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Lng Plant News

02 Jan 2024

US Was Top LNG Exporter in 2023 as Hit Record Levels

© scandamerican / Adobe Stock

U.S. liquefied natural gas exports hit monthly and annual record highs in December, tanker tracking data showed, with analysts saying it positioned the United States to leapfrog Qatar and Australia to become the largest exporter of LNG in 2023.The U.S. was the stand out in global LNG supply growth in 2023, said Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG research at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group of the rise to 8.6 million metric tons leaving U.S. terminals in December.Qatar was the largest LNG exporter in 2022 and Australia the second-largest that year, U.S. government data showed."U.S.

25 Dec 2023

Foreign Shareholders Suspend Participation in Russia's Arctic LNG 2 Project

© Arctic LNG 2 Illustration - Credit: Saipem

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

14 Dec 2023

Environmental Assessment Begins for Julimar Phase 3 Drilling and Subsea Installation

Source: Woodside Energy

Australian regulator NOPSEMA has begun assessment of Woodside Energy’s environment plans for Julimar Development Phase 3 Drilling and Subsea Installation.The Julimar field is located in Western Australian waters about 170km north-west of Dampier.Woodside’s Phase 3 development will involve drilling up to four wells in the Julimar field and one well in the Penfolds prospect, along with the associated subsea installation. The production system will have a design life of 25 years…

05 Dec 2023

Vessel to Complete Mexico's First Floating LNG Plant Sets Sail

(Photo: New Fortress Energy)

A storage vessel for Mexico's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant departed U.S. waters on Monday for Altamira, Mexico, according to ship tracking data, putting the offshore project on track to soon inaugurate exports.LNG developer New Fortress Energy last week said its 1.4-million-metric-tons-per-year Altamira floating LNG project had begun processing gas. The company earlier this year had postponed the inauguration amid delays in receiving the infrastructure."We're excited to announce that we've achieved first gas for our Fast LNG 1 unit…

16 Nov 2023

Court Battle Between Santos and Traditional Owners Continues

Source: Santos

Santos has issued a statement after the decision of the Federal Court of Australia on November 15 ruling that pipelay activities can commence on an 86-kilometer section of pipeline for the Barossa Gas Export Pipeline (GEP) – but not south of kilometre point 86 (KP86).This southern section would pass to the west of the Tiwi Islands.The Court has set December 4, 2023 as the date of commencement of the hearing of application brought by Jikilaruwu traditional owner Simon Munkara and…

08 Nov 2023

Japan Says to Ensure U.S. Sanctions on Russia LNG Project Won't Harm Supplies

Arctic LNG 2 Illustration - Credit: Saipem (File image)

Japan will make sure its energy supplies are not affected by sanctions the United States recently imposed on the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia in which it has a stake, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday.Japan, the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer, relies on LNG as a transition fuel before it reaches carbon neutrality in 2050, and has supply contracts and stakes in projects globally to guarantee imports.The Arctic LNG 2 project is to be launched next month…

06 Nov 2023

Finland Receives LNG Cargo, Books More for the Winter

Credit: Wojciech Wrzesień/AdobeStock

A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) docked at Finland's Inkoo terminal on Sunday and has begun unloading, energy company Gasum said on Monday, the second cargo to arrive since the damage last month to a Finnish-Estonian pipeline.The Arctic Princess, carrying natural gas from the Arctic Hammerfest LNG plant, had been expected to arrive at Inkoo during the weekend, shipping data showed on Friday.The delivery amounted to about 400 gigawatt hours of energy, Gasum said."In addition to this delivery, Gasum has reserved three more slots at the Inkoo FSRU for the upcoming winter season.

03 Nov 2023

Second Gas Cargo Heads to Finland's LNG Terminal After Pipeline Rupture

Credit: Wojciech Wrzesień/AdobeStock

A tanker carrying Norwegian liquefied natural gas (LNG) is set to arrive at Finland's Inkoo terminal overnight, vessel tracking data showed on Friday, making it the second cargo since the Oct. 8 outage of a Finnish-Estonian gas pipeline.The Arctic Princess, carrying natural gas from the Arctic Hammerfest LNG plant, signaled its arrival at Inkoo on Friday at 2300 GMT, LSEG shipping data showed, corresponding to Saturday morning at 0100 EET in local time.The tanker loaded in Norway on Sept. 17 but sat off the Danish coast since Sept.

