LNG

Oct 2 (LNGJ) – Cargoes from Algeria and Peru are heading for the UK in the days ahead. The “Berge Arzew” with 138,100 cubic metres of capacity is due to unload a cargo on October 3 at the Isle of Grain terminal on the Medway River in Kent, according to shipping data. The cargo was loaded on September 22 at Algeria’s Arzew export plant.

   The LNG carrier “Methane Julia Louise” with 167,400 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to deliver a cargo on October 6 to the UK Dragon import terminal at the port of Milford Haven. The cargo was lifted on August 28 from the Pampa Melchorita plant on the Pacific Coast of Peru.

Qatar Gas Transport Company, known as Nakilat and with a liquefied natural gas LNG fleet of 69 vessels, has posted a 3.6 percent increase in first-quarter 2023 net profits.

Europe will receive a steady stream of LNG cargoes from the US, Qatar and other nations such as Peru in the next two weeks, though there are no LNG shipments scheduled so far through the end of next week for the new importer Germany.

UK-based oil and gas majors BP plc and Shell plc have agreed to restructure their ownership in Trinidad and Tobago’s Atlantic liquefied natural gas project at Point Fortin in Trinidad.

Shell has been selected by QatarEnergy as a fifth partner in the North Field East expansion project in Qatar, described by Shell as the single largest project in the history of the liquefied natural gas industry.

Shell said it would hold a 25 percent share in a joint venture company which will own 25 percent of part of the North Field East project, including the four mega-Trains for processing a combined nameplate LNG capacity of 32 million tonnes per annum.

Shell said its investment in this LNG expansion would support delivery of much-needed supplies of natural gas to markets around the world.

“I am honoured that Shell has been selected by QatarEnergy. Through its pioneering integration with carbon capture and storage, this landmark project will help provide LNG the world urgently needs,” declared Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden.

“This agreement deepens our strategic partnership with QatarEnergy which includes multiple international partnerships such as the world-class Pearl GTL asset,” added Van Beurden.

“We are committed to maximize the value of the LNG expansion for the State of Qatar and continue to be a trusted, reliable and long-term partner in Qatar’s continued progress,” he stated.

ExxonMobil role

ExxonMobil Corp., the long-standing partner of Qatar in oil and gas and LNG, was chosen in June to be the fourth signatory of a joint venture stake in the North Field East expansion.

ExxonMobil, like Shell, was awarded a 25 percent interest in the fourth North Field East joint venture that will take QatarEnergy’s overall output to 110 million tonnes per annum from 77 MTPA.

The US major has had a presence in Qatar since 1955 and has long supported the development of the country’s LNG industry and energy sector.

QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil are also partners in the current transformation of the Golden Pass LNG import terminal on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Texas into an export plant.

The terms for Qatar's NFE expansion joint ventures with Shell and ExxonMobil are the same as those given to the other three shareholders named earlier, France’s TotalEnergies, Italy’s Eni and US major ConocoPhillips.

The expansion of North Field East and increased LNG export capacity is one of Qatar’s key energy objectives.

QatarEnergy is the operator and commenced the North Field East project in 2019. First LNG from North Field East is expected in 2026.

The upstream part of the project is already under way to develop the southeast area of the North Field via eight platforms, 80 wells and gas pipelines to the onshore liquefaction plant.

April 6 (LNGJ) - The 205,960 cubic metres capacity Qatari Q-Flex vessel “Al Sheehaniya” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on April 12 to the UK South Hook import terminal in the port of Milford Haven, according to shipping data. The cargo was arriving as the differential widened between the UK National Balancing Point wholesale benchmark and the European Union’s Dutch Title Transfer Facility price. The UK NBP was last quoted at the equivalent of $31.75 per million British thermal unit.

Dec 30 (LNGJ) - The UK is receiving at least three LNG cargoes from the Americas at the Port of Milford Haven during the first week in January, one each from the US states of Texas and Louisiana and one from Peru, according to port authorities. The 174,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Aristidis I” is scheduled to discharge a shipment on January 4 at the South Hook facility from Freeport LNG in Texas.

   A second US cargo is being delivered to South Hook on January 6 on board the 164,000 cubic metres capacity “Maran Gas Posidonia” from the Cameron plant near Lake Charles in Louisiana. The third expected arrival next week is the January 6 berthing of the 173,400 cubic metres capacity vessel “Magdala” at Milford Haven’s Dragon terminal carrying a shipment from the Pampa Melchorita plant on the Pacific Coast of Peru.

The US government reported that the increase in the nation’s liquefied natural gas exports was supported by large prices differences between the benchmark Henry Hub and spot prices in Europe and Asia and forecast a surge in shipments through March 2022.

Oct 4 (LNGJ) - The 258,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Max LNG carrier “Al Ghuwairiya” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on October 6 to the UK South Hook import terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the Ras Laffan plant in Qatar.

   The shipment was lifted on September 16 and is arriving in the UK as the National Balancing Point (NBP) benchmark natural gas price was quoted at the equivalent of $32.65 per million British thermal units, close to last week’s all-time high for modern times.

Natural gas benchmark prices in the UK and the Netherlands, which help determine LNG cargo values, have plunged to seasonal lows for winter with weather fluctuations having little impact because of very full storage across Europe.