LNG

Mach Natural Resources, the independent upstream oil and gas company focused on the development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Anadarko Basin region of Western Oklahoma, Southern Kansas and the panhandle of Texas, has become the latest US company to acquire additional assets, paying $815 million.

Deutsche ReGas GmbH, a private company running the floating LNG import project at the German Baltic port of Lubmin to supply 4.5 million tonnes per annum of cargoes, has started a series of complex operations using a variety of vessels as part of its commissioning process.

The port of Lubmin in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is best known as the landfall for the shutdown Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea from Russia.

Lubmin has been chosen by the German Federal Government as one of four coastal hubs for LNG floating storage and regasification (FSRU) imports because of existing German gas grid links.

Deutsche ReGas said that in the first phase of its project the natural gas would be fed into the German long-distance gas pipeline network (EUGAL/NEL), which is only 450 metres away.

The EUGAL gas pipeline was designed to be the onshore extension of the Nord Stream II project that was never started up.

The company also explained that to take account of the shallow depth of the water around the port of Lubmin, another tanker would be stationed outside the shallower approaches to which LNG carriers of up to 170,000 cubic metres would be able to dock and make LNG transfers.

The company explained that from the floating storage unit, three shuttle ships (small LNG carriers) would transport the LNG to the FSRU in the Lubmin industrial port.

Small carriers

The small-scale LNG carrier, the “Coral Furcata” with 10,000 cubic metres capacity arrived at Lubmin on December 30 with the first cargo to be used for commissioning purposes.

“The LNG was previously picked up by the ‘Hispania’, anchored off Rügen, and will now be handed over to the ‘Neptune’, which is in the port, as part of the permitted test operations of the LNG terminal,” explained Deutsche ReGas.

“The test operation is very extensive and complex,” stated the company.

“At sea, the procedures between the FSU anchored off Rügen island and the small-scale LNG carriers must be rehearsed,” it added.

“The manoeuvring of the SLNGCs in the port of Lubmin and the interaction with the tug crews must now also become a reality after previous training,” said Deutsche ReGas.

The company added that the interfaces between the FSRU and the shore connection as well as the FSRU and the shuttle ship must be further prepared and tested.

“During this phase on the ‘Neptune’, all of the processes and systems required for commissioning must be prepared. This is then followed by various operational tests, which usually end with a reliability and endurance test of the feed pumps,” the company said.

Deutsche ReGas said that as part of the test operations, the first quantities of LNG are being regasified and supplied to the German network operator Gascade GmbH.

“But we don't want to call this a feed-in, so as not to build up false expectations here,” the company emphasized.

Stephan Knabe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche ReGas, said he would like to state that the feed-in, i.e. commercial operation, only begins with the start of regular operations immediately after the successful completion of the test phase and after receipt of the operating permit.

Germany’s first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Neptune”, has entered Mukran Port on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen to eventually supply LNG via the privately-held Lubmin project being developed by Deutsche ReGas GmbH.

BW Offshore is making progress on the Barossa natural gas floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) project for the Timor Sea as part of plans to prolong the lifespan of the Australian Darwin LNG export plant.

BW Offshore, the platforms company listed on the Oslo stock exchange, has formed a partnership with global infrastructure investors for the equity financing of the floating storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Barossa gas field offshore Australia to prolong the lifespan of the Darwin LNG plant.

BW Offshore already has a fleet of 14 FPSOs with potential for growth to meet the reliable clean energy needs provided by natural gas.

The Barossa FPSO Services contract has an initial production period of 15 years, with options to extend the production period (in the aggregate) for a further 10 years.

The contract value based on the initial production period of 15 years is US$4.6 billion.

BW Offshore will be responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operation of the FPSO.

The FPSO will be turret moored with a new built hull based on BW Offshore's Rapid-Framework design.

Initial gas production from the FPSO is expected during the first half of 2025.

The Barossa FPSO will be financed by a 14-year combined construction and long-term debt facility of US$1.15Bln and US$240 million from the equity joint venture.

Pre-payments

There will also be around US$1Bln in pre-payments by the Barossa gas field operator, Adelaide-based LNG and energy company Santos, and the Barossa Upstream joint venture partners during the construction period.

“The joint venture agreement has been signed by all parties and completion of the agreement is subject to certain customary regulatory approvals which are expected within the next month,” said BW Offshore.

The FPSO joint venture comprises BW Offshore with 51 percent and with a further 25 percent held by ICMK Offshore Investment, a venture comprising Japan’s Itochu Corp. and a subsidiary of the Japanese Meiji Shipping Group.

The Australian financial group, Macquarie Bank, will own the remaining 24 percent.

Santos, which is currently finalizing its agreed take-over of Papua New Guinea LNG stakeholder Oil Search, took a positive final investment decision in March 2021 on the Barossa field development.

The Barossa project represents the biggest investment in Australia’s oil and gas sector since 2012.

The Santos-operated Darwin liquefaction plant in the Northern Territory has the capacity to produce around 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per annum, mainly for Japanese buyers.

Santos has said Barossa and Darwin LNG life extension will create 600 jobs throughout the construction phase and secure 350 jobs for the next 20 years of production at the Darwin facility.

The FID came a year after Santos completed the acquisition of the assets of US major ConocoPhillips in northern Australia and the Timor Sea, including the existing offshore Bayu-Undan field providing the feed gas now for Darwin.

The Barossa development will comprise the FPSO, subsea production wells, supporting subsea infrastructure and a gas export pipeline tied into the existing Bayu-Undan-to-Darwin LNG pipeline. 

National Grid, the UK transmission network operator and liquefied natural gas terminal owner, has signed an agreement to sell 61 percent of its British pipelines business for around $10.6 billion to a consortium led by the infrastructure unit of Australian bank Macquarie and other investors, including the state of Qatar.