19 Oct 2023

LNG Tanker Diverts from Egypt Terminal as Gas Flows from Israel Ebb

A tanker seeking to fill up liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a terminal in Egypt left empty and diverted to another port, after an Israeli pipeline supplying gas was halted due to Israel-Hamas conflict, analysts said on Thursday.The Seapeak Catalunya tanker has changed course from Egypt's Idku LNG plant and is now heading to Algeria's Arzew LNG facility instead, LSEG analyst Olumide Ajayi said, citing shipping data.Chevron has shut down the Israeli Tamar gas field amid the military conflict in the country and suspended exports through the subsea EMG pipeline, which runs from Ashkelon in southern Israel to Egypt.Egypt relies on Israeli gas imports to meet some of its domestic demand and therefore…

18 Oct 2023

Shell's Australian FLNG Facility Poised for Mid-November Restart

Shell is expected to complete maintenance at its flagship Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off Australia by mid-November, two sources close to the project told Reuters on Wednesday.The British energy giant started maintenance work at the 3.6-million metric ton a year floating LNG plant in August. A top Shell executive then said in September it was a "major turnaround" work that would last roughly two months.The maintenance is now expected to be completed by mid-November, slightly longer than initially planned after several new issues were discovered and fixed, one of the sources said."The first LNG delivery cargo is now expected by mid-November," the second source said.The last cargo to have left the facility was on Aug.

23 Aug 2023

Gazprom's First LNG Cargo via Arctic Destined for China's Jingtang

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from Russia's Gazprom being sent via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for the first time is destined for the Chinese port of Jingtang, Refinitiv ship tracking data shows.The Velikiy Novgorod tanker was loaded at the Portovaya LNG plant on the Baltic Sea on Aug. 14, according to the data.As of Wednesday, it was moving in the Kara Sea in the Arctic with the data showing an estimated arrival at Jingtang on Sept. 12.Earlier this month, Russia also shipped a rare naphtha cargo via the North Sea route, according to traders and Refinitiv data.(Reuters - Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Jason Neely)

01 Jun 2023

Equinor's Arctic LNG Plant to Resume Production Next Week After Gas Leak Shutdown

Melkøya plant - Image: Ole Jørgen Bratland/Equinor

Norway's Equinor plans to restart production at its Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Hammerfest on June 8 after it was shut down on May 31 due to a gas leak, the company said in a market message on Thursday. The facility will be unavailable until 2100 GMT on June 8, according to a message posted via the transparency page of Norwegian gas infrastructure operator Gassco. Equinor halted production after it detected a gas leak on a cooling circuit valve. The leak had been plugged late on Wednesday.

05 May 2023

Equinor's Hammerfest LNG Plant Offline after Outage

©The Hammerfest LNG facility (Photo: Einar Aslaksen / Equinor ASA)

Equinor's Hammerfest LNG plant in Arctic Norway suffered a compressor failure on Thursday and is expected to remain offline until May 19, Norwegian gas system company Gassco said in a regulatory note on Friday. The outage was caused by a technical problem with a heat exchanger that occurred during a restart of the plant following a one-day maintenance outage, an Equinor spokesperson said. The plant will remain offline until repairs have been carried out, the spokesperson added.

18 Apr 2023

Norway Parliament Asks for CCS Alternative to Decarbonize Major LNG Plant

Credit: Equinor

Norway's parliament on Tuesday told the government to consider an alternative way to cut carbon emissions at Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, but stopped short of outright halting a controversial plan to use power from land. Oil firm Equinor and partners are seeking approval to replace the use of gas at the plant with power from the national grid, and thus reduce its emissions. The site is one of Norway's largest single emitters of carbon dioxide. In a unanimous vote…

21 Mar 2023

Sempra Reaches FID on Port Arthur LNG Plant's Phase 1

Credit: Sempra Energy

U.S. power and gas utility Sempra Energy said on Monday the first phase of its proposed Port Arthur liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal received the financial greenlight to move ahead with investment firm KKR & Co agreeing to a minority stake in the project.Though KKR's investment was not disclosed, an infrastructure fund managed by it will buy a 25% to 49% indirect, non-controlling interest in the project. Sempra Infrastructure Partners, the 70%-owned unit of Sempra, would target 20% to 30% of indirect ownership interest in the project…

