LNG

Pakistan is preparing to sell excess LNG, imported from Qatargas and Eni, starting from January 1, 2026, after lower gas-burn for power generation created a surplus, petroleum minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said. The Government  initially tried to divert imported LNG to domestic customers, but this move increased circular debt in the gas sector and caused loses of around Rs1,000 billion (US$3.55 million) since 2018-19.

By 2028, the Middle East envisages to add 60 mtpa of new LNG export capacity and developments will require more than $50 billion in capital spending, Rystad Energy forecasts. Qatar will lead the expansion with 48 mtpa alone through its North Field East and North Field South projects, the UAE will contribute 10 mtpa from the Ruwais LNG project, and TotalEnergies is developing the Marsa LNG project with a capacity of 1 mtpa in Oman.

Adriatic LNG, the import terminal offshore northeast Italy, reported a record year in terms of shipments and regasified volumes delivered into the Italian national grid.

The operating company, Terminale GNL Adriatico, is a gravity-based terminal that came on line in 2009 and 70-percent owned by ExxonMobil Corp.

The other minority shareholders include a subsidiary of QatarEnergy and the Italian grid operator and import terminals owner, SNAM.

“The regasification terminal located off the Veneto coast sent 8.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas into the national pipeline network, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year,,” said Adriatic LNG.

Steady cargo flow

A total of 75 LNG carriers called at the terminal last year, mainly from Qatar and the United States but also from other geographical areas, including, for the first time, Mozambique.

The volumes provided over 14 percent of natural gas consumption and confirmed itself as the third main entry source for Italian gas imports.

“The terminal therefore broke its previous best annual record, scored in 2022, when it sent 7.9 Bcm of gas into the national grid,” added the company.

Adriatic LNG noted that the results confirmed the increasing relevance of LNG in the Italian energy mix.

In 2023, total LNG imports to Italy amounted to 16.6 Bcm, a 16.8 percent increase compared with 2022.

The cargoes met 27 percent of the national natural gas needs of 61.5 Bcm.

Strategic infrastructure

For all of 2023 over 50 percent of Italian LNG imports were shipped through Adriatic LNG.

“Our terminal confirmed to be a strategic energy infrastructure for Italy and Europe,” said Alfredo Balena, Director of External Relations at Adriatic LNG.

“We can say that the 8.5 Bcm of natural gas injected by Adriatic LNG into the national grid represent an energy quantity equivalent to approximately 93 million megawatt-hours, equivalent to the total energy consumed the Veneto and Lombardy regions for a year,” stated Balena.

In total, from 2009 to 2023, 1,058 LNG carriers arrived at the regasification terminal for a total of 92 Bcm of gas sent into the national gas grid.

“The security of energy supplies in Europe and Italy is and will increasingly be based on LNG,,” Balena explained.

“The significant growth in LNG imports occurring over the last two years is linked to efforts being made to reduce dependence, and increase resilience, of the European gas system,” he concluded.

Jan 30 (LNG) - Two more cargoes are heading for the UK and Belgium including one from Qatar that was routed around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. The fully-laden Qatari Q-Flex carrier “Al Ghariya” with 205,940 cubic metres capacity is due to deliver a cargo on February 9 to the Zeebrugge terminal in Belgium, according to shipping data. The cargo was loaded on January 11 at the Ras Laffan plant in the Arabian Gulf.

   The “Palu LNG” with 159,800 cubic metres capacity is scheduled to deliver a US cargo on February 3 to the UK South Hook import terminal at the Port of Milford Haven, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on January 17 from the Freeport plant in Texas.

Excelerate Energy, the leading US provider of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and an LNG trader with increased demand from Europe and Asia, has now completed two long-term LNG supply accords focused on delivering more cargoes to Bangladesh and to integrate its business in the South Asian nation.

Excelerate has just signed a 15-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with QatarEnergy after signing a similar SPA in late 2023 with Bangladesh’s national energy company PetroBangla as the customer this time.

