LNG

Oman, the LNG producer and exporter, has signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with UK major Shell and French company TotalEnergies to explore, appraise and develop natural gas resources at Block 11 onshore the Sultanate on the Arabian Peninsula.

The Oman LNG bunkering project for the Port of Sohar has advanced with the signing of a series of agreements for an Omani onshore gas field known as Block 10 and involving French major TotalEnergies, the Oman National Oil Company and Shell.

DMG Events of the UK has opened registration for the first Gastech Virtual Summit taking place from September 7-11, 2020, instead of the live traditional Conference & Exhibition scheduled for Singapore and now postponed.

French energy major Total has signed an agreement to renew its partnership in the field of liquefied natural gas with the North African state of Algeria as Italian energy company Eni also advances with projects.

The accord between Total and Algerian oil and gas company Sonatrach allows the extension of the existing supply contracts for three additional years.

This will provide 2 million tonnes per annum of Algerian LNG to the French market, primarily through the LNG import terminal at Fos Cavaou, located east of the Mediterranean port of Marseilles.

Total said that the agreement also included the sub-charter of one of its LNG carriers to Sonatrach.

“This agreement is part of the long history of cooperation between Total and Sonatrach,” said Laurent Vivier, President for gas at Total.

“Thanks to the quality of our relationship we were able to conclude it in an extremely volatile market environment,” added Vivier.

“This new contract further enhances the flexibility of Total's LNG portfolio and strengthens our position as a major partner of Sonatrach,” he stated.

Total noted it was a historic player in the energy sector in Algeria for almost 70 years.

The group is active in oil and gas exploration and production, participating interests in the TFT II and Timimoun gas fields and in the oil fields of the Berkine Basin in southeast Algeria.

In addition, Total and Sonatrach have launched engineering studies for a petrochemical project in Western Algeria.

Algerian LNG exports have been falling and in the most recent official annual figures dropped by over 18 percent to about 10 million tonnes compared with 12.34MT the previous year from its two liquefaction plants at Skikda and Arzew on the Mediterranean Coast.

Italian energy company Eni and Sonatrach have completed the construction of the natural gas pipeline connecting the Bir Rebaa Nord and Menzel Ledjmet Est fields in the Berkine Basin.

The completion comes as Algeria is making three-pronged marketing efforts to direct new gas finds into domestic industry, for export as pipeline gas to Europe and as LNG to mostly European markets amid low prices and high global volumes.

The new Berkine Basin pipeline is 185 kilometres in length and 16 inches in diameter and will transport capacity of 7 million standard cubic metres of gas per day to markets.


That project will allow for the export of the associated gas produced in Block 403 and the development of the gas fields of the blocks of North Berkine, where the drilling of the first four wells have already been completed and linked.

Sonatrach has been increasing the capacity of its export infrastructure like the Medgaz gas pipeline to Spain, and building a new LNG jetty at the Skikda liquefaction plant.

French energy major Total plans to develop liquefied natural gas imports in the tiny West African nation of Benin, whose neighbour Nigeria is the world’s fifth-largest LNG exporter.

Total said it signed a Gas Supply Agreement and the Host Government Agreement for the development of a floating LNG import facility to supply 500,000 tonnes per annum to Benin for 15 years, starting in 2021.

Total will develop and operate the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and its associated infrastructure.

“It will include an offshore pipeline connection to the existing and planned power plants in Maria Gléta,” said Total.

The Benin government has signed a contract for a second power plant with financial backing from Denmark and to be located at Maria Gléta in the outskirts of the country’s largest city, Cotonou.

Total said its FLNG import project was in line with its strategy to develop new gas markets by unlocking access to LNG for fast-growing economies.

“We are very pleased to have been entrusted by the Benin authorities to develop LNG imports and support a broad adoption of natural gas in the country,” said Laurent Vivier, Senior Vice President Gas at Total.

“Access to LNG will help Benin to meet growing domestic energy demand and add more natural gas to the country’s current energy mix, hence reducing its carbon intensity,” added Vivier.

West African nations have mixed fortunes on the energy front with countries like Benin and Ghana seeking pipeline gas supplies or access to LNG while others such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal and Mauritania have adequate reserves to have current or developing LNG export projects.

Nigeria, which borders Benin, exported 19.68 million of LNG last year from its onshore plant at Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, making it the fifth-largest exporter in the world behind Qatar, Australia, Malaysia and the US and just ahead of Russia and Indonesia.

The Minister of Energy of Benin, Dona Jean-Claude Houssou, thanked Total for helping to build energy supplies for the power connections.

“I congratulate the Total Group on its willingness to support the revitalization of the energy sector, which is at the heart of the Government's Action Plan as evidenced by the signing of the gas import contract,” explained Houssou.

“I would like to highlight the Government's efforts to restore Benin's energy independence, which is the foundation of the country's ambitious economic and social development,” he added.

Benin has been putting in place a legislative framework to welcome participation of private capital in the energy sector with independent thermal, solar and hydroelectric power generation projects.

“The gas import project will supply plants in Benin, such as the new 127 MW power station at Maria Gléta, with imported LNG on preferential terms and will position Benin, capital of the WAPP (West African Power Pool), as the crossroads for gas and electricity in the subregion,” said Minister Houssou.