LNG

July 9 (LNGJ) - Italian major Eni has made an oil and natural gas discovery at the Yopaat-1 exploration well in Block 9 offshore Mexico. The preliminary estimates indicate discovered potential of around 300 million to 400 million barrels of oil equivalents of crude and associated gas in place.

   The Mexico discovery is located about 63 kilometres (40 miles) offshore in the mid-deep water of the Sureste Basin. Eni said the well has been drilled in a water depth of 525 metres and reached a total depth of 2,931 metres, finding about 200 metres net pay of hydrocarbon bearing sands. Block 9 is a 50-50 joint venture with Eni as operator and partnered by Spanish energy company Repsol.

Repsol, the Spanish oil and gas company and liquefied natural gas market participant, has acquired a 40 percent stake in Genia Bioenergy, Spain’s main developer of natural gas made from waste to boost its presence in the bio-LNG bunkering sector.

Genia Bioenergy is developing 19 plants producing biogas made from agricultural and livestock waste in Spain and Portugal.

The biogas produced will be used both for Repsol's internal consumption and for marketing to customers. Repsol did not disclose any financial details about the transaction with Genia Bioenergy.

Fuels sector

“This agreement is an important step forward in our strategy to take advantage of substrates and organic waste and transform them into fuels for the home, industry and mobility,” said Juan Abascal, Repsol's Executive Managing Director of Industrial Transformation and the Circular Economy.

Repsol added that Genia Bioenergy is the only Spanish company that integrates the entire biogas and biomethane value chain, from the development of technologies to the engineering and construction and the biological and technical operation at the projects.

The Spanish major explained that the emerging biogas industry in Spain and Portugal will contribute to solving the problem that organic waste currently represents for administrations, since it takes advantage of waste that would otherwise generate emissions into the atmosphere as it degrades in landfills.

It also represents an opportunity to generate economic activity in rural areas.

According to Gabriel Butler, Chief Executive of Genia Bioenergy, the biogas plants will help meet the Iberian Peninsula’s European Union obligations on carbon emissions.

“The development of biomethane plants advances Spain's goal of decarbonization of the economy, reduces its energy dependence on foreign countries and provides a sustainable response to European guidelines on waste management,” said Butler.

Rural economy

“It also means the creation of qualified jobs and the boosting of economic ecosystems around waste, especially in rural environments,” he added.

In the LNG sector, Repsol has been building up its LNG bunkering business in recent years and has an agreement with French company Brittany Ferries to supply its vessels arriving at ports in Spain with LNG fuel.

In conventional LNG trading Repsol is also one of the companies with an as yet unfulfilled sale and purchase agreement with Venture Global of the US for the Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana.

Repsol additionally signed a deal in February 2024 to supply UK utility company Centrica with 1 million tonnes of LNG shipments between 2025 and 2027.

Centrica said at the time that all of these cargoes were expected to be delivered to the UK Grain LNG import terminal located on the Medway River in Kent, southeast England.

US energy regulators have finally intervened in the long-running dispute between Venture Global LNG and its Calcasieu Pass LNG export plant in Louisiana and major customers over delays in activating sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) for contract cargoes.

UK major BP filed a complaint with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against LNG developer Venture Global claiming the Arlington, Virginia-based company was “illegally withholding information” about delays in delivering LNG from its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana.

Repsol has inaugurated its second supply terminal for liquefied natural gas bunkering for ships arriving in the northwest Spanish port city of Santander, especially its main customer Brittany Ferries.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by regional authorities and Repsol’s divisional Executive Managing Director Juan Abascal.

The new facility has a cryogenic tank with a storage capacity of 1,000 cubic metres in addition to the terminal that Repsol already has in the nearby port of Bilbao.

“This new terminal, that we have just inaugurated is another step in Repsol's commitment to the energy transition and the decarbonization of the maritime sector,” said Repsol’s Abascal.

Both terminals are part of the collaboration agreement that Repsol signed with French shipping company Brittany Ferries in 2019 for the supply of LNG as maritime fuel for its operations in Spain.

Flexibility

“In the design of the Santander terminal, operational flexibility has prevailed, allowing access for any type of vessel and also covering the needs for LNG refuelling of a medium-sized vessels,” said Repsol.

“In addition, the facility allows the simultaneous loading of passengers and fuel, optimizing operations on land and in maritime traffic, which leads to a reduction of emissions in port operations,” Repsol added.

The Brittany Ferries vessel “Santoña” will carry out regular operations at thr new facility in the port of Santander.

The new terminal is co-financed by the European Commission through the CEF-Connecting Europe Facilities Program.

