Clean Crude? Oil Companies use Offsets to Claim Green Barrels
In January, Occidental Petroleum announced it had accomplished something no oil company had done before: It sold a shipload of crude that it said was 100% carbon-neutral.While the two-million-barrel cargo to India was destined to produce more than a million tons of planet-warming carbon over its lifecycle, from well to tailpipe, the Texas-based driller said it had completely offset that impact by purchasing carbon credits under a U.N.-sponsored program called CORSIA.Carbon credits…
Cruise Ship to House Staff from Coronavirus-hit Novatek Site
A cruise ship has arrived in Russia's northwesterly Murmansk region to accommodate healthy staff from a construction site run by the gas company Novatek, one of Russia's coronavirus hotspots, a local crisis centre said.Novatek, one of the world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies, is building a facility to produce gravity-based platforms for its future LNG plants in Belokamenka near Murmansk, a region bordering Finland and Norway.Many of Russia's oil and gas facilities are located in remote areas where people live and work in close proximity for weeks on end, so that any contagious disease is hard to contain.Russia has nearly 166,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, more than France, of which 1,937 have been recorded in Belokamenka, according to the local crisis response centre.
Last Yamal LNG Arctic Ships on Sea Trials
The last of 15 Arc7-classed tankers ordered for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant Yamal LNG in Russia's Arctic north are undergoing sea trials around a South Korean shipyard, Refinitiv Eikon shipping data showed on Monday.The Georgiy Ushakov and Yakov Gakkel LNG tankers are both in water at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) Okpo shipyard in South Korea and indicating they are performing sea trials, the data showed. The Vladimir Voronin, meanwhile, finished its sea trials and has left the Sea of Japan, setting Yamal LNG as its destination.
Damen: Construction of Shortsea LNG Bunker Vessel Underway
Steel cut for first short-sea LNG bunker vessel for Eesti Gaas at Damen Yichang Shipyard, China.On March 18, 2019, a ceremony was held at Damen Yichang Shipyard, China, to mark the start of cutting steel for the first of a planned series of short-sea LNG Bunker vessels to be built for Eesti Gaas of Estonia. The 6,000m³ capacity vessel and its future sister-ships are intended to accelerate the wider adoption of LNG as a cleaner alternative fuel in the north-eastern region of the Baltic Sea by providing a mobile and efficient ship-to-ship distribution service for the first time.Virgo Vinkel…
ExxonMobil Signs LNG Tie-up Pact with Uniper
German utility Uniper SE signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited in respect of a long-term booking of a substantial share of regasification capacity in Uniper’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) project Wilhelmshaven for receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG).According to a press release, the parties will continue their discussions in the coming months with the goal to enter into binding agreements soon.Keith Martin, Chief Commercial Officer of Uniper SE, says: “The Heads of Agreement is an important step towards the realization of the Wilhelmshaven FSRU project. The FSRU will provide LNG companies from the US, but also other countries from around the world with the opportunity to deliver LNG into the German and European market.
DOE Streamlines LNG Export Requirements
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) would now only require U.S. LNG exporters to report the country or countries of LNG deliveries, not country of end-use, to satisfy the DOE’s destination reporting requirement.Further, DOE announced additional efforts to streamline the reporting requirements for LNG export supply sales and contracts.“With the United States now being the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas, it is imperative that U.S. LNG companies have all the tools they need to get their American product into the international market,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.“By streamlining the destination reporting requirements, the Department of Energy is taking an important deregulatory step forward in order to better provide reliable U.S.
Sempra Energy Signs New Mexican LNG Terminal
Sempra Energy, the US group that aims to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Ensenada, Mexico, to serve customers in Asia moved closer to becoming reality as the natural gas utilities holding company announced agreements with three international firms.The San Diego-based company announced in a press release that that its subsidiaries Infraestructura Energetica Nova (IEnova) and Sempra LNG & Midstream have signed three Heads of Agreements (HOAs) with affiliates of Total, Mitsui & Co. and Tokyo Gas Co. for the full export capacity of Phase 1 of the Energia Costa Azul liquefied natural gas (ECA LNG) project located in Baja California…
China LNG Tariff Casts Shadow Over New US Export Terminals
China set a 10 percent tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, extending a trade dispute into energy and casting a shadow over U.S. export terminals that would propel the United States into the world's second-largest LNG seller.Beijing on Tuesday said it would tax U.S. products worth $60 billion effective Sept. 24 in retaliation for tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in an escalating trade war.The rate was smaller than the 25 percent tariff China had touted earlier, which offered some relief and helped shares in listed U.S.
