LNG

Norway, the nation that helped restore Europe’s energy security with natural gas, oil and LNG supplies after Russian links were cut following the invasion of Ukraine two years ago, has become the first country in the world to approve commercial deep-sea mining in its waters to supply rare minerals needed to make electric vehicles and other technology.

The Norwegian Parliament voted 80-20 on January 9 to approve a cross-party proposal that could revolutionise the global supply of minerals, which are pivotal for an array of clean technologies, including batteries for electric vehicles.

Under the new legislation Norway is opening up 280,000 square kilometres (108,000 square miles) of the Norwegian Continental Shelf, an area equivalent to the size of the UK, for the granting of exploration licences for minerals and chemical elements such as lithium, cobalt and scandium.

Norway’s approval of deep-sea mining in its own waters will add momentum to moves to open up some international waters for extracting rare minerals.

Mineral sources

Lithium and cobalt are only found below ground in a small number of countries, including onshore the Republic of Congo in West Africa, which will also soon become an LNG exporter with an offshore natural gas project being developed by Italian major Eni.

Norway itself has impeccable environmental and conservation profile as a nation and easily stepped in to increase its natural gas supplies to Europe when Russian deliveries were cut after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Norwegians are also Europe’s largest producers of hydro-electric power and more than 95 percent of their electricity and 50 percent of all the country’s power comes from renewables, including wind.

The Norwegians also run the Hammerfest LNG export plant on Melkoya Island in northern Norway supplying nations such as France, the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Spain and Lithuania with cargoes.

Failure of ideas

The Norwegian move on deep-sea mining was, of course, condemned by the environmental groups, run by the elites and who have forced governments to get petrol-driven cars off the road and replace them with electric vehicles without themselves coming up with any worthwhile suggestions except for sowing chaos and energy poverty.

Analysts say that estimates for the rare minerals industry’s new potential range from hundreds of millions to trillions of dollars.

They add that pressure from opponents mean detailed environmental studies will have to be carried out before any mining can take place, potentially delaying extraction until the 2030s.

None of Norway’s 17 protected marine areas are included in the Norwegian zones proposed for mining and the Government in Oslo has insisted that every commercial licence will have to be approved by its parliament, the Storting.

The first steps for commercial mining companies will be to undertake exploration and mapping activities to increase knowledge of what is below ground in the NCS.

Italian energy company Eni has signed a contract with China’s Wison Heavy Industry shipyard for the construction and installation of a floating liquefied natural gas production unit offshore the Republic of Congo and the second proposed FLNG venture for the West African nation.

Italian government ministers have signed an accord with the Republic of Congo in West Africa to increase natural gas production and exports under a plan also involving future LNG shipments.

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi di Maio, and the European Union member’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, signed the letter of intent with Congolese counterparts, including Congo's Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean Richard Itoua.

Also present was the Chief Executive of Italian energy company Eni, Claudio Descalzi, and after the signing the parties met in the capital Brazzaville with the President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso.

“The agreement provides for the acceleration and increase of gas production in Congo, primarily through the development of an LNG project with start-up expected in 2023,” said a statement.

The floating LNG joint venture would have capacity of more than 3 million tonnes per annum of LNG once fully operational.

“LNG exports will allow the valorization of the production of natural gas that exceeds Congo’s internal market needs,” explained the statement.

The Republic of Congo and Eni have also agreed to define initiatives to promote decarbonisation, renewable energy and the development of an agricultural supply chain to produce feedstock for bio-refining without competing with the food chain.

“Currently Eni is the only company committed to developing the huge gas resources of the Republic of Congo,” said the Milan-based oil and gas company.

It currently supplies natural to the Congo Power Plant (CEC), which guarantees 70 percent of the country's electricity generation and Eni has been present in Congo for over 50 years.

At the start of March 2022, New Fortress Energy Inc., the New York-based supplier of LNG for power, signed an accord with a Eni’s Congo subsidiary for the deployment of LNG production equipment off the coast of the African nation for a period of 20 years.