“Advancing towards a carbon-neutral economy is a key priority of the European Commission,” said Richard Ferrer, Head of the Transport Innovation Team at the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.

Brittany Ferries, the French line that links the UK with Spain and France, has also been introducing newbuild roll-on-roll-off passenger and freight vessels connecting Portsmouth in England with two French ports.

The Brittany Ferries services cover a dozen ports: Spain’s Bilbao and Santander, the UK’s Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth, the Irish port of Cork and the French ports of Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Ouistreham, Saint-Malo and Roscoff.

Spanish energy company Repsol said the first terminal in Spain to supply liquefied natural gas as marine fuel was growing its customer base and a second LNG bunkering facility in the same region was under development.

Spanish energy company Repsol has started the construction of the liquefied natural gas bunkering terminal in the northwest Spanish port of Bilbao to supply the Brittany Ferries company and its LNG-powered vessels linking to port in Northern France, the UK and Ireland.

The first two vessels to be provided for are the “Salamanca” and the “Santoña”, which will start their operations in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The Bilbao terminal will also supply other ships with LNG fuel in the future.

“The construction of this terminal is part of the long-term collaboration agreement formalized in 2019 between Repsol and Brittany Ferries for the supply of LNG to their operations in Spain,” Repsol explained.

This facility is scheduled to be commissioned in the first half of 2022.

The Bilbao terminal will have a cryogenic tank with a storage capacity of 1,000 cubic metres.

“The flexible design of the terminal will allow it to service different vessels in the future, representing an important decarbonization opportunity for port operations,” stated Repsol.

Joint effort

The Spanish company said the start of construction is on schedule thanks to the efficient collaboration between Repsol's engineering teams, the different administrations involved and the Port Authority of Bilbao.

Repsol said it was commited to industrial development for fuel and the bunkering venture involves an investment of more than €10 million ($11.7M).

Repsol is also planting the construction of a second LNG bunkering at another northwest port, Santander. It will have the same capacity as Bilbao and is being developed in cooperation with the Port Authority of Santander.

Work has already begun on the conditioning of the quay where the bunker station will be located.

Both terminals are co-financed by the European Commission through the CEF-Connecting Europe Facilities Programme.

Spain currently has six operational LNG import and storage terminals around the coastline and they will provide supplies of fuel.

Repsol cited data from the Iberian Association of Natural Gas for Mobility (Gasnam), showing that the current fleet of LNG-powered ships worldwide is 221, which represents 70 percent growth compared with the 131 ships that were sailing in 2018.

Cartagena, the LNG import terminal in southeast Spain, has hosted the Mediterranean's first LNG bunkering operation with emissions offsets for a Swedish LNG-powered tanker.

Spanish energy company Repsol organised the fuelling of the Swedish-flagged “Fure Vinga” with 420 cubic metres of LNG.

The Repsol operation was in cooperation with the Port Authority of Cartagena and Enagás, operator of the Cartagena import terminal.

“The uniqueness of the operation is that this is the first time that Repsol, as a supplier of LNG, has guaranteed the compensation of the total CO2 emissions associated with the consumption of this LNG,” said the company.

The re-fuelled ship, the “Fure Vinga”, is owned by the shipping company Furetank Rederi, headquartered in Donsö in Sweden.

This chemical tanker had arrived in Cartagena from China and was scheduled to continue to its ultimate destination of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

“The operation, which lasted approximately four hours, was carried out using the Enagás facilities in the port of Cartagena,” said Repsol.

Repsol noted that its bunkering was the first supply of this kind by a multi-energy company with emissions compensation through the purchase of CO2 credits (VERs) in the Voluntary Carbon Market.

Repsol is also adding direct supply of LNG from the terminal in Cartagena to its network in Spain.

“With this operation that was the first of its kind after a recent change in the Spanish gas system regulation promoting this type of supply, Spanish ports are now able to compete with other European ports,” said Repsol.

The method previously mostly used by Repsol was supplying the bunkering fuel from LNG trucks on the quayside.

The company added that it was increasing its LNG fuel capabilities at the northwest Spanish ports of Bilbao and Santander.

Spanish energy company Repsol, a maritime fuel sector participant with plans to re-fuel Spain-UK ferries with LNG,  said the International Maritime Organization sulfur curbs had led to it selling around 150,000 metric tons of low-sulfur fuel at Spanish ports and nearly 1 million tons in Singapore.

Brazilian energy regulators said a total of 17 oil and gas companies are registered to take part in one of the most lucrative auctions ever for licences set for November 7 and with prospects of raising US$50 billion for the South American nation from the blocks offered for oil fields with associated gas.