LNG

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French maritime LNG storage technology company, has received a second wave of orders from a Chinese shipyard for tanks for 10 more vessels as part of QatarEnergy’s “Hundred Ships Programme” to handle the deliveries from multiple expansion projects in the Arabian Gulf.

Baker Hughes, the US liquefied natural gas equipment-maker and energy services and technology company, has received an order relating to gas technology for Saudi Arabia Oil Company (Aramco) as the Middle East Kingdom moves to boost its natural gas production.

QatarEnergy Chief Executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi has spoken about liquefied natural gas deliveries and Red Sea shipping issues at the laying of a foundation stone for one of the world’s largest petrochemical complexes being built at Ras Laffan, site of Qatar’s liquefaction plant that is being expanded to make the Qataris world leaders in LNG production and exports.

Baker Hughes, the US energy technology company and LNG equipment supplier, has been awarded a major contract in the Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa where the Baleine project for offshore oil and associated gas is currently moving forward to maintain the country's status as an African energy hub.

Baker Hughes was chosen for the contract by Italian oil and gas company Eni and the African nation's state energy company, Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire (Petroci).

Eni and Petroci are initiating Africa’s first Scope 1 and 2 carbon-dioxide emissions reduction plan as part of the Baleine oil and gas field Phase 2 development.

The Baleine field, taking its name from the French word for “whale”, was discovered in 2021 as the largest commercial discovery in the country in the last 20 years and set to contribute substantially to boosting energy production in Côte d'Ivoire.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s mainly oil production has varied significantly over the past two decades as existing fields have become depleted, closed for maintenance or development works and as new discoveries have been made but have needed further investment.

Deep water trees

“This award, which includes eight deep water trees, three Aptara™ manifolds, the relevant subsea production control system, and flexible risers and jumpers, strengthens Baker Hughes’ presence in West Africa and unlocks considerable growth potential in the country,” explained the Houston, Texas-based company.

“Baker Hughes will deliver a configured-to-order product portfolio across subsea production and flexible pipe systems, designed for optimum cost effectiveness, installation and life-of-field value,” added the company.

Baker Hughes said that these deepwater trees and manifolds, supplemented with subsea production controls and flexible pipe systems, are aimed at providing efficiency and cost-effectiveness under demanding conditions.

“This collaboration between Baker Hughes and Eni is Africa’s first development project with clear Scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction goals and will deliver innovative technology that will enhance the energy security in Ivory Coast,” said Maria Claudia Borras, executive vice president for Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes.

“Ensuring that energy is locally available is an increasingly profound challenge, and we applaud the efforts of Eni and companies like it to shape an abundant energy future for Africa. We are proud of the confidence placed in us to accelerate the execution of this important project,” Borras added.

LNG orders

Baker Hughes is additionally a key player in the LNG equipment supply sector and its most recent contract award was in April 2023 to supply two main refrigerant compressors (MRCs) for the North Field South (NFS) LNG expansion project in Qatar.

The Ivorian Baleine project is offshore block CI-101 and is forecast to hold up to 2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas located at water depth of 1,200 metres.

In addition to the CI-101 block, Eni owns stakes in four other blocks in the Ivorian deepwater.

They are CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s regional neighbours to the north, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects, while among its southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation and Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation.

Air Products, the world leading LNG-equipment maker and industrial gases and chemicals company, has successfully issued its registered green bonds amounting to a total of over $1.34 billion in dollars and euros.

QatarEnergy has selected UK major Shell as the second international partner for the LNG expansion known as the North Field South (NFS) liquefaction and export joint venture.

Technip Energies, the leading energy and LNG engineering company, said events in 2022 had underlined the need for increased spending in LNG and natural gas as the Euronext exchange-listed company continued its “orderly exit” from the Arctic LNG II project in Russia.

TotalEnergies and Middle East partner QatarEnergy have inaugurated a huge solar energy project linked to Qatar’s LNG expansion and the various joint ventures set up for the North Field East and North Field South liquefaction and export projects.

Al Kharsaah solar power plant was developed by TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy along with a third partner, the Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.

The inauguration ceremony was led by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, as the project started up and was connected to the Qatari national electricity grid.

The Al Kharsaah facility is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the Qatari capital Doha and is the first such renewable facility in the Arabian Gulf state..

The plant with capacity of 800 megawatts was built on a 1,000-hectare site, equivalent to an area of 1,400 soccer pitches and containing 2 million high-efficiency bifacial modules mounted on single-axis trackers.

Al Kharsaah can supply 10 percent of the country's peak power consumption and will avoid 26 million tons of carbon-dioxide emissions during its lifetime as Qatar itself expands its LNG output from just under 80 million tonnes per annum currently to 126 MTPA by 2027.

Analysts said the Qatari solar project underpins pledges made by leading global LNG producers and stakeholders to pursue renewables in a sensible way while keeping natural gas flowing to guarantee essential energy services.

Support role

“After our recent entry into the giant LNG projects NFE and NFS alongside QatarEnergy, we are proud to announce the start-up of the Al Kharsaah solar plant,” said the Paris-based oil and gas major.