Excelerate said that under the QatarEnergy deal the Texas-based company would purchase up to 1 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Qatar on a delivered ex-ship basis in Bangladesh and beginning in January 2026.

The US company will purchase 850,000 tonnes per annum in 2026 and 2027 and 1.0 MTPA from 2028 to 2040.

Qatar deal

“This inaugural long-term supply agreement with the world’s largest LNG supplier marks a new milestone in our collaboration with QatarEnergy,” said Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive of Excelerate.

“Qatar delivers approximately 10 percent of its current annual LNG production through Excelerate FSRUs and we are pleased to unlock further new demand in the markets where we operate,” Kobos explained.

“This agreement highlights our ability to secure critical and affordable LNG volumes for our customers with increasing natural gas demand, while driving stable, long-term economic uplift on our existing infrastructure,” he stated.

QatarEnergy President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said he was pleased to sign the Excelerate agreement focused on Bangladesh.

“This new agreement will further strengthen our relationship with Excelerate while also supporting the energy requirements of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and its stride towards greater economic development,” added Al-Kaabi.

PetroBangla agreement

Excelerate in the third-quarter of 2023 had signed a long-term SPA contract with PetroBangla.

Under that deal the Bangladeshi company has agreed to purchase between 850,000 tonnes and 1.0 MTPA LNG from Excelerate for that 15-year term.

Excelerate first opened the Bangladesh market to LNG in 2018 with the development of its integrated Moheshkhali LNG FSRU terminal.

In the years since, the company deployed a second FSRU terminal to the Bay of Bengal and has utilised its infrastructure position to win spot LNG cargos sales into Bangladesh.

Excelerate's two FSRUs in Bangladesh deliver around 25 percent of the country’s natural gas supply.

Jan 23 (LNGJ) - The UK is receiving a steady flow of LNG cargoes with two arriving over the next week and one already scheduled for February. The “BW Lilac” with 174,300 of capacity is due to discharge a US shipment at the South Hook terminal in Milford Haven on January 26, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on January 15 from the Cove Point export plant in Maryland.

   The vessel “SM Golden Eagle” with 174,000 cubic metres of capacity is due to arrive at the Dragon LNG terminal at Milford Haven on January 28 carrying a shipment from the Peruvian export plant at Pampa Melchorita. The shipment was loaded on December 24 at the Peruvian Pacific Coast plant. The “Gaslog Georgetown” carrier with 174,260 cubic metres of capacity is scheduled to arrive at the UK South Hook facility on February 1 with a shipment from the Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana lifted on January 19.

QatarEnergy, the leading LNG exporter to Europe after the US, has suspended the sending of LNG carriers through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait off Yemen after more US-led air strikes against Iran-backed Houthis and continued threats to shipping raised further security concerns.

QatarEnergy has completed the integration of all marketing and market-related activities formerly managed by QatarEnergy LNG into the parent company QatarEnergy as the Gulf nation progresses with expanded production ventures.

Petronet LNG, the owner of the largest Indian import terminal at Dahej in the West Coast state of Gujarat and a smaller facility at Kochi in the southwest state of Kerala, reported 10 percent higher fiscal second-quarter net profits, though revenues dropped by over 22 percent from the same quarter last year because of much lower prices.

The company reported consolidated net profits of 818.10 crore Indian rupees ($98.24 million) for the second quarter of the fiscal year compared with 744.25 crore rupees ($89.37M) in the second quarter of 2022 and 789.85 crore rupees ($94.85M) in the previous 2023 quarter to the end of June.

The company’s consolidated revenues from operations were much lower this year than last because of higher prices that prevailed in 2022.

The fiscal second-quarter revenues dropped by over 22 percent to 12,532.57 crore rupees ($1.30 billion) from 16,079.97 crore rupees ($1.93Bln) reported in the same quarter of last year.