​​​​Chinese Tariffs on LNG, Oil May Threaten US Energy Dominance
China's targeting of U.S. liquefied natural gas and crude oil exports opens a new front in the trade war between the two countries, at a time when the White House is trumpeting growing U.S. energy export prowess.China included LNG for the first time in its list of proposed tariffs on Friday, the same day that its biggest U.S. crude oil buyer, Sinopec, suspended U.S. crude oil imports due to the dispute, according to three sources familiar with the situation.On Friday, China announced retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S.
Trump's Steel Import Tariffs May Hurt US LNG Exports
U.S. natural gas trade groups said on Thursday they are concerned that new U.S. steel import tariffs could delay or reduce new pipeline projects as well as dent exports of liquefied natural gas. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States will impose tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on imported aluminum next week. The type of pipe and the steel used to make large diameter, thick-walled pipe used for interstate natural gas pipeline projects are niche products that are not available off the shelf or even from a wide variety of manufacturers…
LNG Heats Up Again as Market Changes: Russell
If you were looking for signs that the liquefied natural gas (LNG) merry-go-round is starting to spin a little faster, the announcement of a planned massive expansion in Papua New Guinea is ample evidence. Global majors Exxon Mobil and Total are considering plans to double LNG exports from Papua New Guinea to about 16 million tonnes per annum, their partner Oil Search said on Feb. 20. If approved, three new trains would be added to the existing Exxon-operated PNG LNG facility, with natural gas from Total's fields supplying two of the units and the third using existing fields and a new Exxon development. While a final investment decision on the $13 billion expansion is still more than a year away…
Qatar Merges State-Owned LNG Producers
Qatar, the world’s largest liquified natural gas producer, announced it is to merge state-owned Qatargas and RasGas to create a “truly unique global energy operator”, says an AP report. The country is merging its two government-controlled LNG companies to streamline distribution of the fuel as the OPEC nation grapples with a slump in energy prices. The announcement was made at a press conference held at QP headquarters in the presence of representatives of the main international shareholders in both companies including ExxonMobil, Total, ConocoPhillips, and Shell, and the CEOs of Qatargas and RasGas. Al-Kaabi said the move would save “hundreds of millions of dollars”, without elaborating over what timeframe this would be achieved.
Marin Uses Subsea Wireless Solution from WFS in Test Basin
WFS helps Marin communicate with underwater models in their test basin using subsea wireless technology. Marin is one of the leading institutes in the world for hydrodynamic research and maritime technology, providing services to the shipbuilding and offshore industry and governments. Customers include commercial ship builders, fleet owners, naval architects, classification societies, oil and LNG companies and navies all over the world. Marin’s Seakeeping and Maneuvering basin…
MARIN Opens Depressurized Wave Basin
Following a true maritime tradition, the new DWB was christened. The representatives and attendees each had a bottle filled with water from their own organisation or habitat symbolising their connection with the new facility. MARIN’s unique Depressurised Wave Basin (DWB) was officially inaugurated on March 19 by Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. Representing the combination of a depressurised towing tank with a wave maker, the DWB creates a world first.
Kitimat, EOG Resources Canada Sign MOU
Kitimat LNG Inc. announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with EOG Resources Canada (EOG) to supply natural gas to Kitimat LNG’s proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Kitimat, B.C. Pursuant to the MOU, Kitimat LNG and EOG are proceeding to negotiate a definitive agreement under which EOG would supply specific quantities of the LNG facility’s 700 million cubic feet per day of natural gas feedstock. “EOG’s participation in our project reinforces the fact that business and natural gas fundamentals support our LNG terminal,” said Rosemary Boulton, President of Kitimat LNG. EOG is the first producer to sign an MOU with Kitimat LNG.