhaul after an internal takeover.

“In order to ensure that the services of the terminal can be used by as many customers as possible, the capacity of the LNG terminal will be allocated,” said Klaipedos Nafta.

The company said that new regulations provide that a single terminal user may not book more than half of the terminal's allocated capacity.

Preferences

“In the event that the supply of terminal capacity exceeds the demand, the capacity shall be allocated on a ‘pro rata’ basis, with preference given to the companies, which have used the services of the LNG terminal in the last three years and are therefore familiar with the operating principles,” explained Klaipedos Nafta.

Later in 2022, Klaipedos Nafta also stated that it planned to offer the market the possibility to book long-term capacity at the LNG terminal from January 2023 for a period of five or 10 years.

The relevant amendments to the regulations for the use of the terminal have been submitted for market consultation.

“One of the technical changes we will follow next year will align the so-called gas year with the calendar year,” explained Jurgita Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, Head of LNG at Klaipedos Nafta.

“That is why we are currently initiating capacity allocation for a relatively short period of three months,” she added.

“Already in June, we will invite customers to assess the long-term capacity needs of the LNG terminal, for which we are currently making the final preparations,” she concluded.

The Klaipedos Nafta said applications for terminal capacity scan be submitted to the company until the 17th of May at 4:30 PM Lithuanian time.

Joint annual and monthly schedules of LNG cargoes delivered to the terminal will continue to be published and updated on the Klaipedos Nafta website.

“For the gas year, lasting from 1 October 2021 to 30 September 2022, customers have booked a total of 23.9 TWh of Klaipeda terminal capacity,” it added. 

Jan 26 (LNGJ) - Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen has informed the board of London-based Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, a shareholder in the Avenir LNG joint venture, that he wished to step down from his role as Chief Executive and was now likely to become Chairman. “He will continue as CEO and as a director until the appointment process for a successor has been completed,” said a statement.

   Stolt-Nielsen has served as CEO of Stolt-Nielsen Ltd since November 2000 and has been a director since 1996. “The intention is that once a suitable replacement is found, Mr Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen will assume the role of Chairman of the Board, subject to shareholder approval, replacing Mr Samuel Cooperman,” added Stolt-Nielsen Ltd.

Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the nation's largest shipyard group, has won orders to build seven liquefied natural gas carriers at a time of increased competition from Chinese shipyards.

The company said the orders were worth a combined 1.56 trillion won ($1.35 billion) in value and come at a time when the Korean industry was been winning a larger portion of global orders for all kinds of ships.

KSOE is a holding company of three shipbuilders comprising Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Samho and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co.

With the latest LNG newbuilds, KSOE said it had obtained orders for 176 ships and two offshore plants worth the equivalent of $16.8Bln so far this year, exceeding its annual order target of almost $15.0Bln.

The Korean LNG carrier orders are a mix from both Asian and European shipowners and covered all three subsidiaries.

South Korea had re-taken the global No. 1 ranking for monthly orders in May 2021 after losing it to China in April 2021, nine months after retaking the leading position in global shipbuilding in July 2020.

During the first part of 2021, Korean shipbuilders also won orders for 31 ships to be propelled by LNG, taking up 46 percent of 67 LNG-powered ships ordered in the year to date.

The Korean yards are still favoured by Russia in its LNG shipping expansion.

A Russian newbuild ordered from Hyundai Heavy Industries will be the latest in a series of Sovcomflot’s next-generation conventional Atlanticmax LNG carriers, with three sister ships already in operation, the “SCF La Perouse”, the “SCF Barents” and the “SCF Timmerman”.

The newbuild will have capacity of 174,000 cubic metres and be owned and operated by Sovcomflot, with options for HHI to build two additional vessels.

The newest Korean-built Russian vessel would be fitted with an X-DF propulsion system, operated by a slow-speed diesel engine with a direct drive to the propellers, enabling a substantial reduction in the vessel’s fuel consumption.

Stolt-Nielsen, the London-headquartered Norwegian company with terminal, shipping and Avenir LNG project interests, reported stable first-quarter earnings amid US disruptions and said the LNG import terminal on the Italian island of Sardinia would come on line in May.