LNG

Singapore wealth fund Temasek is close to completing a seven-month long sale process for the Asian island nation’s Pavilion Energy set up by Temasek in 2013 to develop liquefied natural gas assets.

Feb 19 (LNGJ) - Pavilion Energy, the Singaporean natural gas and LNG bunkering company, has successfully deployed the newbuild small-scale LNG fuelling vessel “Brassavola” for her maiden ship-to-ship fuel operation. The Singapore-built “Brassavola” was delivered just two weeks ago to Pavilion under a charter. The bunkering operation involved a dual-fuel bulk carrier, the “Mount Api”, chartered by global commodities and mining company Rio Tinto. This follows the recent delivery of the “Brassavola” to Pavilion Energy at the end of January 2024.

   “The steady development of our LNG bunkering solutions from truck operations to our ship-to-ship LNG bunkering activities today is a testament to the strong operational expertise of our team,” said Malcolm Lim, Division Head of Singapore Hub at Pavilion. The “Brassavola” will also be deployed by TotalEnergies Marine Fuels to serve its customers under a long-term agreement with Pavilion.The bunkering ship was built by Seatrium and delivered to the local owner Indah Singa Maritime, a subsidiary of Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. and French energy and utility company Engie have completed a yuan-settled liquefied natural gas trade through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, the third such LNG trade achieved by the Chinese.

The yuan transaction was completed on the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX), according to a statement from the trading platform.

The statement added that under the yuan-denominated agreement an LNG cargo of about 65,000 tonnes would be delivered in November.

China has recently emphasized its need where possible to settle oil and gas trades in yuan in an attempt to establish its currency internationally and to weaken the dollar's dominance in energy trading.

CNOOC had previously conducted China's first yuan-settled trade with French major TotalEnergies in March 2023 and Singapore's Pavilion Energy also settled such a deal in August.

Das Island cargo

The first 2023 yuan-settled LNG trade involved TotalEnergies and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s trading unit as well as CNOOC.

The cargo from that transaction arrived in May 2023 and was unloaded at the main terminal in southern Guangdong province.

The shipment from Das Island in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates was delivered by the “Mraweh” LNG carrier, a mid-sized vessel with 135,000 cubic metres of capacity.

CNOOC said at the time that the cargo delivery to the Dapeng terminal marked progress by China towards more yuan settlement of cross-border energy trade

CNOOC had purchased the Das Island cargo from TotalEnergies at the Shanghai Exchange.

China has raised the issue over the past several years of seeking more use of the Chinese currency with nations like Saudi Arabia and other energy exporters.

Analysts note that the Chinese economy would benefit hugely even if China only partly paid for its oil and gas in yuan.

China imported more than 500 million tonnes of crude oil last year and more than 100 million tonnes of natural gas by pipeline and as LNG and with the LNG portion amounting to 63.44 million tonnes.

The East African nation of Tanzania said contract preparations are under way with Norwegian energy major Equinor and UK-based Shell to construct a $30 billion liquefied natural gas export project.

Pavilion Energy, the Singaporean gas and fuel company, and European classification society DNV have jointly developed a successful digital LNG bunkering method for employment in the Port of Singapore.

The East African nation of Tanzania has resumed talks with international oil and gas companies on developing substantial offshore natural gas resources for LNG production.

The Energy Minister of Tanzania, January Makamba, said talks had been held with various major oil and gas companies.

“I have started negotiations for the $30 billion Tanzania LNG project. The project will transform our economy,” stated Makamba.

Equinor of Norway, which has ownership of exploration and production licences, said talks with the Tanzanian government were expected to focus on conditions that would enable companies to invest.

“For the past two months, we've worked hard behind the scenes to get here. We're confident that a final investment decision will come sooner than is traditionally the case,” Minister Makamba declared.

The Norwegian company said it was pleased to be engaging and framing the commercial, fiscal, regulatory and legal priorities for any future project in the African country.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan held talks in October 2021 with Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden and the long-planned LNG export project was discussed.

Equinor and Shell and several other companies, including Pavilion Energy, of Singapore, have stakes in the Tanzanian gas fields.

Shell became the operator of blocks 1, 3 and 4 in Tanzania in February 2016 after its takeover of BG Group and has also been working closely with the Tanzanians.

The Block 2 in the same Basin as Shell’s licence area is operated by Norway’s Equinor.

The Basin occupies an offshore area of some 75,000 square kilometres between the Tanzanian continental shelf edge and in water depths ranging from 500 metres to 3,300 metres.

Net contingent resources in the four Blocks are estimated to be at least 20 trillion cubic feet, sufficient to support a three-Train LNG development.

Equinor has a production-sharing agreement with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp (TPDC) and is the operator with a 65 percent participating interest, while US major ExxonMobil has a working interest of 35 percent in the PSA.

TPDC has the right to participate in any project and would have a 10 percent interest.

Equinor made nine natural gas discoveries in Block 2, one of four explored blocks with proven resources offshore Tanzania.

The Norwegian company had previously said it aimed to work on the LNG project with Shell.

