LNG

LNG importer Kuwait has made its first natural gas discovery as an operator offshore during a drilling campaign in the waters of LNG exporting nation Indonesia.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) announced the successful commercial discovery of gas in Indonesia's Anambas Block.

KUFPEC (Indonesia) made the discovery through the successful drilling of the Anambas-2X well.

Acting Chief Executive of KUFPEC, Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, stated that this “exciting discovery” marked the first operated offshore exploration discovery for KUFPEC.

“It demonstrates KUFPEC’s growth and potential as an operator of offshore oil and gas projects,” added Al-Sabah.

“I am especially proud of the professionalism of the KUFPEC team, which included Kuwaiti experts who led operations on the drilling platform,” stated the Acting CEO.

The company said the well was drilled in 288 feet of water using a jack-up rig to reach a total depth of 10,509 feet.

Natuna Sea gas

Located in the Natuna Sea near an existing block in which KUFPEC is a partner, the Anambas Block was awarded to KUFPEC through a competitive bidding process in 2019.

As part of the drilling campaign, KUFPEC conducted two drill stem tests, one in the Lower Gabus formation and the other in the Intra Keras formation.

The company said its tests subsequently resulted in a stabilized combined flow rate of 7 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and 1,240 standard barrels per day of condensate from the two formations.

KUFPEC said it intended to conduct more tests on other formations within the same well.

The Block is fully operated by KUFPEC, which also holds the entire 100 percent participating interest. KUFPEC’s production sharing contract has a licence term of 30 years, including a six-year exploration period.

KUFPEC is the international upstream company engaged in exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas outside the State of Kuwait and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp.

Al-Zour LNG

Kuwait in 2021 completed its first onshore LNG import terminal, the Al-Zour facility located about 90 kilometres southeast of Kuwait City and about 16km from Kuwait’s border with Saudi Arabia.

It consists of a regasification facility capable of liquefying 130,000 cubic metres of gas per day and eight LNG storage tanks, with four in the first phase, and each with 225,000 cubic metres of capacity.

Al-Zour is the largest LNG import terminal in the Middle East and was constructed to provide fuel and power to the refining and petrochemicals industries.

Until recently, Kuwait had only imported LNG via a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at the dockside of Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi port. The FSRU has been in operation since 2009.

Oil exporter Kuwait is also focusing on ramping up its own natural gas production as part of its economic growth strategy through to 2040.

The use of LNG in the Middle East is forecast to expand by around 50 percent through 2025, with much of the increase coming from Kuwaiti demand.

Qatar has signed a new long-term sale and purchase agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to deliver 1 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas to the neighbouring Gulf state of  Kuwait starting in 2020.

This accord between Qatargas and Shell for the supply of LNG to Kuwait follows the recent pact signed between Qatar Petroleum and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. 

Cargoes of LNG are shipped at present to the dockside facility at Mina Al-Ahmadi in Kuwait. This terminal has been in operation since 2009.

However, the Gulf nation is building a second and larger onshore terminal close to a new refinery complex at Al-Zour, about 90 kilometres south of Kuwait City.

The new Kuwaiti terminal is being constructed  by a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering Co. of South Korea.

“These agreements demonstrate our commitment to Kuwait, which is a very important LNG market,” said the Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, who is also President and Chief Executive of Qatar Petroleum.

He added that the new SPA further underlined Qatargas’s position as the a market leader in LNG and demonstrated the company’s track-record of providing reliable LNG to the global market place.

The supplies will come from the Qatargas IV Train at Ras Laffan. This is a joint venture owned 70 percent by Qatar Petroleum and 30 percent by Shell.

Kuwait’s domestic natural gas demand is increasing in line with other Middle East nations and it is already receiving additional deliveries from new suppliers such as the US.

The expansion in infrastructure comes as Kuwait and its neighbour, the United Arab Emirates, are already among the top 20 destinations for shipments from US exporters such as Cheniere’s Energy’s Sabine Pass export plant in Louisiana.

The state of Kuwait, like the other Gulf Cooperation Council members is embarking on an ambitious path of economic growth.

This requires cleaner energy sources such as natural gas that will contribute to reducing emissions and improving local air quality, while also supplying energy for industry and domestic consumption.

Golar LNG Partners, the US affiliate of the Bermuda-based fleet owner, swung to a first-quarter loss as it commissioned the “Golar Freeze” offshore Jamaica to serve as an import facility amid a drop of day-rate prices because of high volumes and low season demand.

April 26 (LNGJ) – The 136,000 cubic metres capacity ship “Raahi” is due to unload a cargo from Qatargas on April 27 at the Indian Dahej terminal near Mumbai, operated by Petronet, according to shipping data. The 145,700 cubic metres capacity “LNG Benue” will deliver a cargo on April 28 to the Montoir-de-Bretagne import terminal in Western France from the Bonny Island export plant in Nigeria. The 138,100 cubic metres capacity vessel “Gemmata”, operated by Shell Shipping, is scheduled to lift a cargo on April 28 from the Cheniere Energy export plant at Sabine Pass in the US state of Louisiana. The 148,300 cubic metres capacity “LNG Ondo” will unload a Nigerian cargo on May 1 at the Sagunto import terminal in eastern Spain. The 148,470 cubic metres capacity vessel “LNG Kano” is due to deliver a shipment on May 7 to the Kuwaiti import facility at Mina Al-Ahmadi from the Nigeria LNG plant.

A South Korean consortium led by Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. was awarded a contract to build Kuwait’s new onshore liquefied natural gas import terminal at Al-Zour to supplement supplies received at the port-side Regasification and Storage Unit at Mina Al-Ahmadi.