20 Feb 2023

US LNG Producers Poised to Leapfrog Rivals with Three New Projects

© moofushi / Adobe Stock

At least three proposed U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants have likely found enough customers to receive financial approvals this year, according to Reuters calculations, developments that would make the country the world's largest LNG exporter for years to come.After a dearth of plant approvals last decade, developers have secured dozens of long-term contracts to finance new multibillion-dollar LNG plants. The pace of approvals has accelerated as Europe has shifted…

10 Feb 2023

First Vessel Arrives at Freeport LNG Plant Since 2022 Fire

The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel arrived on Friday at Freeport LNG's long-idled export plant in Texas since the facility shut in a fire in June last year, according to ship tracking data from Refinitiv.The vessel Kmarin Diamond is operated by a unit of oil major BP, one of Freeport's big customers, according to several vessel tracking services.News of the vessel's arrival helped boost U.S. natural gas futures by over 5% in post-settlement trade on Friday as the second biggest U.S. LNG export plant will consume a lot of gas once it starts production again.The contract had closed at a 25-month low earlier in the week due mostly to mild weather and low heating demand.Freeport has said it would soon start sending gas to one of the plant's three liquefaction trains…

26 Jan 2023

Freeport Gets US OK to Begin Steps to Restart LNG Plant

(Photo: Freeport LNG)

Freeport LNG, the second-biggest U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, got approval from federal regulators on Thursday to take early steps to restart its fire-idled LNG export plant in Texas.Freeport, however, has not yet sought permission to restart the liquefaction trains that turn natural gas into LNG for export. That resumption of LNG production will have to come in a later request with federal regulators.Energy analysts have said they still expect most of the plant's…

25 Jan 2023

US Coast Guard Says Freeport LNG Hazard Study Addresses Its Requirements

(Photo: Freeport LNG)

The U.S. Coast Guard determined that a Hazard and Operability study for the Freeport LNG plant in Texas addresses its requirements, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, bringing the fire-idled facility one step closer to a restart.Freeport LNG may begin three phases for partial operations following approval by the Federal Environmental Regulatory Commission and Department of Transportation.(Reuters - Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

07 Mar 2023

Russian Pipeline Gas Exports to Europe Drop to a Post-Soviet Low

The gas leak at Nord Stream 2 seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm in late September 2022. Photo: Danish Defence

Russian gas exports to Europe via pipelines plummeted to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as its largest customer cut imports due to the conflict in Ukraine and a major pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, Gazprom data  and Reuters calculations showed.The European Union, traditionally Russia's largest consumer for oil and gas, has for years spoken about cutting its reliance on Russian energy, but Brussels got serious after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February.State-controlled Gazprom…

22 Dec 2022

Report: Output from Shell's Prelude FLNG Shut Again

Shell has stopped production at its Prelude floating LNG plant off Western Australia after a fire.A Shell spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the fire at the giant FLNG unit "was rapidly extinguished."The 488-meter-long, Shell-operated, Prelude FLNG unit forms part of an offshore development that produces natural gas from the remote namesake field, located approximately 475 km north-northeast of Broome in Western Australia. The Prelude is the world's largest FLNG unit.The first LNG shipment from the project - originally sanctioned in 2011 - was shipped back in June 2019, via the Valencia Knutsen LNG tanker to customers in Asia.

01 Nov 2022

NFE's Louisiana Offshore LNG Plant Start-up Slips to 2H 2023

Credit: New Fortress Energy(file Image)

U.S. firm New Fortress Energy Inc's proposed Louisiana offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility likely will not begin operation until the second half of 2023, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.The 2.8 million tonne per year export project initially was proposed to start next March but has faced delays during its permit review. U.S. regulators on Friday lifted a stop-clock order. The soonest the facility could begin producing LNG, assuming no further delays, is the second half of next year, one of the people said. The U.S.

20 Oct 2022

Freeport LNG Plant to Require Full US Approval Before Partial Restart

(File photo: Freeport LNG)

The second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas export plant, idled for five months by a fire, must receive full approvals before a planned November restart can begin, regulator Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) said on Wednesday.Full approval adds to the hurdles for restarting Freeport LNG, one of the earliest and biggest U.S. export facilities. The closely-held company aims to restore more than 85% of pre-fire processing capacity next month and complete…

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