NFE said it would set up its “Fast LNG” facility to produce LNG from the associated gas fields off the Congo.

The deal in the form of a preliminary Heads of Agreement provides a framework for negotiating a long-term tolling agreement between NFE and Eni.

NFE said that this would be for the full capacity of the facility and for the purchase by NFE of around 1.2 million gallons of LNG per day pursuant to a 20-year free-on-board (FOB) sales and purchase agreement.

The Republic of Congo’s associated gas comes from its oil production.

Wes Edens, Chairman and CEO of NFE, described the NFE-Eni deal at the time as a “landmark partnership” with the Italian company seen by Edens as the “perfect partner” for the “Fast LNG” unit

The NFE “Fast LNG” design pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure to enable a much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than floating liquefaction vessels.

Under the NFE plan, a permanently moored floating storage unit (FSU) would serve as an LNG storage facility alongside the floating liquefaction infrastructure, which can be deployed anywhere where there is abundant and stranded natural gas.

New Fortress Energy, the New York-based LNG-for-power company. has welcomed a court ruling in its favour in Sri Lanka allowing its floating import project and power joint venture to proceed.

New Fortress Energy Inc., the New York-based supplier of LNG for power to Latin America and Asia, has signed an accord with a subsidiary of Italy’s Eni in the Republic of Congo for the deployment of LNG production equipment off the coast of the West African nation for a period of 20 years.

NFE said it would set up its “Fast LNG” facility to produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of LNG in the associated gas fields off the Congo.

The deal in the form of a preliminary Heads of Agreement provides a framework for negotiating a long-term tolling agreement between NFE and Eni.

NFE said that this would be for the full capacity of the facility and for the purchase by NFE of around 1.2 million gallons of LNG per day pursuant to a 20-year free-on-board (FOB) sales and purchase agreement.

The Republic of Congo associated gas from oil production was expected to start in the second quarter of 2023.

'Perfect partner'

“This landmark partnership is a major milestone for our ‘Fast LNG’ business. Eni is a world-class organization and the perfect partner for the first ‘Fast LNG’ unit,” said Wes Edens, Chairman and Chief Executive of NFE.

“With production beginning next year, we believe that this is just the first of many deployments of this game-changing technology around the world,” stated Edens.

“The customers at our downstream terminals need access to affordable, clean and reliable energy. Our portfolio of ‘Fast LNG’ facilities allows us to deploy offshore infrastructure more quickly and affordably, adds low-cost LNG to our existing portfolio and diversifies our business,” Edens explained.

NFE had previously signed a first African deal with the northwest African nation of Mauritania.

That NFE agreement was for the development of an energy hub, including natural gas, power and LNG, utilizing existing offshore gas reserves owned by Mauritania as well as neighbouring Senegal.

The NFE “Fast LNG” design pairs modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure to enable a much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than floating liquefaction vessels.

Floating storage

Under the NFE plan, a permanently moored floating storage unit (FSU) would serve as an LNG storage facility alongside the floating liquefaction infrastructure, which can be deployed anywhere where there is abundant and stranded natural gas.

NFE said the HOA with Congo is subject to the finalization and execution of definitive agreements and a set of conditions expected to be completed and satisfied by the end of March 2022.

The company is also in advanced discussions for the deployment of this technology in several other markets around the world, including offshore the US.

NFE is additionally continuing to advance LNG-for-power projects in nations like Mexico, Nicaragua and Brazil as well as in the Caribbean and in Sri Lanka in Asia.

The company executed a 15-year natural gas supply agreement in Brazil at the end of 2021.

That deal was with a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro ASA for the supply of natural gas to the Alunorte Alumina Refinery in the northern Brazilian state of Pará.

NFE said it was advancing two Brazilian projects, one in Barcarena for Norsk Hydro and a second in Santa Catarina in southern Brazil.

The company said it was also positioned to supply LNG through the Santa Catarina terminal for power plants with more than 400MW of capacity from the second quarter of 2022.