However, the fiscal second-quarter income was higher than the 11,656.38 crore rupees ($1.39Bln) logged in the April-June quarter of 2023.

Dahej efficiency

“The robust financial performance of the current quarter and half year was achieved due to efficiency in operations and higher capacity utilization of the Dahej Terminal, that remained consistently above 90 percent in the current quarter and half year, taking a huge leap from the utilization level in fiscal 2022-23 that was below 80 percent,” Petronet explained.

The Petronet board of directors also approved investment of around 20,685 crore rupees ($2.48Bln) for the development of a petrochemicals project including a propane and ethane handling facility near the Dahej terminal site, located north of Mumbai.

Earnings per share increased to 5.45 rupees ($0.065) versus 4.96 rupees in the prior-year quarter.

The earnings statement showed that during the quarter to the end of September 2023, the Dahej terminal processed 210 trillion British thermal units (TBTU) of LNG compared with 182 TBTU during the corresponding quarter of 2022 and 217 TBTU during the previous quarter from April-to-June 2023.

Overall LNG volumes processed by the company during the three months, including the Kochi terminal, came to 223 TBTU, as against the LNG volume processed in the corresponding and previous quarters, which stood at 192 TBTU and 230 TBTU respectively.

The company receives about 8.5 million tonnes per annum under three principal long-term supply contracts, two with Qatar and one with the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG plant in Western Australia.

Petronet is also planning a third import facility and its first on the East Coast at the Port of Gopalpur in the state of Odisha.

Petronet was formed by the Government of India in 1998 specifically to import LNG.

Shareholders in Petronet, which began operations in 2004, include the other big Indian energy players, GAIL India, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is awarding 27 new oil and gas licences aimed at strengthening domestic energy security as a necessary back-up for renewables and to help reduce the mounting import bill for pipeline natural gas, LNG and oil.

A total of 27 licences have been offered in quicker-to-production areas with more to follow subject to additional environmental checks.

According to Offshore Energy UK (OEUK), the trade body for the sector, around 220,000 jobs are supported by the current offshore industry fields.

UK energy data

OEUK has also provided valuable data on the state of the North Sea oil and gas industry and to fill the gap in educated-understanding among sections of the public about the necessity of hydrocarbon energy and its benefits.

Licensing is the first step taken by energy production companies with the regulator to find and produce domestic supplies.

However, each licence does not represent a new oil field. It’s simply that energy companies require licences for a range of activity in so-called “blocks” which are carefully mapped sections of the seabed in UK waters.

These start from seismic and initial exploratory work through to production, either near existing infrastructure in previously known fields or in new fields.

“Licencing is a normal part of most energy production regimes and is used in the UK to manage the development of oil and gas, wind and most recently, carbon capture projects,” said OEUK.

“It is part of a bigger process which companies must undertake to explore, analyse, produce and then eventually decommission energy production,” the group added.

Around 75 percent of the UK’s current energy needs are provided by oil and gas.

The UK is a net importer of oil and natural gas, meaning it consumes more than it produces domestically.

Field numbers

“There are currently 284 active oil and gas fields in the North Sea and by 2030 around 180 of those will have ceased production due to natural decline,” OEUK explained.

The industry, thus, needs the churn of new licences to ensure no cliff-edge is reached in domestic production.

“We all recognise that our energy system must change and our industry includes companies that are expanding into renewables while using their expertise to pioneer ever cleaner energy production,” said OEUK Chief Executive David Whitehouse.

“The reality of the energy transition is that we need both oil and gas and renewables in an integrated system to protect the UK’s energy needs over the coming years,” Whitehouse added.

“Last year filling the fuel import gap cost the UK £117 billion ($142Bln). That’s a lot of money spent supporting the economic growth of other producing countries. With careful management and collaboration, the UK can become the gold standard of energy transitions. We can drive economic growth, reach our climate goals and avoid a future where we increasingly import our energy and export our jobs,” he explained.