LNG

The $700-million Broadwater LNG project to be located in Long Island Sound, off New York State, has gained initial environmental approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Woodside Energy, the Australian liquefied natural gas producer, said it has a taken stakes in nine exploration blocks in the Santos Basin off southeastern Brazil.

Gazprom, the Russian natural gas company and LNG industry player, has had its credit rating raised because it's so close to the government it would be likely to receive “extraordinary state support in case of distress.”

Tohoku Electric Power, the utility based in northeast Japan, said it signed a contract to import LNG from the BP-led Tangguh project in Indonesia.

Linklaters, the international law firm, said it advised Spain’s Repsol and Canadian company Irving Oil in the just completed US$1.1 billion financing round for the planned Canaport LNG project on the East Coast of Canada.

Qatar Gas Transport Co. (Nakilat), the state-controlled liquefied natural gas carrier company, said it plans to raise up to $4.3 billion from various sources to fund the building of 16 LNG carriers.

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

By Philip R. Weems

This article is the first in a three-part series on the evolution of LNG sales contracts. In this issue the author highlights the emergence of take-or-pay and price review clauses

During the more than 40-year history of the LNG industry, customs and practices have developed with regard to documenting long-term LNG sales (“SPAs”).

Susanna Hannula, Oskar Levander, and Tuomas Sipilä, Wärtsilä Corp. Finland

Marine Technology, Ship Power, Wärtsilä Corporation
The shipping business is facing new challenges as environmental concerns focus on carrier and tanker emissions.

Since onshore industries have been able to cut certain emissions, the share of pollutants contributed by ships and aircraft has grown proportionally to become a significant part of the total.

The shipping industry, therefore, needs to look at new ways of reducing the environmental impact from ships.

By John McKay

Investment bankers in Europe have tipped Russia’s Gazprom, Norway’s Statoil, France’s Total, and BP and BG Group of the UK as the best medium-term buys for stock market investors in the energy sector, citing their liquefied natural gas activities as a positive sign.

Shares in Gazprom, which is the premium pick of most brokers, have surged to records in the New Year as the Russian natural gas monopoly and future LNG heavy-hitter has forecast a 10 percent rise in annual profits to more than $6 billion.