LNG

QatarEnergy, the world’s leading liquefied natural gas company, reported a 58 percent jump in annual net profits after demand for cargoes soared along with prices as European countries tried to replace halted Russian pipeline gas supplies with LNG.

QatarEnergy’s net profits came to 154.6 billion Qatari riyals ($42.2Bln) in 2022 compared with 97.9Bln riyals ($26.7Bln) in 2021.

The Doha-based company reported a surge in revenues to almost 189Bln riyals ($51.56Bln) in the 12 months to the end of December, which was 57 percent higher than the 120.3Bln riyals logged in 2021.

QatarEnergy’s deliveries are a mixture of long-term contracts and the sale of spot cargoes with prices for such shipments soaring five-fold to $50 per million British thermal units in mid-2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine compared with the mid-2021 prices of under $10 per MMBtu.

Matching majors

By way of comparison QatarEnergy’s earnings are on a par with the largest global oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil Corp. and Shell plc who reported record profits last year of $56Bln and $40Bln respectively.

QatarEnergy’s performance was only bettered by the Middle East regional giant, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil-producer based in Dhahran in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco’s annual net income in 2022 came to $161.1Bln on stronger crude oil prices and higher volumes sold and this was almost four times higher than QatarEnergy’s profit and those of the leading global energy majors.

Aramco’s net income was 46.5 percent higher than in 2021 when $110.0Bln was posted and was well above the $49.1Bln reported in 2020.

While Saudi Aramco profits outpaced the LNG producer’s, QatarEnergy is set to increase annual income in the years ahead from an expansion programme to boost production.

Qatar is currently developing two LNG expansion project, the North Field South (NFS) joint venture and the NFE venture in partnerships with international energy majors and when completed will take Qatar's output from 77 million tonnes per annum to 126 MTPA.

The two Qatari LNG expansions involve feed-gas developments in the prolific North Field in the Arabian Gulf and the construction of an additional six mega-Trains each with 8 MTPA of output.

The NFS venture will have two mega-Trains while the NFE project will have four of the mega-Trains processing the Gulf gas for export.

May 7 (LNGJ) - Chiyoda Corp, the leading Japanese energy and LNG engineering company involved in projects worldwide, reported sales of 315.39 billion yen ($2.88Bln) in the fiscal year to the end of March 2021, a fall of 18.3 percent on the previous year. However, Chiyoda pointed out that it expected improvements in the coming year as it executed LNG engineering, procurement and construction projects in Qatar, the US and Nigeria.

   “In Qatar, Chiyoda has won the order for the EPC phase of the North Field East LNG project, which is the expansion of four LNG Trains with capacity of 8 million metric tons per annum,” said the company. “In the US, the Golden Pass LNG project is in the EPC phase and in the Nigeria LNG project Chiyoda is providing review and other technical support to our partner, which is performing the engineering,” it added. “In Japan, EPC phase work is currently underway to reinforce, modify, and repair existing LNG terminals that were built by Chiyoda, and to newly install and add earthquake and tsunami reinforcement to gas supply facilities for thermal power plants,” stated the company.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have spoken up for the LNG and oil export prospects of the Arab Gulf region and with both countries also embracing technologies for carbon-capture and renewable energies.

JGC Corp. of Japan, one of the leading global LNG engineering companies with contracts at LNG Canada in British Columbia and hopeful of new contracts in Qatar and Oman, has been awarded a key domestic Japanese contract for an LNG-for-power project.

The company, based in Yokohama, has been an industry leader in the construction of LNG production plants in countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Qatar and Russia.

Now JGC Japan Corp., which operates the domestic engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business of the JGC Group, said it received an order for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning work for a high-efficiency gas turbine power generation facility at Sumitomo Chemical’s Chiba Works in Ichihara City in Chiba Prefecture.

“This project involves decommissioning the petroleum coke power generation facility currently operating at Sumitomo Chemical's Chiba Works and constructing a high-efficiency gas turbine power generation facility fueled by liquefied natural gas,” explained JGC Japan.

“The LNG-fired plant, which will have a low carbon-dioxide emissions coefficient, is part of Sumitomo Chemical's efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,” said JGC.

“By introducing this facility, Sumitomo Chemical plans to reduce CO2 emissions at Chiba Works by 240,000 tons or more a year, equivalent to approximately 20 percent of the plant's total annual CO2 emissions,” added JGC.

The company said it was aiming to contribute to realizing a sustainable society by contributing to curbing CO2 emissions.

“This will be through focusing on constructing LNG plants and thermal power plants fueled by LNG, which among fossil fuels has a low CO2 emissions coefficient, as well as renewable energy plants such as photovoltaic and biomass power plants,” it stated.

JGC said that it believed it was chosen by Sumitomo Chemical because of its overseas reputation in the LNG and gas power sector.

“The selection as the contractor for this project is believed to reflect the client's overall positive evaluation of the Group's excellent engineering technologies, its rich track record of constructing gas turbine power generation facilities overseas, and its ability to provide flexible proposals,” added JGC.

The scope of the EPCC contract is for a high-efficiency gas turbine power generation facility (output: 45,000kW or more) and a heat recovery steam generator (vapor: 80 tons/h or more),” it added.

The company said in its most recent earnings that its outstanding LNG contracts in progress amounted to 555.5Bln yen ($5.28Bln), including LNG Canada for Royal Dutch Shell and its Asian partners.

JGC’s joint venture engineering partner for LNG Canada is Fluor Corp of the US.

The company’s other ongoing project is the Coral Floating LNG contract offshore Mozambique for Italian energy company Eni.

JGC said it was still hopeful for contract awards in the months ahead for the Qatar LNG expansion and the LNG bunkering project in the Sultanate of Oman in the Arabian Peninsula.

The main parent company JGC Holdings said in September 2020 that it had brought in structural reforms and was seeking to enhance competitiveness of its overseas engineering operations by streamlining project execution.

On winning the Sumitomo Chemical contract, JGC also said that it was undertaking broad-ranging initiatives from the three standpoints of constructing plants and facilities that contribute to reducing the burden on the environment, manufacturing functional materials supporting carbon reduction and conserving environment, as well as the commercialization of environmental technologies.

JGC Holdings Corp., the leading Japanese LNG and energy engineering firm, has appointed the former executive at KBR of the US, Farhan Mujib, as the company’s new Senior Executive Vice President for JGC’s overseas engineering, procurement and construction business.

The OPEC of natural gas, the GECF, held a meeting in Doha in Qatar to launch its annual outlook as the Qataris pledged to advance with their liquefied natural expansion plans and said the global buildout of renewable energy ventures would complement LNG as an alternative to coal.