LNG

European pipeline natural gas provider and LNG cargo exporter Norway has made a strategic decision to keep open the nation’s last coal mine located on the demilitarised archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic despite opposition from the green lobby.

UK LNG imports increased by nearly 50 percent as the country's regasification infrastructure was used to increase natural gas supplies to Europe after the February invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the start of Western sanctions.

Norwegian energy major Equinor has awarded Transocean Spitsbergen a firm drilling programme on behalf of licence holders consisting of nine wells and options for another two as Europe awaits further natural gas output from Norway’s pipelines.

Norway, the LNG producer and a main supplier of natural gas and petroleum in Western Europe, has approved the development plan for the Northern Lights joint venture, one of the largest in the world for the capture, transport and storage of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Norway, the main West European supplier of long-term pipeline natural gas directly to Germany, France Belgium and the UK, said seven companies had applied for production licences in the 25th licensing round on the Norwegian shelf with any gas finds providing more competition to LNG cargoes from outside the region.

“The numbered rounds are focused on key parts in our least explored, open areas,” said Tina Bru, the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

“They are an important supplement to the APA (awards in pre-defined areas) rounds as exploration activity in immature areas gives the state as a resource owner more knowledge about the resource potential,” explained Bru.

“It enables us to identify resources and create value for the community. We will now start processing the applications from the seven companies,” she stated.

Norway, while being the main pipeline natural gas supplier to Europe, along with Russia’s Gazprom, is in competition to LNG deliveries from nations such as Qatar, the US, Nigeria, Algeria and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Russia.

The Norwegians are also the only large-scale producers of LNG in Western Europe from the Hammerfest LNG plant, which has been closed until the third quarter of 2021 because of ongoing repairs from a fire in September 2020.

Damage caused by the fire at the LNG facility will take until around October 2021 to repair.

The fire, in which no one was killed nor injured, suffered its main damage from large amounts of seawater from the extinguishing process downing auxiliary systems such as electrical equipment and cables.

Feed-gas for the single-Train Hammerfest liquefaction facility, which exports around 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG, comes from the Snohvit gas field in the Barents Sea.

The 25th licensing round comprises nine areas outside the APA area on the Norwegian shelf.

The round was announced on the 19th of November 2020 and includes one area in the Norwegian Sea and eight in the Barents Sea.

The companies that have applied for production licences are: Norske Shell; Equinor Energy; Idemitsu Petroleum Norge; Ineos E&P Norge ; Lundin Norway AS; OMV (Norge) and Var Energi AS.

Norway also allocates exploration areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and these take place annually through two equal licensing rounds.

These rounds include areas in the most famous exploration areas. As exploration activity has been going on for several decades, the most well-known exploration areas now include most of the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea and a large part of the Barents Sea to the south.

The Ministry in January 2021 awarded 61 upstream licences in pre-defined areas of the NCS to 30 licensees, including prominent LNG players such as BP, Shell, Total and Eni of Italy, as well as ConocoPhillips, the only bidder among US majors.

Dec 12 (LNGJ) - The Europe-based offshore development company Subsea 7 SA has been awarded a contract by Aker BP for the Aerfugl Phase 2 natural gas field development, located about 210 kilometres west of Sandnessjoen in the Norwegian Sea. Norway is one of the largest pipeline natural gas suppliers to Western Europe, along with Russian company Gazprom, and both sources compete with LNG shipments.

   The Subsea 7 engineering, procurement, construction and installation contact is a long-distance tie-back involving the application of Subsea 7’s Electrically Heat Traced Flowline (EHTF) technology for a distance of 13.5km from the subsea location to the existing Skarv infrastructure. Subsea 7 has a long-term subsea alliance agreement with Aker BP.

   “This award acknowledges Subsea 7 as a key partner in the delivery of pioneering technology, underlining our proven track record of safe and successful project execution in some of the harshest offshore environments,” said Monica Th. Bjokmann, Vice President of Subsea 7 Norway.

Sept 6 (LNGJ) - Equinor of Norway, the state-controlled energy company whose assets include the main natural gas pipeline supplies to Europe from the Norwegian Continental Shelf, has carried out a capital markets transaction for US$1 billion. The company, also the owner of the Hammerfest LNG export plant in northern Norway, sold the 10-year Notes at 3.625 percent and the offering was fully subscribed. “The net proceeds from the issue of the Notes will be used for general corporate purposes which may include repayment or purchase of existing debt or other purposes. The transactions will increase the financial flexibility of the company,” said Equinor.