“This giant project, which contributed to the sustainability roadmap of Qatar, demonstrates once again TotalEnergies' ability to support producing countries in their energy transition by combining natural gas production and solar energy to meet the growing demand for electricity,” declared Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive of TotalEnergies.

“This is another milestone in our long-standing and trustful relationship with QatarEnergy, also bringing us closer to our goal of 35 gigawatts of production capacity by 2025,” added Pouyanné.

The power plant is operated by the Siraj 1 joint venture, which is jointly owned 40 percent by a consortium comprising TotalEnergies (49 percent) and Marubeni (51 percent) and with the 60 percent balance held by QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions.

Power purchase deal

The project includes a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement between Siraj 1 and the Qatari power grid operator Kahramaa.

The inauguration of the Al Kharsaah plant with capacity of 800 megawatts follows the recent selection of TotalEnergies as QatarEnergy's first international partner for the NFE liquefaction plant expansion after already signing up for the NFS venture.

Participation in these projects will enable TotalEnergies to add production to its global LNG portfolio by 2028, in line with the company's goal of increasing the share of natural gas in its sales mix to 50 percent by 2030,” explained TotalEnergies.

The Al Kharsaah start-up follows QatarEnergy's recent announcement of a second solar project for the Ras Laffan and Mesaieed industrial cities, also supported by TotalEnergies.

“With 900 MW of installed capacity, this second project would be another landmark venture in QatarEnergy's strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of its facilities by 2030 and to develop 5 gigawatts of renewable power generation capacity by 2035,” stated the French major.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French designer of maritime liquefied natural gas storage and fuel tanks, said it received an order from its partner, China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, for the tank design of the first four LNG carriers for the QatarEnergy expansion project on behalf of the Japanese shipowner, Mitsui Osk Lines.

The Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai is a subsidiary of state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp.

MOL, which has an operating fleet of almost 100 LNG carriers, had ordered the ships in April 2022 as it also increases its interests in the Chinese LNG shipping market.

GTT will design the tanks of these four new LNG carriers with a total of LNG tank capacity of 174,000 cubic metres per ship and the vessels will be fitted with the latest membrane containment system developed by GTT.

The deliveries of the four vessels  to serve the Qatar expansion project is scheduled for the third quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.

MOL announced in April 2022 it had signed a long-term charter contract for four newbuild LNG carriers with QatarEnergy.

Track record

“MOL's solid track record in building LNG carriers in China in addition to its performance in the LNG carrier business and safety in navigation and cargo handling earned high regard from QatarEnergy, leading to the successful conclusion of the contract.” MOL said at the time.

QatarEnergy has been developing the North Field Expansion Project to boost its LNG ouput.

The North Field expansion will increase Qatar's LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum to 126 MTPA with the carrier fleet programme alongside, which could amount to 80 vessels, including the replacement of older ships in the current fleet.

The scope of the first phase of the expansion at the Ras Laffan production complex involves an additional four Trains, each with 8.0 MTPA of output.

Qatar has the southern portion of the North Field in Gulf waters that will provide the huge feed-gas resources and the other part of the field is under the jurisdiction of neighbouring Iran. 

QatarEnergy, the largest corporate producer of liquefied natural gas, said it became an official partner of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) for the month-long World Cup football event being held in Qatar at end of 2022.

The World Cup will start in the Arab Gulf nation on November 21, 2022, and will continue to December 18.

“This partnership is the second by QatarEnergy since teaming with FIFA last November as an Official Partner for the FIFA Arab Cup,” said the Doha-based company.

“QatarEnergy is pleased to partner with FIFA again, this time in support of the iconic FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Qatar and the Middle East for the first time ever,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and Chief Executive of QatarEnergy.

“This partnership is a reflection of QatarEnergy’s continued support of sports and of football in particular as the central attraction of the sporting world,” added Al-Kaabi.

“We look forward to a very successful competition and to being part of the effort to welcome the world to Qatar,” he stated.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino welcomed QatarEnergy to the event and applauded its role as host of the first FIFA World Cup organized in the Arab world.

LNG and soccer

The tournament is being held in the Northern Hemisphere winter months when temperatures are more moderate in the region and more pleasant for fans and players.

“This year’s tournament will expand football’s reach and shine a light on the region, bringing different cultures from across the globe together in Qatar to enjoy the best football in the world in stunning state-of-the-art venues,” declared FIFA’s Infantino.

Qatar has built eight of the most modern football stadia for the games to take place in and which can be covered over in adverse weather.

Qatar’s wealth from LNG has put it on a rapid development path and it is also expanding its LNG production to keep up with the other global LNG leaders, the US and Australia.

The QatarEnergy expansion project will increase the state of Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum to 126 MTPA, through the North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) development ventures with first LNG expected in 2025 to boost global supplies.

The scope of the first phase of the expansion at the Ras Laffan production complex involves an additional four Trains, each with 8.0 MTPA of output.

Qatar has the southern portion of the prolific North Field natural gas resources in Gulf waters and the other part is under the jurisdiction of neighbouring Iran.