LNG

By Gordon Jackson

Offshore LNG terminals have been under consideration since the early 1990s, first for export and more recently for import.

Tangible progress is now being made with Excelerate Energy’s US Gulf Gateway project working well and its planned Northeast Gateway off the coast of Massachusetts moving forward in the permitting process.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is currently holding consultations on whether to invest in the second phase of the Shell-led Sakhalin-II LNG project in the Russian Far East.

The Environmental Impact Assessment of the consortium’s holding company, Sakhalin Energy, will also be discussed between now and mid-April at six public meetings in Britain, Japan, Moscow and on Sakhalin Island itself as part of the EBRD’s 20-day consultation period.

Greg Hopper, Dr. Hua Fang and Nimmi Sarda Black & Veatch Enterprise Management Solutions

Conventional wisdom states that LNG import terminals are best sited in or near consuming markets where they can provide supply as well as new capacity for growing demand.
This is exactly what is happening in North America, with terminal developers eyeing waterfront locations near every major US market center on the east and west coasts.

Keven Dunphy

Only 3.8 percent of liquefied natural gas trading was on spot or short-term contracts in 1999, rising to 12 percent at the last estimate and to a probable 33 percent by 2011.

In having long-term supply contracts, the delivery transactions can be defined by mutual agreement.

This is the first part in a two-part series covering credit rating analysis of LNG projects worldwide

LNG shipping projects associated with supply chains in countries such as Russia, Nigeria and Indonesia will find investment-grade ratings elusive

Terry A Pratt, New York , Jan Willem Plantagie, Frankfurt, Karim Nassif, London, Michael K Vernier New York

Financing for liquid natural gas shipping projects has the potential to reach investment-grade credit ratings.

The strong global demand for LNG attracts huge investment for construction and operation of LNG liquefaction plants, LNG ships and LNG regasification terminals.

A regulatory balancing act with reverberations throughout the Gulf Coast and beyond

Jacob Dweck, Principal, LNG Solutions Group, Bill Gwozd, Vice President, Ziff Energy,
David Wochner, Attorney, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP

“The purpose of this proceeding is to determine appropriate natural gas quality and interchangeability standards to accommodate the introductions of re-gasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) pipeline system,” wrote Judge Herbert Grossman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in his 65-page Initial Decision published 11 April in the AES Ocean Express v. Florida Gas Transmission case.

The Commission’s charge, stressed the Judge, is a delicate balancing act: “facilitate increased access to LNG supplies and simultaneously ensure that the introduction of gasified LNG into the FGT system will not have detrimental effects” on electric turbines, gas distribution systems, end-user appliances and other customers.

This is part two of an article from US credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s on applying credit analysis in the LNG industry, particularly in relation to LNG carriers, and the financial and legal risks involved

Terry A Pratt, New York , Jan Willem Plantagie, Frankfurt, Karim Nassif, London, Michael K Vernier New York

LNG newbuild carrier prices have varied over time. The variation is due to a number of factors, mostly the price of material, especially steel, as well as exchange rates and yard utilization.

The steep fall in prices in the late 1990s was due to the Asian crisis, during which time South Korean shipyards offered favorable pricing and payment arrangements for newbuilds in order to attract foreign currency.

Michael L. Moore, an LNG fire protection engineer, explains some of his activities in Texas and elsewhere that have helped in the development of an LNG safety manual. His full test data will be published in the LNG journal in the coming months.

It is September 2004 and a unique opportunity presents itself. I am sitting in another crowded room of engineers and operations managers struggling through yet another hazard and operability (HAZOP) meeting on a proposed offshore LNG terminal.

The participants are discussing the mystifying qualities, properties and characteristics of LNG as part of Chevron Corp.’s LNG Terminals of Excellence Project that included Port Pelican in the Gulf of Mexico.

A round-up of latest events, company statements, industry reports and people in the news

Clare Calnan

Looking back over the last 20 years it can be seen that in terms of both the types of trading and the volumes of cargoes being transported the LNG market has come a long way in a short time.

By 2009 the size of the LNG carrier fleet is expected to increase to 300 vessels and by 2011 it is likely to reach 450 vessels.

It is inevitable that with this level of expansion comes innovation and flexibility, not only on the part of the oil and gas companies developing new sources of supply, but also on the part of the LNG buyers in both traditional and emerging markets.