LNG

Taiwan is expected to be seeking more LNG cargoes through 2023 as one of its nuclear power plants was retired this week, though the government said two new coal-fired power plants would help offset most of the power losses.

The France-based International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) said the LNG industry was making progress in adopting a comprehensive framework developed by GIIGNL on certifying the offsetting of carbon content in LNG with a trial cargo sent from Australia to Taiwan.

Osaka Gas, the Japanese utility and one of the nation’s top six LNG importers, said its engineering subsidiary was awarded a contract for the large expansion project at the Tai-Chung LNG import terminal in Taiwan.

Taiwan is set to wind down its liquefied natural gas imports from Russia as its supply contract with the Sakhalin II export facility in the Russian Far East is set to terminate at the end of March 2022, while other nations are ending their Russian LNG ties through sanctions over the Ukraine war.

Feb 15 (LNGJ) - The Peru LNG export plant at Pampa Melchorita on the Pacific Coast appears to be back on track after exporting six cargoes in January 2022. The shipments included two delivered to the UK, two to Japan, one to Taiwan and one to South Korea. The first February cargo was lifted by the 135,350 cubic metres capacity carrier “Sestao Knutsen” and the shipment was heading for Taiwan.

Taiwan will vote in a referendum on December 18 on whether to move the nation’s third liquefied natural gas terminal, currently under construction at Taoyuan, to another location or to accept a government plan to extend the LNG carrier jetty slightly further out to sea away from a sensitive reef area.

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said a balanced approach was required for energy and LNG imports to advance the economy.

Wang urged voters to reject the relocation, and said that the present plans for the terminal, one-third of which has already been built, would not affect an algae reef near the coast.

Wang made her defence of the project in a televised forum on November 13 when the cases for and against were put forward.

Taiwan is still Asia’s fifth-largest LNG importer after North Asia’s top three of Japan, China and South Korea and with India in fourth place.

The Taiwanese are constructing the third LNG terminal to meet increasing demand after imports rose 6 percent last year to 17.75 million tonnes.

Taiwan in July 2021 signed a new LNG supply agreement with QatarEnergy for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of cargoes as the Taiwanese prepare to use more of the fuel. It is additionally increasing LNG shipments from  the US.

Under the Taiwan expansion plans, the national energy company, CPC Corp., is developing the Taoyuan terminal in the district of Datan Borough for local needs and a gas-fired power plant there.

Completion

The first phase of the Taoyuan terminal construction should be completed by 2023. A second expansion phase is also proposed.

The first expansion of Taiwan’s existing Tai-Chung LNG terminal was also completed at the end of 2019.

Further work is planned, including the addition of another berth and associated tanks, to be carried out in two phases.

The 1.8 MTPA expansion project at Taiwan’s second existing terminal, the Yung-An facility, including three new storage tanks and related regasification facilities, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Minister Wang said that the LNG project was an important part of the country's power supply infrastructure, which can achieve the goals of protecting the algae reef in the area, ensuring stable power supply and cutting air pollution.

“The government’s revised project is to push the LNG terminal 450 metres away to 1.2 kilometres from the coast may not be perfect, but it is the best solution for protecting the environment,” stated Wang.

The LNG plant referendum was achieved by environmentalist groups brought together into the “Rescue Datan Algae Reefs Alliance”. They managed to collect more than 700,000 signatures by March 2021 to have the LNG terminal issue put on the ballot on December 18.

Taiwanese voters will be deciding on three issues in the referendum, the LNG terminal, the re-activation of a moth-balled fourth nuclear power plant and the quality standards of imported pork.

Qatar Petroleum has signed a new supply agreement with Taiwan for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of LNG as the Taiwanese use more of the fuel and expand their infrastructure.

The US Department of Energy has just published its latest liquefied natural gas export data with the average overall price for the six plants declining to just over $6.00 per million British thermal units, though shipments were delivered to a total of 27 nations in the reporting month.

Inpex Corp. of Japan, operator of the Ichthys plant in Northern Australia and a shareholder in the offshore Prelude FLNG plant with Royal Dutch Shell, reported losses for 2020 and took hits on Prelude and Eagle Ford assets in the US, while forecasting a recovery in the Japanese and global oil and gas markets for the rest of 2021.

A trading chronicle of the last month of LNG shipbroking activities captured the revival of the North Asian markets with the “miraculous upward trajectory” of LNG prices, helped by a variety of factors such as plant outages in all Basins, South Korean coal caps, Chinese coal restrictions, while favourable arbitrage conditions were further helped by hold-ups in the Panama Canal.