LNG

Norway’s national energy company Equinor, a main pipeline natural gas and LNG supplier to Europe as well as being a prominent trader, made total tax contributions of over $49 billion in the last tax year, including $1Bln in environmental taxes under the EU Emissions Trading System, as prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Equinor said it focused on securing safe and reliable delivery of energy and became the largest provider of natural gas to Europe as supplies from Russian supplier Gazprom virtually ended.

“Equinor is dedicated to contributing to progress for the societies where we operate, and paying tax where value is created is an important part of this,” said Equinor Chief Financial Officer Torgrim Reitan.

Special year

“It was also a special year in 2022 in the energy markets with high and volatile prices, followed by substantial tax contributions,” Reitan added.

Equinor group companies contributed with tax, host government entitlements, royalties and fee payments totalling $49.2Bln. Of this, $44.3Bln was paid to Norway, where Equinor has the largest operations.

The company explained that financial results in 2022 were strengthened by the higher prices across energy markets compared with 2021 and with particularly high prices and higher production of gas to Europe.

“Tax payments from Equinor provides governments and authorities with opportunities to increase welfare and strengthen their societies,” said Equinor.

Governance

The Tax Contribution Report provides information about the corporate income tax Equinor paid in countries and locations where it does business.

“The report discloses Equinor’s approach to tax and tax strategy, compliance, and governance,” it added.

Equinor also emphasized that it supported policies promoting the goals of the Paris Agreement and backed a price on carbon emissions as a measure to drive emissions reductions.

“The CO2 tax in Norway has promoted development of technology and solutions to produce oil and gas with lower emissions from operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf,” said CFO Reitan.

In 2022, Equinor said it paid $1.1 billion in environmental taxes and fees, including carbon quotas within the EU Emissions Trading System.

Eagle LNG Partners of the US has taken delivery of its first small-scale LNG carrier, the “Coral Favia”, from Dutch shipping company Anthony Veder for supply and bunkering services in the Caribbean Basin.

Avenir LNG has helped organize the first LNG fuel delivery in the German Baltic Sea Port of Lübeck, supplying the TT-Line ferry company’s new RoPax vessel “Nils Holgersson”, which carriers vehicles, passengers and cargo.

Avenir said that to execute the operation it teamed up with Liquind 24/7 GmbH, a leading German LNG infrastructure provide, and Landwärme GmbH, one of Europe’s leading biomethane traders.

The fuel delivered to the “Nils Holgersson” in the bunkering operation was 10 percent BioLNG, made from waste.

Avenir is a joint venture owned by London-based Stolt-Nielsen and shipping company partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG Ltd and is listed on the Oslo over-the-counter market.

The company said the first bunkering of the supply agreement was the start of a long-term cooperation between Avenir LNG and TT-Line for the supply of LNG and BioLNG to two new RoPax ferries that will transport passengers and cargo between Baltic Sea ports in Sweden, Germany, and Poland.

Avenir noted that population in the in the port of the region would be immediately benefitting from the environmental advantages of these vessels being powered with LNG with much reduced emissions.

“We are excited about this successful first delivery of LNG to TT-Line in Lübeck,” said Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir LNG.

“The fact that 10 percent of the delivery was Bio-LNG underlines the commitment of all parties involved to reducing emissions of shipping even further through the development of a suitable small-scale LNG infrastructure,” Mackey explained.

“Avenir is committed to the deployment of bunker vessels and the construction of new terminals, to improve the availability of environmentally friendly fuels for our customers across the marine, industry and logistics segments,” stated the Avenir CEO.

Christian Schneider, Managing Director of Liquidind 24/7, said the effective execution of this bunkering operation showed effective cooperation between different small-scale LNG frontrunners.

“Furthermore, the operation showed the logistical and technical capabilities that Liquidind 24/7 has developed in the past few years as a leading alternative fuel infrastructure provider in the German market,” added Schneider.

Landwärme’s CEO Zoltan Elek said that despite existing regulatory barriers BioLNG was the most viable solution for quickly reducing emissions in maritime transport.

“It helps guarantee energy security, as well as independence on the path to carbon neutrality,” added Elek.

Sept 23 (LNJ) - Shipping spot charter rates for LNG carriers are little changed since last week. Spot charter rates are still between $63,500 per day and $59,500 per day in the West of Suez market for vessels of 155,000-165,000 cubic metres capacity.

   East of Suez spot charter rates are again quoted by shipbrokers at between $60,500 per day and $56,500 per day. One-year charter rates for the most modern vessels were unchanged at about $93,000 per day.

Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean nation shipping cargoes from the Atlantic LNG facility at Point Fortin in Trinidad, will have access to more natural gas after UK major BP brought on stream the Matapal project.

The largest cruise liner ever built for Carnival Cruise Corp. of the US, the LNG-powered liner “Mardi Gras”, has begun a series of sea trials from the Finnish Meyer Turku shipyard ahead of moving to its base in Florida to begin operations in February 2021 as the cruise industry continues to boost future demand for LNG maritime fuel.

Chart Industries, the US liquefied natural gas and industrial gases equipment supplier, has signed a letter of cooperation 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.

Siem Industries, the company run by Norwegian Kristian Siem and whose interests include shipping and offshore oil and gas engineering and services through the Subsea 7 company and Siem Offshore Inc., has attended the naming ceremony for its two LNG-powered car carriers at the Chinese Xiamen Shipbuilding yard in southeastern Fujian province.

Naturgy Energy Group, the Spanish utility with major US and Russian liquefied natural gas supply contracts as well as global gas and power businesses, has launched a system allowing onshore connection and loading of LNG from a carrier without the need for facilities at the destination port.

Trafigura, the international commodities firm, said its delivered liquefied natural gas volumes rose by 22 percent in the past year as demand rose in both China and South Korea and it expected a bouyant 2019.