Gasum, the Finnish state-owned LNG distribution company and regasification and liquefaction infrastructure owner in the Nordic region, posted an annual net loss and lower revenues while expanding its operations.

March 3 (LNGJ) - Two US LNG shipments are scheduled to arrive in the UK in the days ahead at the South Hook LNG import terminal in the Welsh port of Milford Haven. The 152,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Seri Balhaf” will discharge a cargo on March 8 from the Corpus Christi export plant in Texas. The 173,400 cubic metres capacity “BW Pavilion Aranda” is then due to arrive at South Hook on March 9 with a cargo from the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana.

Pavilion Energy, the Singaporean company owned by the city-state wealth fund Temasek, has performed the first commercial ship-to-ship liquefied natural gas bunkering operation in the Port of Singapore as part of efforts to create an Asian LNG Hub.

The operation comprised a reload of 2,000 cubic metres capacity of fuel onto a small-scale tanker at the newly-modified second jetty at the Singapore LNG (SLNG) import terminal at Jurong Island, followed by a ship-to-ship transfer to the receiving heavy-lift commercial vessel.
 
“Pavilion Energy’s first commercial ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations in Singapore demonstrates our strong commitment and capability to deliver a comprehensive suite of LNG bunker supply solutions to Singapore and the region,” said Mr. Frédéric H. Barnaud, Group Chief Executive of Pavilion Energy.

“We are very pleased to have achieved this shared milestone in close collaboration with the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and SLNG Corporation, and with the support from various stakeholders, partners and customers,” added Barnaud.

Ms Quah Ley Hoon, CEO of the Port Authority, said that as the world’s largest bunkering port, Singapore is committed to provide a range of fuels to meet the future energy needs of the global shipping industry.

“We congratulate Pavilion Gas for completing this ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in the Port of Singapore safely and look forward to more of such activities taking place in our Port,” she added.

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Pavilion Gas, a licensed LNG bunker supplier in the Port, Pavilion said it continued to be at the forefront of change for cleaner and more responsible solutions with LNG bunkering. 

Pavilion Energy demonstrated its truck-to-ship bunkering capabilities in 2017, and further expanded its bunker logistics with the charter of its first LNG bunker vessel newbuild in February 2019.

The 12,000 cubic metres capacity re-fueling vessel with Mark III Flex membrane LNG storage tanks from French company GTT is set for delivery by 2021.

“We strongly believe that LNG will become the worldwide fuel of choice for bunkering in the long term, and SLNG is well-positioned to facilitate this development,” said Tan Soo Koong, CEO of terminal owner SLNG.

“We are keen to work with all stakeholders and invest in infrastructure as necessary, to help grow LNG bunkering here,” he added.

Ophir Energy, the UK company that lost its Equatorial Guinea licence in West Africa and the potential Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project, is still holding out hope of securing revenue from its stake in an onshore LNG export project in the East African nation of Tanzania.

Ophir was informed by the Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons that the Block R Licence, which contains the Fortuna gas discovery, had expired on 31 December 2018.

The UK company had been unable to meet its schedule for a final investment decision on the Fortuna floating LNG project.

Ophir and OneLNG, a joint venture between Bermuda-based Golar LNG and global energy services company Schlumberger, had established a joint operating company to develop the Fortuna FLNG venture using Golar’s floating hull technology.

“As we announced on 5 January, the Block R licence in Equatorial Guinea has not been extended,” said interim Chief Executive Alan Booth.

“We are in negotiations to rationalise parts of our frontier exploration portfolio with the potential to not only bring in cash, but also importantly reduce our future exploration capital commitments and further improve our liquidity position,” he explained.

“We remain mindful of the potential value of our gas assets in Tanzania, notwithstanding the uncertainty over timing for their development,” stated Booth.

Ophir’s exploration offshore Tanzania and that of other companies has led to discoveries of 15 trillion cubic feet of gross contingent natural gas resources.

The assets have entered the pre-development phase for the Tanzania LNG project.

The UK company and its partners have drilled 16 wells since 2010, including the large Mzia and Jodari discoveries in Block 1.

Of the wells drilled, 11 have been successful exploration wells and five have been appraisals.

Production flow tests have also been completed on Jodari, Mzia, Pweza and Taachui discoveries.

Ophir retains a 20 percent interest in Blocks 1 and 4 and sold 60 percent to BG Group in 2010, now owned by Royal Dutch Shell, and sold a further 20 percent to Pavilion Energy of Singapore in 2014 for US$1.3 billion.

In 2014 the joint venture partners in Blocks 1 and 4 and the partners in Block 2, Equinor of Norway and ExxonMobil, signed an agreement to co-operate on a combined onshore LNG plant.

The Block 1 and 4 partners, as well as the Block 2 partners and the Government also signed an accord for the project, including the site of the LNG plant and the process for acquiring the land and for how any resettlement will be managed.

“The project is currently in the pre-FEED stage and is expected to enter into FEED following the completion of the LNG site acquisition, the geotechnical investigations and engineering studies,” said Ophir.

“In parallel, the concept selection is in progress for the upstream part of the project which will determine the configuration and production rates from each of the fields,” it added.