LNG

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant and developer of the delayed Arctic LNG II venture, has reported positive operating data for the second quarter of 2024 amid continued Western sanctions.

A huge floating LNG storage unit, the “Saam FSU”, arrived in Russian waters off Murmansk on June 25 as LNG developer Novatek re-organizes its trading logistics for the Yamal export plant and the new Arctic LNG II project as the Yamal facility also started a shutdown and maintenance programme.

Russian natural gas pipeline supplier Gazprom said it was ready in technical terms to build new gas pipelines to Turkey via the Black Sea and building on existing TurkStream and BlueStream links rather than restoring the damaged Nord Stream pipelines linked to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

Russian natural gas company Gazprom confirmed it had cut off pipeline natural gas to Germany purchased by Denmark's Orsted and Shell subsidiary Shell Energy as output by the Saint Petersburg-based company declined almost 5 percent and deliveries to Europe dropped by a quarter in the first five months through May 2022.

Gazprom said gas production fell by 4.8 percent year-on-year to 211.4 billion cubic metres compared with the same January-to-May period of 2021.

Gas exports to non-Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, meaning to Western Europe, dropped by 27.6 percent, or by 23.2Bln cubic metres, in the January-to-May 2022 period and amounted to 61 Bcm.

“Gazprom confirms complete suspension of gas supplies to Denmark’s Orsted Salg & Service A/S and Shell Energy Europe due to failure to pay in roubles,” it said.

“As of the end of the working Gazprom Export did not yet receive a payment from Orsted Salg & Service for the gas supplied in April, which was to be made in compliance with the Russian President's Decree No. 172 dated March 31, 2022,” it added.

“No payment has been received from Shell Energy Europe for gas delivered in April either,” it added.

Export data

In its gas production and export data, Gazprom said the average daily exports of Gazprom in May fell by 9 percent in monthly terms to 351.6 million cubic metres for  deliveries of gas with confirmed nominations.

Gazprom added that gas deliveries to China via the “Power of Siberia” pipeline were increasing, but it did not provide any figures.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, Moscow has demanded that clients from “unfriendly countries”, including the 27 EU member states, pay for their gas in roubles.

The new requirement is aimed at stopping Western financial sanctions against Russia’s central bank further weakening the rouble.

So far Poland, Bulgaria, Finland and the Netherlands have had their natural gas deliveries suspended over refusing to pay in roubles.

Dutch natural gas trader GasTerra was the most recent not to comply with Gazprom’s payment requirements in roubles and consequently was cut off by the Russian company.

GasTerra, which buys and trades gas on behalf of the Dutch Government, said it had contracted elsewhere for the 2 Bcm it had expected to receive from Gazprom through October 2022.

GasTerra is 50 percent-owned by Dutch Government entities while another joint 50 percent stake is shared between Shell and ExxonMobil.

July 14 (LNGJ) - Chinese natural gas imports rose by 10.2 percent in June by pipelines and as liquefied natural gas and amounted to 8.33 million tonnes compared with 7.56MT in June 2019. For the first half of the year through June 2020, China’s natural gas imports were up 3.3 percent to 48.36MT, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. China imports LNG from all the main producers and pipeline gas from Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia.

Germany, the largest natural gas pipeline consumer in the European Union and a future LNG importer, is set to be the first country to end both nuclear and coal power under an agreement to compensate workers, companies and regional governments as it switches off coal-fired plants by 2038.