LNG

PetroChina is considering divesting part of its 15% share in LNG Canada Development Inc. in Kitimat, British Columbia, to help finance a planned Phase 2 expansion of the liquefaction project, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The Chinese state-owned producer, which is working with an adviser to gauge buyer interest, may reduce its holding gradually through several smaller transactions.

Australian energy giant Woodside has exercised its pre-emptive right to buy PetroChina’s 10.67% stake in the Browse gas field, blocking a deal with Japan’s Inpex. Browse is meant to underpin a development liking to Woodside’s North West Shelf LNG terminal, whose current gas resources are depleting.

China is preparing to list Yuan-denominated LNG futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as early as February in a bid to bolster pricing power of its state-owned LNG importers CNOOC, CNPC, Sinopec and PetroChina.

Bearishness sentiment pervades in the Chinese LNG market as the nation’s gas demand continues to fall. “Unless imports are massively picking up in November and December, we might stay below 2023-levels,” warned Anne-Sophie Corbeau, global research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy.

PetroChina’s trading division strives to enhance the flexibility of its LNG portfolio by adding US LNG, which comes without destination clauses. This offers room for re-sale, compared to deliveries under long-term countries from countries like Qatar.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the largest oil exporter, is benefiting from the decision to switch to more natural gas as Aramco shares rose after the June share offering and gas plans were advanced by the award of an engineering contract to a unit of Chinese major Sinopec.

PetroChina, the Chinese-listed and overseas unit of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. and an LNG project stakeholder in Canada and Mozambique, reported an annual increase in net profits while revenues declined on lower commodity prices.

The Premier of the Canadian oil and gas province of Alberta said the provincial government aimed to invoke the sovereignty act to reject Federal clean energy regulations aimed at Alberta’s gas-fired power plants.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), whose LNG assets include a stake in the Australia-Pacific LNG plant in Queensland and an expansion venture in Qatar, said third-quarter net profits increased by 34 percent and revenues also moved higher along with demand for natural gas and refined products.

The Hong Kong floating liquefied natural gas import project has begun commissioning for the start of commercial operations planned for June using the world’s largest floating storage and regasification unit, the “FSRU Bauhinia Spirit”.

The commissioning cargo, provided by Hong Kong stock exchange-listed Chinese major, PetroChina, was unloaded on May 15 and will contribute to cool-down operations along the specially built jetty, as well as the storage tanks and pipelines.

Two subsea gas pipelines are connected from the FLNG terminal to Hong Kong’s Black Point Power Station and the Lamma Power Station respectively.

The terminal trial processes are also part of the procedure before the senior project contractor, the China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), hands over the facility to the joint venture company Hong Kong LNG Terminal Ltd.

Owners

The owners of the terminal venture are the two local power utilities, Hong Kong Electric Power Co. and Castle Peak Power (CLP) Hong Kong Ltd..

They had initially proposed the terminal to Japanese shipping company, Mitsui OSK Lines, using MOL’s “FSRU Challenger”, now renamed “FSRU Bauhinia Spirit” and with 263,000 cubic metres capacity.

The FSRU had arrived offshore Hong Kong in the middle of April to prepare for the project launch at a site about 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) southwest of Hong Kong Island

HK Electric is the historic supplier of electricity to customers on Hong Kong and Lamma Islands.

CLP Hong Kong Limited (CLP Power) is a subsidiary of CLP Holdings, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and now one of the largest investor-owned power businesses in Asia.

The CLP Group has other power assets in Mainland China, Australia, India, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

The Hong Kong project increases regasification facilities available to the Chinese to 25 and with half-a-dozen other projects planned on the mainland, not including the expansion of existing terminals.

Coal-to-gas

CLP Power said that it had substantially increased the proportion of natural gas in Hong Kong’s fuel mix to around 50 percent since 2020.

“Planning and construction of the offshore LNG terminal began a few years ago which underlines the importance of long-term planning to the energy industry,” added CLP Power.

HK Electric’s Managing Director Wan Chi-Tin said that the utility has always aimed to switch from coal-fired to gas-fired generation as natural gas is a fuel for the energy transition.

“The commissioning of the gas-fired unit L11 in 2022 at Lamma Power Station enabled us to generate over half of our electricity from natural gas,” he said.

“Another gas-fired unit, L12, is expected to commence operation in early 2024, which will further increase the share of natural gas in our fuel mix. The offshore LNG terminal, once in operation, will enhance supply security and cost effectiveness,” Wan added.