LNG

French oil and gas major Total said it completed the first ship-to-containership liquefied natural gas bunkering operation in France’s waters at the Channel port of Dunkirk.

French energy major Total reported overall liquefied natural gas sales in 2020 of 38.3 million tonnes, an increase of 12 percent over the previous year, boosted by projects such as the US Cameron LNG export plant in Louisiana and revealed plans to change its name to Total Energies.

Oman LNG, the second main exporter in the Middle East, has named a new Chief Executive to replace Harib Al-Kitani, the long-standing incumbent who has overseen the return of stable feed-gas supplies and the updating of facilities and strategy.

A statement from the board at the Arabian Peninsula-based company said Al-Kitani would be stepping down and his successor and new CEO was named as Hamed Al-Numani.

Oman exports around 11 million tonnes per annum and its annual dispatch of cargoes covers the main importing nations.

“With a long successful journey of four decades in the industry, Al-Kitani’s experience has contributed tremendously in shaping Oman LNG as a reliable and trusted supplier,” said the board.

Al-Kitani is a veteran of the Sultanate of Oman’s energy industry and has been at Oman LNG from its inception in the late 1990s, holding a series of high-level positions.

“We wish him all the best in his retirement and a big thank you for all he has done to drive our success,” the statement added.

His successor Hamed Al-Numani comes with 20 years of energy industry experience with projects in Europe and the US.

Oman LNG’s customers include South Korea with around 3.9MT of annual supplies, Japan with about 3MT as well as other leading importers like China and India.

Cargo buyers also include Taiwan, Pakistan and Thailand.

The Thai national energy company, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company, has recently agreed to take a 20 percent stake in Oman’s upstream natural gas resources from BP of the UK centred on the onshore Block 61 comprising the ‎Khazzan field, which began production in 2017, and the Ghazeer field, onstream since October 2020.

Block 61, covering around 3,950 square kilometres in central Oman, contains the largest tight-gas ‎development in the Middle East.

Gas from the Block is sent for domestic consumption ‎into Oman’s national gas grid, while also boosting the availability of feed-gas for Oman ‎LNG.

Oman has also planned under Al-Kitani to become a major LNG bunkering nation from its port at Sohar in cooperation with French major Total.

The main Omani LNG export facilities are at the port of Sur. The plant comprises the three amalgamated liquefaction Trains of two former separate companies, Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG.

Al-Kitani also initiated plans for a de-bottlenecking project, whereby better output can be achieved by fixing inefficiencies, both technical and operational, and increasing Oman’s LNG output to 11.5 MTPA or more.

European oil and gas major Total said its liquefied natural gas sales would reach 50 million tonnes per annum by 2025 and would double between 2020-2030, creating value from scale, arbitrage and integration along the value chain.

June 8 (LNGJ) - French energy major Total has joined the “Getting to Zero Coalition” for shipping launched at the last United Nations climate summit. It comprises over 120 organisations and has been endorsed by governments of 14 countries, including France and the UK. Total said it was already actively working on improving the environmental footprint of the shipping industry through the development of LNG bunkering. It has also recently announced the long-term chartering of two LNG-propelled Very Large Crude Carriers.

   “As a major energy player, Total is already developing cleaner fuels for the maritime industry,” said Patrick Pouyanné, President and Chief Executive of Total. “We want to push innovation and foster collective actions with all the stakeholders,” he added.

The cooperation of French energy major Total with China in large-scale liquefied natural gas investments in Russia's Arctic region projects has extended to small-scale LNG with the completion of its first bunkering vessel at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding yard near Shanghai.

JGC Corp. of Japan has been awarded an engineering contract in the Sultanate of Oman by French major Total for what will be the world’s first liquefied natural gas production plant built specially to supply the shipping fuel market on the Arabian Peninsula.